Agenda item

A presentation will be given at the meeting.

Karen Lucas, Head of Housing Needs, made a presentation to the Committee on how Islington Council works with housing associations.

The following main points were noted in the discussion:

·         Housing associations were a varied group of organisations. Some were large regional or national organisations, whereas others were small local housing providers. For this reason it was difficult to categorise them in general terms. How Islington Council worked with each association varied depending on the type of organisation and their relationship with the council.

·         It was highlighted that several large housing associations had merged in recent years. Clarion, formerly Affinity and Circle, managed 125,000 homes.  Peabody and Family Mosaic were in the process of merging and managed 55,000 homes across London.

·         London’s largest housing associations formed the G15 Group, which collectively managed 550,000 homes across London, representing 21% of the housing stock, and housing 1 in 10 Londoners.

·         The Housing service focused on building relationships with the housing associations that managed the most amount of homes in the borough. Although it was good practice for local authorities and housing providers to work in partnership across a range of issues, it was explained that there was no legal duty that required housing associations to engage positively with local authorities.

·         32 housing associations operated in Islington managing 16,500 homes. Peabody managed 5,000 homes in Islington, Clarion managed 3,700. Hyde, Newlon and Southern also managed a significant number of properties. Some smaller providers managed fewer than 10 units in the borough.

·         Although some housing associations developed a significant number of homes nationally, the number of new housing association developments in Islington had decreased in recent years. It was thought that this was partially because the council was developing available sites in-house through its New Build Programme. However, the council was keen for housing associations to develop affordable housing in the borough, and a breakfast meeting was scheduled for the Executive Member for Housing and Development to meet with the finance leads of major housing associations to challenge them to develop more affordable housing in the borough.

·         The council facilitated the Islington Housing Association Group which was chaired by the Chief Executive of Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association. This group met quarterly to discuss local issues, including the impact of welfare reform, anti-social behaviour, and local environmental issues. Islington Council used the group to raise the profile of corporate priorities.

·         The Committee considered that further engagement, collaboration, and partnership work with housing associations would lead to more positive outcomes for residents. However, the Committee recognised that this could be challenging when the council and housing associations had competing priorities and different values.

·         Members expressed concern that some housing associations did not always respond positively to casework and highlighted several examples of housing associations providing inadequate services to Islington residents.

·         It was suggested that a local housing association pledge to adopt the council’s early intervention principles would be a positive development.

·         The Committee expressed concern that some housing associations acted primarily as commercial developers, rather than social housing providers.

·         The Committee suggested that the council could work with neighbouring local authorities to take a united approach to working with housing associations. It was thought that a cross-London approach may result in more meaningful engagement with the larger national housing associations. It was suggested that a London-wide code of practice for housing associations would assist in holding the organisations to account. 

·         Dr Brian Potter of the Islington Leaseholders Association queried how housing association and local authority property swaps affected the rights of leaseholders. In response, it was advised that there had been few property swaps in the borough, and these tended to be rental properties.

·         A member of the public commented that he lived in a housing association property and was dissatisfied that they did not adopt the council’s policy on allowing pets in their properties. It was requested that the council raise this issue with housing associations operating in the borough.

The Committee thanked the Head of Housing Needs for her attendance.