The proposal, which would take advantage of new powers devolved by George Osborne, is understood to be the largest ever agreement of its kind.

Inside Housing has said:

“It follows an historic memorandum of understanding on public health between Greater Manchester local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and NHS providers, following the £6bn devolution of the region’s NHS budget.

George Osborne is considering announcing the plans in the forthcoming Spending Review on 25 November.

The memorandum of understanding between the group of around 30 housing associations and the 10-council Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) would focus on setting joint goals on areas including housing supply, employment, crime and disorder, and health.

It may also look at agreeing joint ‘asks’ of government in order to achieve these targets, and could look at ways the landlords can use their collective asset base to achieve scale, enabling investment in more homes.

The memorandum is expected to be finalised in April next year” ”

The government will move to exempt housing associations from a proposed £95,000 cap on public sector employee exit payments.

Accordng to inside Housing:

“Social housing lawyers Anthony Collins Solicitors had raised the prospect that housing associations would be caught by new rules under the Enterprise Bill limiting exit packages in the public sector.

This is because the Treasury in September indicated it would define ‘public sector’ for the purposes of the proposed new rule as organisations on an Office for National Statistics (ONS) list of public bodies for accounts purposes. Housing associations were added to the ONS list following a reclassification last month.

However, the government is not intending to impose the cap on associations as it would run counter to its aim of deregulating housing associations to ensure they are reclassified as private bodies so £60bn of association debt comes off the public balance sheet.

If necessary, it will amend draft regulations under the Enterprise Bill, which is currently going through parliament, to ensure this.”

Housing associations are seeking legal advice about their statutory requirements as they look to cut back on repairs and maintenance services without breaking the law.

Social housing lawyers and consultants told Inside Housing social landlords are seeking to understand their legal obligations before they reduce costs to cope with the 1% annual social housing rent cut.

According to Inside Housing:

“Catherine Hand, a partner at law firm Trowers & Hamlins, said a “large number” of landlords have, since September, sought clarification on what services they have to provide by law.

She said: “It is so sensible decisions can be made about how costs can be cut safely.”

Ms Hand added that as well as commissioning general reviews on legal obligations, associations are seeking specific clarification on what repairs tenants could do themselves and about the role of call centres. Elaine Bailey, chief executive of Hyde, wrote to staff earlier this year to say the association “will look at reducing the range of services we provide by focusing on our statutory landlord obligations”.

Alistair McIntosh, chief executive of consultants Housing Quality Network, said landlords are talking to surveyors and consultants as well as law firms as they prepare for a significant drop in revenue. He said associations were not only reacting to a squeeze on finances, but also to how they think they are expected to operate given the government’s priority of increasing homeownership.

Mr McIntosh said: “Landlords are looking at getting back to statutory minimum. The level of service tenants get will be more like the service they get from a private landlord.”

Michael Gelling, chief executive of the Tenants’ and Residents’ Organisations of England, warned that some associations could be moving away from the sector’s social purpose.

Steve Cole, policy leader at the National Housing Federation, does not believe there will be a general drop in standards. He said: “They [landlords] might be looking at how they could hold off on replacing certain elements in order to deliver more important and more beneficial repairs.” He said the rent cut will make it harder for landlords to hit current asset management targets.

IN NUMBERS: Social housing rent cut

1% – annual cut to rents from next April
4 years – length of rent cut
25% – cuts to operating costs being prepared by some landlords
£3.9bn – reduction in earnings as a result of the cut, according to the National Housing Federation “

Housing benefit for social housing tenants will be capped in line with the private sector to stop social landlords charging “inflated rent”, George Osborne has announced.

Accourding to Inside Housing:

“The policy, which was announced by the chancellor in the Spending Review, will limit housing benefit for social renters taking up new tenancies to Local Housing Allowance rates.

It is expected to save £225m each year by 2020/21, according to the Spending Review and Autumn Statement document.

The move means that housing benefit for single people in social housing under 35 without children will be restricted to shared accommodation rates. This means they will only be able to claim the same amount of benefit as a private tenant is able to claim for a room in a shared house.

In the Spending Review document, the government says the change is designed to “prevent social landlords from charging inflated rent for their properties”.

The policy will apply to tenancies signed after 1 April 2016, with the entitlement changing from 1 April 2018.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in the private sector was brought in 2008 by the Labour government to decouple rising private rents from housing benefit.

Under the coalition government in 2011, LHA rates were set in line with the 30th percentile of local market rents.

The move is expected to have a larger impact on specially adapted properties, which traditionally command higher rents. The government has not said whether there will be exemptions for particular properties.

