Agenda item

An update will be provided on the Preferred Partnership Agreement between the Council and a number of local Registered Housing Providers.

11.1    The panel noted that there were in excess of 50 RHPs providing housing services to over 13,000 local households.  RHPs have been and continue to be key partners in the provision of new affordable housing, specialist housing support and other tenures to local residents.  The number of providers however was however challenging for local engagement. As such, the Council was preparing for a more strategic working relationship with six key providers.

11.2    An initial invite was circulated to all RHPs and from resulting expressions of interest, a short list of nine was agreed.  Following interview, six preferred partners were agreed which were:

·         Family Mosaic

·         Newlon

·         Notting Hill

·         Sanctuary

·         Circle

·         London and Quadrant

11.3    Members were keen to understand what criteria had been used to select RHP preferred partners.  It was understood that those selected were already active in development and the council would seek to build on this.  A number of those selected also had a local presence in Haringey, one had its head office in Tottenham Hale and another had its South Eastern head office in Wood Green.

11.4    The panel noted that as there was no legal obligation for RHPs to work with the Council, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was being developed to create a framework for the council and preferred partners to work together.  There will be one MoU for all 6 partners. A dedicated web page would be provided on the council website detailing local arrangements with RHPs and a performance report would be compiled. It was agreed that this performance report would come to Overview & Scrutiny at a future date once in operation:

Agreed: Once the Memorandum of Understanding has been agreed between the Council and preferred partners and in operation, a performance report for the RP sector will come to scrutiny.

11.5    The panel noted that there were a number of ongoing issues with a few local RHPs which needed to be resolved, which included:

·         Failing to provide local walkabouts with councillors to identify housing management issues;

·         Failure of RHPs to work cooperatively on multi-landlord estates

·         A reluctance to provide houses at social rent despite being funded by central government to do so;

·         A local provider which did not meet CQC standards for some of its supported housing;

·         A provider which had implemented security structures which made residents feel like they were living in a prison.

Agreed: Further details of issues with Register Providers highlighted by the panel would be passed to the lead officer for further enquiry (and report back).

11.6    The panel were reassured that although the Preferred Partnership Status had been agreed with large RHPs, the Council would continue to work with smaller organisations.  The panel noted that the Council would also encourage larger preferred partners to work in partnership with smaller RHPs to further support the provision of housing services in the borough.  It was noted that HfH already works closely with a number of local RHPs in the provision of housing services and in driving common housing management standards.

11.7 The panel sought clarification as to whether two liaison forums between the councils and RHPs were still in operation (i.e. the Development Forum and Provider Forum) and whether attendances had improved. It was recorded that these were still in operation and that although attendance remained challenging, the new Preferred Partnership Status may help to reinvigorate these groups.

11.8    In response to specific questioning as to the eligibility of local Councillors to join the board of RHPs, it was noted that there was no specific bar to this, but that this was a decision for individual RHP boards.

11.9    The panel also sought to clarify how both parties would benefit from the Preferred Partnership Status.  It was noted that from the RHP perspective, the council would support bids for regional funding (e.g. GLA), will support new build in Haringey and may be given funding to build (as mentioned earlier from receipts from RTB).  The Council will benefit from a more strategic relationship with providers who are keen to develop interests in Haringey and who already have a track record of new build in the borough. The panel noted that Council still retains 100% nomination rights on new build.

11.10  The Chair thanked officers for the report and for attending to respond to member questions.