New housing advisory boards improving council housing management

New research has revealed that councils are taking a more structured approach to the way they manage and monitor the performance of their housing services.

As part of their response to the new post-Grenfell regulatory regime, many local authorities have added housing improvement and advisory boards to their oversight and scrutiny systems.

The report, Local Authority Housing Boards: An overview, has been commissioned jointly by the newly-formed Association of Directors of Housing (ADoH) and the National Federation of ALMOs (NFA), two bodies that represent council housing management in England. It examines recent shifts in governance, assurance and scrutiny in the council housing sector and looks at their likely impact on performance.

Many of the new boards include tenant representatives alongside independent experts, councillors and officers, helping to ensure residents’ experiences inform decision-making and service improvement. The primary goal of this fundamental reset, says Professor Rhys Andrews of Cardiff University, is improved services. However, many councils are also concerned about how they can meet the exacting new Consumer Standards now being tested by the Regulator of Social Housing’s rigorous inspection regime, the ramped-up oversight from the Housing Ombudsman and a range of other post-Grenfell legal and regulatory reforms such as Awaab’s Law.

Kelly Deane, ADoH Leadership Board member and Committee Chair: Housing Quality, Standards and Regulation, and Director of Housing and Public Protection at BCP Council, said: “Strong governance is fundamental to delivering the safe, high-quality homes and services that residents deserve. As councils work to meet rising expectations and demands, it is vital that they have the right arrangements in place to support accountability, drive improvement and deliver better outcomes for people, families and communities. This report provides valuable insight into emerging governance models and practical tools to help housing leaders strengthen oversight while keeping residents at the heart of decision-making.”

Eamon McGoldrick, Managing Director of the NFA said: “Council Housing ALMOs are one governance model that has stood the test of time, and many of the lessons around good governance, oversight and the tenant voice are relevant across local authorities, regardless of how they structure their assurance mechanisms. “We welcome this report, because it marks a start in the much-needed process of creating a common standard of assurance in the council housing sector, whilst allowing for a flexible response to local needs and circumstances.” Note to editors The report Local Authority Housing Boards: An overview will be made available to the membership of ADoH and the NFA. Interested journalists are welcome to read and quote from a digital review copy which is available on request. For in-depth articles, we have two sector leaders available for interview: Eamon McGoldrick, NFA Managing Director; and Kelly Deane, ADoH Leadership Board member and Committee Chair: Housing Quality, Standards and Regulation, and Director of Housing and Public Protection at BCP Council. Please contact Katherine Richards, ADoH Senior Policy and Programmes Officer: