Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

More documents

Recommendations

Info

5 .6% of collectable rent to 5 .3% in the three years to 2007-08 . At least since 2005-06, however, HB service performance appears to have improved significantly . The national average number of days to process new HB claims was cut from 33 days to 25 days in the two years to 2007-08 . HAs evicted some 9,000 tenants from general needs housing in 2008-09 – equivalent to around 0 .51% of the dwelling stock . While the equivalent rate for supported housing will have been much higher this largely reflects the different forms of tenancy prevalent in the two sub-sectors, with the less secure status of supported housing tenants making it much easier for tenancies to be repossessed . The vast majority of evictions from general needs housing continue to result from actions triggered by rent arrears . Statistical evidence suggests that rates of rent arrears eviction in the HA sector fell by around a quarter in the three years to 2007-08, though a slight increase was recorded in 2008-09 . The downward trend up until 2007-08 was also reflected in local authority eviction rates . In 2007- 08 HA eviction rates were highest in the Midlands and lowest in London . 6 Rent arrears eviction rates have tended to run significantly higher for traditional HAs (equivalent to 0 .52% of dwelling stock in 2008-09) than for stock transfer landlords (0 .40%) . Having peaked in 2004- 05, typical eviction rates have fallen in recent years for associations of all types and sizes . However, this has been rather less marked among the largest landlords . At the same time, while they account for only a small proportion of the overall dwelling stock, the highest rates of eviction are probably found among smaller associations (those with 250-999 dwellings in ownership) . Arrears management practice in 2009: national overview The online survey informed a national overview of current policy and practice, and recent changes in associations’ approach to rent collection . Most responding HAs (58%) saw their organisation of rent arrears management as “mainly specialist” – ie a function primarily carried out by staff specialising in related activities . By 2009, only 27% of associations managed arrears within a “mainly generic” model – down from 41% in 2002 . Specialist approaches are particularly dominant among the largest associations and the overall increase in the frequency of this approach
could, in part, reflect the growing average size of associations (up by 50% between 2002 and 2007) . Almost half of associations (47%) employed inhouse welfare benefits advice staff . At the same time, the vast majority of associations helped their tenants access such advice via referrals to third party organisations . More than half of associations (56%) accessed debt-counselling services via formal referral arrangements to specialist external agencies . A similar number reported debt counselling being provided by in-house staff, and two thirds routinely trained their rent arrears staff in such matters . However, in only half of associations was it standard practice to train arrears management staff on DWP deductions or mental health awareness – both of which are landlord obligations under the PAP . Some associations remained frustrated by suboptimal performances on the part of local authority HB services . One key indicator of such frustration is the fact that more than a quarter of associations (27%) sometimes initiated legal action mainly to pressure authorities to prioritise settling HB claims . More broadly, the vast majority of associations accepted that under certain circumstances they would instigate legal action on arrears in the knowledge that a HB claim was outstanding . This tended to be seen as legitimate in cases where a delay in resolving a claim is believed to result from the tenant’s failure to provide information as requested . Most associations reported initiating some form of response to a single missed rent payment and the vast majority had designated a specific arrears threshold (most commonly four weeks rent) triggering consideration of legal action . In some cases such action was initiated “automatically” at this point, irrespective of the individual facts of the case . Again, the vast majority of associations reported that staff were “required” to make personal contact with a tenant before a NSP will be served . The average estimated proportion of