Housing bill receives royal assent

The Housing and Planning bill has been given royal asset as parliament rises for the summer.

The new bill will see the creation of the new Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) – which will be created from a merged English Partnerships (EP), Housing Corporation (HC) and Academy for Sustainable Communities (ASC).

Sir Bob Kerslake, who was appointed to lead the new agency in January, commented: "This Act makes the early December launch of the HCA a reality.

"It is the successful culmination of a huge amount of work by parliament, Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and the HCA set-up Team.

"The intensive testing process has resulted in the strongest possible Act and the best possible start for the new agency."

The new agency will come into existence on December 1st this year.

The Act will also see the new Tenant Services Authority (TSA) assume the role of social housing regulator.

In essence this new body will take over the regulatory work of the Housing Corporation, inspecting providers, and responding to concerns.

It is hoped it will protect the four million social rented households, including tenants of local authorities and their Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMO).

"Our challenge as a sector is to now prepare for the new regulatory and investment environments, to maintain our delivery of services during this transition period, and to rise to the challenge of bringing about a step change in our offer to tenants and communities in the future," commented Sarah Webb, Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) chief executive.

"The CIH is well placed to help the sector deliver on its ambitions for new supply, existing homes and communities and on the housing reform agenda."

Chris O'Toole