Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

on cutting current tenant arrears (and which
incentivised eviction of “high arrears” cases) .
Managerialism offered a set of practices and
values to improve that performance, as discussed
below . It was notable particularly in HA D, E and
F that senior management were committed to
change, not for its sake, but also to impart a set
of values in rent collection as customer service .
HA C’s future internal organisational change was
explicitly premised on improving their customer
service rating . These changes are made possible
by the symbolic reconceptualisation of rent arrears
as income collection, as it imparts a shift from
the negative (a focus on dealing or coping with
deviance) to the positive (a collective responsibility
to pay rent) .
Cultural change among tenants
The particular cultural change, which was
mentioned across most of our case studies,
concerned recipients of HB . The view of these
participants was that such recipients often held the
view that they had no responsibility for the rent as
HB paid it for them . Culture change was generally
sought through a belief in changing the reputation
of the HA – a trickle down effect to tenants
through, for example, “word of mouth culture”
(HAA/LAM) .
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On this point, there was a contrast between the
position adopted by HA B and HA C . The former
did not mention this as an issue because claiming
HB was taken out of the recipient’s hands at the
commencement of the tenancy, as the voids team
completed the forms, photocopied documents,
and submitted the documentation; those officers
also kept a copy of the claim . HA C, by contrast,
stopped that practice about seven years ago .
The officers check forms, but the responsibility
is clearly on the tenant, so that a “culture of
responsibility” was imparted to them . This is
supplemented by promotional literature which,
rather than focus on the negative, now informs
tenants “what we could do if everyone paid their
rent”, “we need your help and appreciate your
help” . It has been recognised that the “big boot”
approach “does not get you anywhere” .
HA E’s problem was perhaps distinctive because
their historical association as a family-based charity
generated it, which had been willing to accept
tenant’s reasons for being unable to pay rent
and carry arrears . In order to tackle the historic
problems of rent arrears, it has been the culture
of HA E, which has changed as considerably as
the management – emphasis has been placed on
officers’ responsibility towards the organisation .
ROs began telephoning their customers who, as an