Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

already routinely exercising the actions required by
the PAP on a ‘good practice’ basis . In any event, the
PAP was to a large extent an exercise in marshalling
existing recommendations in regulatory and
similar documents .
Respondents indicating that the PAP had affected
local practice were asked to detail the specific
impacts . Submissions in response to this question
show that, at the very least, most respondents
believed their association’s practice to have been
altered significantly in consequence . Three of the
most common themes were:
• The adoption of more structured, thorough
and consistent practice – often involving the
introduction of checklists designed to ensure
documented compliance with the PAP’s
requirements
• A shift towards a more pro-active, preventative
approach – usually entailing more effort to
achieve personal contact with tenants in arrears
and often also involving increased emphasis on
welfare benefits advice and/or debt counselling
• Increased awareness of vulnerability issues,
scope for officer discretion in cases involving
vulnerable people, and more support provision
for tenants assessed as such
Allied with the professed shift towards a more
formalised approach (first bullet point, above),
numerous respondents reported that the PAP
focused attention on better documentation of
pre-action casework .
Many respondents cited specific changes to policy
and procedure, which they saw as having been
prompted by the PAP . Those most commonly
mentioned were:
• Extra stages introduced into the process –
sometimes extending the time allowed for
tenants to respond or honour commitments
• Dispatch of separate letters to joint tenants
• More frequent rent statements sent to tenants –
many organisations switching from six-monthly
to quarterly cycles
• Information on tenants rent balance, HB status
and order sought – disclosure 10 days prior to
court date
The extent to which other stakeholders perceive
associations’ arrears management practices to
have altered in the ways described above was
an important area to probe via the case study
fieldwork .
Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector 85