On 14 July, the HCA's Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard was amended to take account of deregulation measures removing the requirement for RPs to seek regulator consent to social housing disposals
The change to the Standard follows an earlier Consultation which concluded in late March, and relates to RPs' need to consult tenants when proposing a change in landlord or a significant change in management arrangements. RPs have always had to consult tenants on these matters, but particularly in the case of changing landlords, and further detail of what the regulator required was integrated into the consent process. This detail is now in the new Standard.
The Standard is largely as consulted upon, requiring affected tenants to be consulted fairly, appropriately and effectively on potential advantages and disadvantages of proposals. The only adjustment to the Consultation text is that the "immediate and longer term" (rather than "the short, medium and long term") implications of a proposal must be explained. This is because the original text was considered too complex, and risked leaving tenants confused.
No further regulatory guidance is proposed. RPs will therefore need to consider carefully how consultations are managed, depending on the circumstances and the nature of proposed management changes they must be able to show how they have taken consultees' views into account when reaching their decision.
