Inside this Issue www.a1housing.co.uk Issue 30 Winter 2012

‘Times Are a’Changin’
BACK in 1964, Bob Dylan sang ‘The Times
They Are a’Changin’, but this could easily
be the soundtrack of 2012 with so many things
None more so than the introduction of the
Localism Act which will see certain powers
from Central Government handed down to a
local level - in theory giving you a greater say on
how your community is run.
There are many areas to the Localism Act
2011 that deal with issues such as social
housing, planning, building more housing, giving
One of the biggest changes will see local
councils given a ‘Power of Competence’. This
means that as long as it is within current laws
and legislation, councils like Bassetlaw will have
more power to make changes and allow more
things to happen in their own area, without being told what to do
by Central Government.
But we thought it was important to focus on what the Localism Act
2011 will mean to A1 Housing Tenants directly.
To get a better idea we spoke to A1 Housing’s Managing Director
Bernard Coleman who explained what is in store for all of us in
the next 12 months.
How much of a change is the introduction of the Localism
Act 2011 going to make?
that I can remember, and after 30-odd years of doing this, it is the
biggest legislation since the 1980 and 85 Housing Acts. The 1980
those rights. It will change the lives of tenants going forward.
Why has The Government introduced this act?
When the Coalition Government came into power they came up
with ‘The Big Society’, this act will support that concept. This is
their way of saying that Central Government doesn’t have a right
to make your decisions, and you as a society should do that.
It’s about communities challenging councils, if you didn’t like
something before you had to wait until the elections and use your
vote. In the future communities will be able to challenge and bid
to run certain services and amenities which is a big shift in power.
How is this act going to directly affect our
tenants?
Possibly the biggest change is The Government’s
concept that Social Housing should be used as
a stepping stone and only for those people who
need it.
This is called ‘tenure reform’ where councils will
have the right to no-longer give long-term secure
tenancies; instead new tenants will be given a
minimum tenancy of between 2 to 5-years.
It allows Councils to have greater control of the
length of time someone can be a tenant and the
better off, you should be moving into the private sector and that a
council house shouldn’t be a home for life.
It also covers the type of homes individuals and families live in,
for example; if you are a single person living in a three-bedroom
property, this could be better used to house a family and the
single person could move into a more appropriate property.
However, these new rules will only affect new tenants and all
existing tenants are protected, especially the elderly.
There are going to be a lot of other changes to the way that
housing is delivered. For example; we will be able to have our
own rules about the waiting list and the way we allocate homes.
called ‘Self-Financing’, how will this work?
At the moment the council collects the rent, gives it to the
government who take a cut and then give us the rest back to
run our services. Currently, the Government take away around
£4.5million a year from Bassetlaw District Council rents.
Under ‘Self-Financing’ every council in the country will get all of
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Issue 25 Autumn 2010 www.a1housing.co.uk