Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector
Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector
Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector
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Table 5.6 – Staff tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g provision<br />
Whe<strong>the</strong>r tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g rout<strong>in</strong>ely provided for<br />
rent <strong>arrears</strong> <strong>management</strong> staff on… Transfer Non-transfer Total<br />
…Hous<strong>in</strong>g Benefit eligibility rules and No 103 90 193<br />
calculation<br />
% 84 .4% 87 .4% 85 .8<br />
…Debt <strong>management</strong> No 79 69 148<br />
% 64 .8% 67 .0% 65 .8<br />
…Mental health awareness No 63 43 106<br />
% 51 .6% 41 .7% 47 .1<br />
…DWP deductions No 59 54 113<br />
% 48 .4% 52 .4% 50 .2<br />
…Court procedures No 108 87 195<br />
% 88 .5% 84 .5% 86 .7<br />
Respond<strong>in</strong>g <strong>association</strong>s No 122 103 225<br />
% 100 .0% 100 .0% 100 .0%<br />
Source: Onl<strong>in</strong>e survey<br />
Note: Because respondents could opt for two of more approaches, figures do not sum to column totals .<br />
arrangement . However, <strong>the</strong> scale of such activity<br />
(eg volume of referrals) and its precise nature<br />
(eg contractual relationships) cannot be judged<br />
from <strong>the</strong>se data . Case study research would be<br />
required to explore such issues fur<strong>the</strong>r .<br />
To what extent is rent <strong>arrears</strong> <strong>management</strong> a<br />
“professional service”? One key factor here is<br />
tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g provision . The vast majority of <strong>association</strong>s<br />
reported that relevant staff were rout<strong>in</strong>ely tra<strong>in</strong>ed<br />
on HB rules and on court procedures (see Table<br />
5 .6) . Debt <strong>management</strong> tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g was made available<br />
as standard practice by two thirds of respond<strong>in</strong>g<br />
landlords . However, only around half rout<strong>in</strong>ely<br />
tra<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>the</strong>ir staff on DWP deductions or on mental<br />
health awareness, both of which are key elements<br />
required of landlords by <strong>the</strong> PAP .<br />
<strong>Rent</strong> <strong>arrears</strong> <strong>management</strong> <strong>practices</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> hous<strong>in</strong>g <strong>association</strong> <strong>sector</strong> 69