They have written to housing minister Lord Falconer alleging that Housing Corporation officers have positively discouraged RSLs from offering their tenants a contractual right to manage.
They appealed to Falconer to change the right to manage law to secure tenants鈥� right of community control following transfer.
Last month a TMO in St Helens, Merseyside, accused the corporation of threatening to refuse registration to their transfer landlord if it agreed to an arbitration contract (Housing Today, 31 January).
This week鈥檚 letter calls on the government to refuse transfers unless tenants鈥� rights are fully protected.
And it says housing associations should develop a framework within which transfer landlords would be required to offer a contractual right to manage as a condition of registration.
鈥淚t is in the tenants鈥� interests that RSLs should operate with viable long-term business plans,鈥� the letter reads.
鈥淭here need be no contradiction between sound financial planning and a responsive framework for community empowerment.鈥�
National Housing Federation deputy chief executive James Tickell (pictured) said while tenant management should be implemented as good practice, a change in the law could not be enforced.
鈥淪tock transfers require a balance between the interests of tenants and lenders to achieve tenants鈥� long-term objectives,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚f new associations鈥� independence is constrained by a new statutory right, many transfer deals could no longer be viable.鈥�
A spokeswoman denied that the corporation discouraged TMOs. It expected residents and associations to work towards the outcomes in its regulatory code 鈥渋n partnership鈥�, she said.
Source
Housing Today
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