Just two months since the publication of the Tenant Services Authority’s revised regulatory framework document the Cabinet Office has launched a Housing and Construction Red Tape Challenge theme.
Communities Minister Baroness Hanham is asking members of the public and interested parties such as builders, businesses, homeowners, tenants and landlords to look through housing and construction regulations and see how the system can be simplified.
Some of the questions include:
- Should we scrap the regulations altogether?
- Could their purpose be achieved in a non-regulatory way (eg through a voluntary code?) How?
- Could they be reformed, simplified or merged? How?
Baroness Hanham said:
“For years builders, businesses, landlords and residents have had to navigate an increasingly complicated set of rules and regulations to do things by the book. Now we’re giving them the chance to tell us what they would like us to change so that building a new home or property is a smoother ride.”
The housing and construction theme seeks to ensure that the systems behind the regulatory framework will run in the most effective and light
touch way, whilst maintaining the necessary safeguards, and ensuring that the sector continues to provide high-quality homes. It has been broken down into four areas:
- Private rented sector – landlord and tenant relationships, including leasehold properties, and rented properties.
- Social housing – regulations that affect providers of social housing and other types of housing for vulnerable people.
- Construction related regulations – such as those related to Construction Contracts and Construction Products.
- Building regulations and related legislation – regulations that set standards for the design and construction of buildings.
The closing date for responses is 16 February 2012.