2nd opinion: Cut the umbilical cord

uring my first year in office as a chief executive of one of the first large-scale voluntary transfer associations, I have formed a theory about their development.

My theory is that we are a strange breed. We have local authority parents and often arrive in this world after quite a difficult and traumatic birth. To begin with, our local authority parents look on us as their children and can find it quite difficult to see us as separate entities with our own purpose in life. Then comes adolescence and the big fall-out.

For West Kent – the association where I work – this happened way before my time in 1994, when the relationship with our parent local authority (Sevenoaks) fell to an all-time low and the arguments and wrangles for a time became public property. Since then, there has been considerable change and the relationship is now very good – adult, mature – a proper partnership where, at times, we can agree to disagree. We are accountable to our tenants, of which there are three on the board, but there are no local authority members. Sevenoaks no longer sees us as an extension of itself and we no longer struggle to demonstrate our independence.

I believe this is a natural process for transfer associations and part of the transition a local authority housing department goes through to become a housing association. Perhaps the most effective way of achieving this at a reasonable pace is to open the doors to new blood at the top. However, it is well known that "turkeys do not vote for Christmas". As such, it is hardly surprising that those appointed chief executives to drive through the transfer proposals of new associations are nearly always men from the local authority's housing department.

Our local authority parents look on us as their children

Of course, this is totally understandable from both a parental perspective and a child's perspective. For the local authority, it is important to know that their baby is in good hands – and who could be safer than their tried-and-tested current housing chief? For the housing chief, it is more basic. Clearly, one needs to have a job at the end of the process, and running your own housing association is undoubtedly an attractive option. However, to achieve real transformation in the transition from housing department to housing association, a change at the top is nearly always necessary and desirable.

This is not to denigrate the skills and experience of local authority housing chiefs. My point is that the umbilical cord needs to be cut. At associations, we pride ourselves on our independence. This gives us the ability to make effective decisions and to implement our business plans. It also allows us to be innovative, flexible and responsive to tenant and community needs. You only need to look at the growth in supported housing, which is a jewel in many of our crowns, and the successful implementation of new initiatives such as PFI as evidence.