TSA

Council tenants are set to benefit from increased protection under proposals unveiled today to extend the powers of the Tenant Services Authority (TSA).
Housing Minister John Healey today announced that for the first time all social housing would be covered by a single regulator, putting housing association tenants and council tenants on an equal footing when it comes to housing standards and services.
The proposals would extend the remit of the new TSA to regulate both housing associations and council landlords from April 2010 and give the TSA the powers it needs to set common standards across all social housing providers.
John Healey said: "This consultation is an important step to securing a better deal for all social housing tenants. Having a decent home and good housing services should not be a lottery depending on who the landlord happens to be. I want every tenant to have a landlord who offers good quality homes and who listens and acts in line with people's needs. This is exactly what the TSA aims to achieve.
"I have been struck by the breadth and depth of support behind moving to a single regulator. Few have contested the idea that landlords who deliver similar services should be expected to adhere to the same standards.
"The proposals published today strike a balance between enabling the TSA to operate a single common system and also recognising the differences in governance between housing association and council landlords."
TSA Chief Executive Peter Marsh said: "We welcome the Government's proposals published today which bring us a step closer to ensuring that over 8.4 million tenants of social housing benefit from similar levels of protection and choice.
"Tenants will also enjoy the same rights and opportunities to be involved in the decisions that affect them and their neighbourhoods.
"We recognise there are some excellent local authority landlords up and down the country, but where this is not the case and tenants are not getting the deal they deserve, we will regulate in a proportionate way to raise the standard of service for tenants.
"Since we launched our consultation on landlord standards, nearly 6,000 local authority tenants have shared with us their views on the services that matter most to them.
"We will continue to work very closely with tenants, local authorities and the Local Government Association on how the new regulatory framework will work in practice in the months ahead."

Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing Grant Shapps said: "The TSA has spent its entire life to date carrying out reviews on how to help tenants but has failed to actually do it. I fear that this classic Labour process over progress approach to housing will result in wasted money and endless reviews.
"If the TSA is really going to help tenants then it will have to stop talking about what to do and actually do it. We will be watching progress carefully."
The Consultation can be found on the Communities and Local Government website at:
www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/crossdomainorder
The Consultation closes on October 30 2009.

If you have a long standing complaint against your landlord or if your Housing Association is discriminating against you in any way or failing to provide you with the services that you are entitled to benefit from then you can tell the TSA.
You can be sure that you will not be entered on any housing association blacklist. The TSA are mapping complaints in order to create an accurate picture of where the real problems are.
The TSA do not offer to resolve your complaint but you can help just by letting them know of any problems you are having and they will on request send you the Housing Association Charter with Your Rights explained and details of how to contact the Housing Ombudsmans office