Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will have discussions with the Regulator of Social Housing on whether it has instructed the Board of Tower Hamlets Community Housing to discontinue the negotiations with Poplar HARCA about the proposed merger of the organisations.
Answered by Jacob Young
The Regulator of Social Housing is an Arms Length Body with operational independence from government. It operates according to the regulatory framework which sets out the economic and consumer standards that registered providers of social housing are required to meet.
Tower Hamlets Community Housing is an independent private sector organisation that makes its own commercial decisions.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will have discussions with the Regulator of Social Housing on whether they have had discussions with any of the large G15 housing associations on taking over Tower Hamlets Community Housing.
Answered by Jacob Young
The Regulator of Social Housing is an Arms Length Body with operational independence from government. It operates according to the regulatory framework which sets out the economic and consumer standards that registered providers of social housing are required to meet.
Tower Hamlets Community Housing is an independent private sector organisation that makes its own commercial decisions.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will have discussions with the Regulator of Social Housing on whether the Board of Tower Hamlets Community Housing has produced an improvement plan as of 26 April 2024.
Answered by Jacob Young
The Regulator of Social Housing is an Arms Length Body with operational independence from government. It operates according to the regulatory framework which sets out the economic and consumer standards that registered providers of social housing are required to meet.
Tower Hamlets Community Housing is an independent private sector organisation that makes its own commercial decisions.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he asked the Regulator of Social Housing to report on the effectiveness of its involvement in the proposed merger between Swan Housing and Orbit in 2022.
Answered by Jacob Young
The Regulator of Social Housing is an arm’s-length body with operational independence from government. It sets the economic and consumer standards that registered providers of social housing are required to meet. The details of the Regulator’s engagement on the proposed merger between Swan Housing Association and Orbit is a matter for the Regulator.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the whole of a building that is partially higher than 11 metres and partially lower than this threshold will be eligible for funding from the Cladding Safety Scheme.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Cladding Safety Scheme is open to buildings over 11 metres (and up to 18 metres in London) when measured in accordance with the guidance set out on scheme eligibility on gov.uk. The height measurement should be taken from the lowest external ground level to the finished floor level of the top occupied storey. If a building is of varying height, it is the height of the highest residential floor which is relevant when measured in accordance with the instructions provided.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what proportion of maladministration cases have been due to unreasonable delays from housing associations each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Jacob Young
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Housing Ombudsman’s adjudication on Complaint 202015630 about Clarion Housing Group’s handling of a repair for a disabled tenant and the recommendation that the organisation review its whole process and practice for dealing with the repairs of vulnerable tenants, if he will ask the Regulator for Social Housing (a) for what reason it didn’t identify those service failings in its own investigation in 2020 and 2021 and (b) whether vulnerable tenants were potentially incurring serious detriment as a result of Clarion’s flawed classification of their repairs as routine to be completed within 28 days.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Regulator of Social Housing's investigations in 2020 and 2021 did not identify systemic failures by Clarion and therefore did not find a breach of the regulatory standards or serious detriment. However, the Regulator has acknowledged and notified Clarion that it had identified individual incidents of service failure for Clarion to resolve. The Regulator does not have a role in resolving individual disputes between tenants and their landlords. Where the Regulator receives a referral from a tenant or representative for an individual matter, the Regulator will always signpost the tenant or representative to the Housing Ombudsman.
The Housing Ombudsman's role is to adjudicate on individual complaints from tenants about their landlords, and its investigation and adjudication on Complaint 202015630 was a resolution to an individual complaint.
Service failures can have a significant effect on tenants, and such failures should be remedied promptly and effectively by the landlord. Where a registered provider does not resolve the issues for the tenant, it is for the Housing Ombudsman to make orders and recommendations to put things right for the individual affected.