In his speech, Mr Osborne said he would apply no further changes to universal credit or work allowances, beyond those already passed in Parliament.

He also said he would stop paying housing benefit and pension credit payments to people who have left the country for more than a month.

The government will also devolve the £10m temporary accommodation management fee budget to councils and give extra Discretionary Housing Payment funding to local authorities to protected those in supported accommodation.

The Spending Review document says ministers will consider transferring responsibility for funding the administration of housing benefit for pensioners to councils.”

Deregulation of housing associations is now likely to happen in two phases, the new head of regulation at the Homes and Communities Agency has said.

According to Inside Housing:

“Fiona MacGregor, who was confirmed in the role on a permanent basis earlier this month, said measures agreed as part of the voluntary Right to Buy deal are likely to be implemented at a later stage, after changes needed to ensure associations are reclassified as private bodies take place.

In an exclusive interview for Inside Housing this week, Ms MacGregor said: “We might end up doing deregulation… in two phases.”

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) last month reclassified housing associations as public bodies. The ONS cited measures in the previous Labour government’s Housing and Regeneration Act, including government consent powers over asset disposals, and the restructuring and winding up of housing associations’ and ministers’ powers to appoint managers and officers to landlords.

Ministers have pledged deregulation to reverse the ONS decision.

Ms MacGregor also said the Homes and Communities Agency will not enforce the Right to Buy. Instead, its new homeownership standard will be used strictly to monitor sales rates and levels of requests.

The National Housing Federation’s board on Wednesday approved the merger code, which has been devised to encourage good practice, promote transparency and dispel perceptions of inefficiency.

The document, entitled Voluntary Code for Housing Association Mergers, Group Structures and Partnerships, was approved at an NHF board meeting last week.

The 10 principles provide guidance on how boards should deal with the first stage of a merger process (see below)

It encourages boards and chief executives to focus on an association’s core purpose, maintain transparency and follow structured negotiations. Associations signing up to the code would declare that they have signed up to the code in their annual financial statements, and boards would keep a record of activity.

NHF members are due to receive the code before Christmas, with full publication expected early next year.

Under changes announced in last week’s Spending Review, housing benefit for social tenants will be capped in line with Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates – the amount of benefit claimants are entitled to in the private rented sector.

The move, estimated to save £225m per year by 2020/21, is expected to hit supported housing for vulnerable, homeless disabled and older people, which commands higher rents because it is more expensive to build and manage.

Mick Sweeney, chief executive of One Housing Group, warned that a number of schemes under development, including 300 elderly extra care properties, were now under threat due to the change.

He said: “We can’t commit to these schemes without some certainty over rental income.”

According to charity Homeless Link, government officials have privately said supported housing will be subject to the changes, although a Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson would not confirm this.

A briefing from the charity said civil servants had committed to mitigating the impact on supported housing providers by providing extra discretionary housing payments (DHP).

The Spending Review document pledges additional DHP for supported housing tenants.

Under the changes, single people under 35 will only be entitled to the rate of housing benefit for a single room in a shared house. According to government figures, a total of 33,480 English general needs lettings were made in 2014/15 to single people aged 35 or younger in one-bedroom social sector properties. It is not known how many of these lettings were made to benefit claimants, or how many contain children and would therefore be exempt.

Andy Winter, chief executive of Brighton Housing Trust, said LHA shared room rates would fail to cover hostel rents. He added that extra DHPs offered “little comfort”, as councils set their own priorities and the overall DHP pot could be reduced in the future. Chancellor George Osborne last week announced the LHA rule as part of the government’s attempt to find £12bn of welfare savings.tom mcdineuber london

A Cutting Red Tape review will examine issues including roads and infrastructure rules for housing developments, environmental requirements and rules affecting utilities.

The government says “ineffective rules and heavy-handed enforcement” are stopping house builders developing “the homes that Britain needs”.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid said rules that are “too complicated, ineffective or poorly enforced”.

It forms part of a wider government Cutting Red Tape programme, with the government wanting to cut £10bn of regulation on businesses.

Submissions can be emailed to LGAhousingcommission@local.gov.uk.

Housing associations reduced plans to invest in new homes by £1bn in the months following George Osborne’s rent cut.

According to Inside Housing:

“In June, housing associations had planned to invest £8.5bn in new homes this financial year. But by September, they had revised their forecast for the year to £7.5bn.

The chancellor announced a surprise rent cut in his July Budget – requiring associations to reduce social rents by 1% per year instead of increasing them by inflation plus 1%.

The figures, which emerged in the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) quarterly survey of providers, could be evidence of associations pausing or abandoning development as a result.”