New inquiry on regulation of social housing in England

• Communities and Local Government Committee

The Committee intends to take oral evidence from the Chair of the independent Regulation Committee of the Homes and Communities Agency.

The Committee invites submissions from interested parties, including academics, housing associations, financial institutions, local authorities, builders and tenants, on the economic regulation and consumer regulation carried out by the Regulation Committee. To assist those submitting memoranda the Committee indicates that it may examine the following areas, though the list below is not exhaustive and additional suggestions of areas for consideration are welcome.

1. What has the Regulation Committee has been doing since it was set up in 2012? How well has it done? Are there other things it should have been doing? What impact has it had on the social housing sector since its establishment?
2. What are the major risks facing Housing Associations and the social housing sector? Are the standards set by the Regulation Committee on governance and financial viability adequate to mitigate those risks? Are the established arrangements providing self-regulation of the sector being adequately supervised and tested? What effect are EU procurement rules having on the financial stability of the sector?
3. Is the Regulation Committee policing the financial regulatory regime adequately to address both the risks of the failure of individual registered providers and systemic failure? Has it the power and resources needed to regulate effectively?
4. In April the HCA published a consultation document, "Protecting Social Housing Assets in a More Diverse Sector: a discussion paper on the principles for amending the Regulatory Framework for social housing in England". Why are changes needed, and are those proposed adequate? Would the proposed changes have any adverse consequences?
5. Are the arrangements in place sufficient to preserve the independence of the Regulation Committee in relation to the HCA and the sector?
6. Are the standards set by the Regulation Committee relating to consumer regulation adequate and are the monitoring arrangements sufficient?

Notes for Editors:

Submissions of no more than 3,000 words are invited until 10am on 27 June 2013 

Each submission should be labelled with the subject 'HCA Regulation', sent to clgev@parliament.uk, attached in Word format (with as little use of colour or logos as possible) and be accompanied by a covering email containing the name and contact details of the individual submitting evidence. A detailed guide for written submissions to Select Committees may be found on the parliamentary website; it should be noted that written evidence is often published and made available in a report and on the internet.

Futher information

• About Parliament: Select Committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch Committee