Annex 1
BACKGROUND: THE HOUSING CORPORATION AND REGISTERED
SOCIAL LANDLORDS
The Corporation is a Non-Departmental Public
Body (NDPB) with responsibility in England for the registration,
regulation and funding of Registered Social Landlords—better
known as housing associations. It is also responsible for promoting
the proper performance of RSLs. It was originally set up under
the terms of the Housing Act 1964. Its responsibilities, which
government has developed and extended since then, are now principally
set out in the Housing Associations Act 1985 and the Housing Act
1996.
The Corporation's mission is "Working to
improve people's quality of life through social housing".
This is the mission statement we adopted at the time of the changes
introduced by the Housing Act 1996. It remains relevant, as it
recognises that housing is more than just bricks and mortar and
that good quality and well-managed housing has an important role
in the nation's well being. Underpinning this statement are five
strategic aims—to work with others to promote a social housing
sector which:
1. helps to revitalise and maintain sustainable
housing and neighbourhoods;
2. acts in the interests of tenants and residents;
3. secures the effective stewardship of existing
stock;
4. safeguards the public interest;
5. encourages innovation and the pursuit
of Best Value.
The Corporation has seven regional offices responsible
for the day to day tasks of funding and regulating RSLs and a
Headquarters which provides the overall policy framework and expenditure
control. The Corporation's regional offices have the same boundaries
as the Government Offices for the Regions.
There are over 2,150 RSLs on the Corporation's
register. They provide just over one million homes for rent by
those in housing need throughout England and around 82,000 shared
ownership homes and leasehold dwellings for the elderly. RSLs
are independent organisations run by non-executive, voluntary
Boards. They are constituted in a variety of ways—many are
charities registered with the Charity Commission and others are
constituted as friendly societies. They are not dependent solely
on public funds. Since the passing of the Housing Act 1988 the
sector has attracted significant amounts of private sector finance.
Private finance now amounts to £14 billion which combines
with a total of £22 billion of public investment, channelled
through the Corporation's Approved Development Programme (ADP)
and through Local Authority Social Housing Grants (LA SHG).
RSLs vary widely in their size and range of
activities and the diversity of the sector is set to continue.
While half manage fewer than 50 homes, by contrast the largest
have assets in excess of £1 billion. An increasing number
of RSLs have taken on the social housing transferred from the
local authority sector.
| 
