Housing Associations - Models of Social Enterprise or Agents of the State? Eric Summers

1. Housing Associations - Models of Social Enterprise or Agents of the State? Eric Summers University of Huddersfield

2. Two points for reflection … • the transfer of 15,500 Liverpool City Council homes to Liverpool Mutual Homes • problems someone from Easteasters is having ‘with the housing association’ from taking in lodgers.

3. The sector Around 2m housing association homes Compared to 2.1m Council homes = 1.3m directly managed + 800,000 managed through ALMO’s But … 1165 small housing associations with less than 250 units and another 60 very large associations or group structures with more than 10,000 homes (Cave Report 2007)

4. Periphery of Public & Third Sector, includes: Education Colleges Housing Associations Quangos Third sector Periphery of Private & Third Sector, includes: Co-operatives Provident Associations Social Enterprise Third Sector Organisations, includes: Charities Voluntary Organisations Public Sector Organisations, includes: Local Authorities Central Government Private Sector Organisations, includes: Companies Partnerships Public sector Private sector Boundaries between the Third, Public and Private Sectors (summary amended from original by Hudson (2002))

6. Third sector Almhouses c. 1235 onwards Some post-1974 HA’s? Many post-1974 HA’s? 5% philanthropy & public utility companies c.1830 onwards 1935/1936 regional policy HA’s Stock transfer HA’s c. 1998 onwards 1961 cost-rent housing societies & co-ownership Public sector Private sector

7. Summary • Private sector inclined but with a social ethos – here we have the 5% philanthropists and later the cost-rent associations of the 1960’s; • Third sector defined with a clear and often continuing voluntary or community sector bias – here we can probably include the many continuing almhouses as examples; • Third sector with a private sector leaning – perhaps never quite realised but certainly encouraged through the mid-1980’s definition of the ‘independent rented sector’ • Third sector with a public sector leaning – post-1974 to mid 1980’s traditional housing associations; • Public sector with some third sector and private sector leaning – stock transfer housing associations

9. Autonomous? Rent setting: policy of rent convergence with local authorities Tenant selection: Housing Corporation regulatory code + LA nominations and local policies (eg homelessness strategies) Property standards: minimum requirements established through the Decent Homes Standard New home quality and design: Housing Corporation development standards + directed through policy/procedural constraints and development grants Policy/strategic focus: strategic direction will be heavily influenced by centralised (State) priorities Regulatory direction: from primary regulators, Housing Corporation, but now also Audit Commission inspections

10. Some views ‘It is precisely because of their ambiguous status that successive governments have been able to adapt the movement to satisfy their own goals’ Back & Hamnett (1985). the housing association sector of today ‘is the product of accretion of layers of organizational responses to opportunities existing in different eras’ Mullins (2004)

11. Some views ‘in the past it was possible for groups of concerned people to take the initiative to form new associations, to secure registration with the Housing Corporation and to build up their associations into substantial providers of housing services. Now, however, this is virtually impossible’ Malpass (2001)

12. Some views ‘One of the phenomena of recent times is the manner in which formerly independent charities have become agents of the state (e.g. housing associations) or lobbyists for more state resources’ (Whelan, 1996, as quoted in King, 1998) with King then going on to refer to what he calls a process of ‘nationalisation of charity’