New skills research commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) indicates that many housing organisations may be under-prepared to meet the challenge of the Tenant Services Authority’s new regulatory framework for social housing from April.

The research, undertaken by an independent research company on behalf of CIH, involved in-depth surveys with 150 human resource professionals and senior housing executives working in ALMOS, housing associations and stock holding local authorities.

Respondents were asked what impact the introduction of the Tenant Services Authority (TSA), and its new regulatory system, would have on their organisation. With just a few months to go before the introduction of the regulatory framework, almost a half of respondents (45%) considered TSA would have minimal impact on their organisation, or were still unsure what the likely impact would be on their organisation. Overall just over one third of all respondents (36%) stated they thought the TSA would have an impact or a major impact on their organisation.


Richard Capie, CIH Director of Policy and Practice, said: "The introduction of the new regulatory system in England will inevitably mean that housing organisations will need to change and the work of housing professionals will also have to evolve. New skills and knowledge will be needed and our research shows that many organisations may be under -prepared and not fully ready to respond to what is a fundamentally new approach to regulating affordable housing."

(CD/GK)