NSPs, which are, in fact, preceded by such contact was 70% . A quarter of associations reported recently having sought possession under Ground 8 of the Housing Act 1988 . Substantiating suggestions from earlier research, use of Ground 8 was much less common among transfer HAs and much more common in London (where it had been recently employed by more than half of associations) . The level of arrears was the factor most commonly cited by respondents as a consideration in whether or not to take action under Ground 8 . Other factors cited by more than half of this cohort of associations included where the tenant fails to respond to attempts at contact, Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector 7
Page 1 and 2: Rent arrears management practices i
Page 3 and 4: Contents Executive summary . . . .
Page 5 and 6: Executive summary Introduction This
Page 7: Key underlying factors were said to
Page 11 and 12: overpayments and suspensions were p
Page 13 and 14: Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Backgrou
Page 15 and 16: arrears management and related aspe
Page 17 and 18: “… there may occasionally be ci
Page 19 and 20: under Article 8 of the Convention,
Page 21 and 22: y HAs . 37 The Circular informed as
Page 23 and 24: Pre-action protocol for possession
Page 25 and 26: The purpose of these interviews was
Page 27 and 28: Table 1.1 - Case Study HAs Organisa
Page 29 and 30: Chapter 2 Rent arrears management p
Page 31 and 32: Pawson et al’s study found that 9
Page 33 and 34: 2.3 Rent arrears management practic
Page 35 and 36: this with any certainty . 69 Howeve
Page 37 and 38: authority can also lead to a lack o
Page 39 and 40: 2.5 The use of Ground 8 Although th
Page 41 and 42: In the Hunter et al study, 97 which
Page 43 and 44: some comment on the effect of the P
Page 45 and 46: • Ground 8 provided certainty to
Page 47 and 48: There was a difference of opinion a
Page 49 and 50: 3.3 The use of Ground 8 Whereas ans
Page 51 and 52: do so early enough, or at all . Cla
Page 53 and 54: Chapter 4 Rent collection and arrea
Page 55 and 56: 4.3 Housing Benefit service perform
Page 57 and 58: Table 4.3 - Housing association evi
Page 59 and 60:
As shown in Figure 4 .1, CORE data
Page 61 and 62:
were collected for landlords with l
Page 63 and 64:
Most associations report initiating
Page 65 and 66:
5.2 Organisation of rent arrears ma
Page 67 and 68:
Table 5.2 - Primary structure of ar
Page 69 and 70:
Table 5.3 - Recent changes in organ
Page 71 and 72:
Table 5.6 - Staff training provisio
Page 73 and 74:
Within the transfer landlord cohort
Page 75 and 76:
• Where arrears were accrued befo
Page 77 and 78:
Table 5.9 - Estimated percentage of
Page 79 and 80:
elatively high response rate achiev
Page 81 and 82:
The survey sought to collect statis
Page 83 and 84:
Ground 8 actions typically accounte
Page 85 and 86:
How is the scale of Ground 8 use ch
Page 87 and 88:
already routinely exercising the ac
Page 89 and 90:
Chapter 6 Case study evidence Chapt
Page 91 and 92:
Annex 2 outlines our method, includ
Page 93 and 94:
a couple of weeks to three months)
Page 95 and 96:
to officers and policies . Officers
Page 97 and 98:
RM put it, “caused uproar from te
Page 99 and 100:
preferred form of the organisation
Page 101 and 102:
tenant contacts are now recorded on
Page 103 and 104:
as a result, would make an order un
Page 105 and 106:
use - in these cases, it is viewed
Page 107 and 108:
g) The tenant perspective In each c
Page 109 and 110:
Ground 8 was generally to scrutinis
Page 111 and 112:
Ground 8 was said to be used as a
Page 113 and 114:
The key stakeholders regarded the P
Page 115 and 116:
ule it would not be used where HB w
Page 117 and 118:
Table A1.1 - Evicted households by
Page 119 and 120:
uncontactable as a result) . Where
Page 121 and 122:
Just under half of all cases in the
Page 123 and 124:
Annex 2 Case study HA selection Our
Page 125 and 126:
Annex 3 Profile of case study housi
Page 127 and 128:
However, after a review across its
Page 129 and 130:
as developing joint working with th
Page 131 and 132:
Annex 4 Case study topic guides HA
Page 133 and 134:
19. What has been your recent exper
Page 135 and 136:
12. How are your tenants helped wit
Page 137 and 138:
9. If RSLs rely on Ground 8, what i
Page 139 and 140:
4 Tenant employment circumstances (
Page 141 and 142:
10 Value (£) of arrears at defined
Page 143 and 144:
Our offices Maple House 149 Tottenh
show all

Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?