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Council tenants are set to benefit from increased protection under proposals announced today to extend the powers of the Tenant Services Authority (TSA).

Housing Minister John Healey today announced that for the first time all social housing would be covered by a single regulator, putting housing association tenants and council tenants on an equal footing when it comes to housing standards and services.

The proposals would extend the remit of the new TSA to regulate both housing associations and council landlords from April 2010 and give the TSA the powers it needs to set common standards across all social housing providers.

John Healey said:

"This consultation is an important step to securing a better deal for all social housing tenants. Having a decent home and good housing services should not be a lottery depending on who the landlord happens to be. I want every tenant to have a landlord who offers good quality homes and who listens and acts in line with people's needs. This is exactly what the TSA aims to achieve.

"I have been struck by the breadth and depth of support behind moving to a single regulator. Few have contested the idea that landlords who deliver similar services should be expected to adhere to the same standards.

"The proposals published today strike a balance between enabling the TSA to operate a single common system and also recognising the differences in governance between housing association and council landlords."

TSA Chief Executive Peter Marsh said:

"We welcome the government's proposals published today which bring us a step closer to ensuring that over 8.4 million tenants of social housing benefit from similar levels of protection and choice. Tenants will also enjoy the same rights and opportunities to be involved in the decisions that affect them and their neighbourhoods. We recognise there are some excellent local authority landlords up and down the country, but where this is not the case and tenants are not getting the deal they deserve, we will regulate in a proportionate way to raise the standard of service for tenants.

"Since we launched our consultation on landlord standards, nearly 6,000 local authority tenants have shared with us their views on the services that matter most to them. We will continue to work very closely with tenants, local authorities and the Local Government Association on how the new regulatory framework will work in practice in the months ahead."

The Consultation can be found on the Communities and Local Government website at:
www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/crossdomainorder.

The Consultation closes on October 30th 2009.

Notes to editors

1. Today's consultation, the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (Registration of Local Authorities) Order 2009 (the Cross Domain Order) is published today and can be found at: www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/crossdomainorder.

2. The deadline for responses is 30th October, 2009.

3. Mr. Healey is today consulting on the draft Cross Domain Order and the principles underpinning it. The Order would provide the legislative framework under which the social housing regulator, the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) would regulate local authority landlords.

4. A power in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 ("the 2008 Act") allows the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to make an order to amend or modify as necessary the 2008 Act or other legislation so as to allow the (TSA) to regulate local authorities with regard to their role as social landlords.

5. The TSA became the regulator of RSLs (housing associations) in December 2008, using interim powers previously held by the Housing Corporation. The TSA does not currently regulate local authority landlords. Under the Proposals published today, the TSA would, for the first time, work across the whole domain of social housing in order to raise the standard of services for tenants no matter who their landlord.

6. The TSA has embarked on an extensive and ambitious National Conversation with tenants and landlords on how it should take forward regulation under its new powers. It is consulting with social housing tenants across five million households and their landlords to develop new standards to improve services for tenants, which closes on 8 September 2009. A further consultation will then begin in November.

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