Corporation signals that top-performing RSLs may be rewarded with five-year funding

The Housing Corporation is in discussions with the ODPM about widening the powers available to its development partner associations, which currently have £2.64bn to build a total of 54,973 homes by April 2006.

The corporation’s chief executive Jon Rouse made the announcement at the National Housing Federation Chief Executives’ conference in Birmingham on Tuesday.

He said: “We need to strengthen the links between better performance and opportunity – we will grant new freedoms for the best performing housing associations.”

Rouse said the new powers would include “longer-term commitment” from the corporation to development programmes, which could be increased to five years, instead of the current two-year period.

He declined to disclose further details, saying that the proposals were “subject to negotiations with the ODPM”.

Brendan Sarsfield, chief executive of Mosaic Homes, welcomed the suggestion of five-year development funding and pressed for lighter regulation for the best performing registered social landlords. He said this would enable associations to deliver programmes more quickly. “We’d like to see regulation reduced because it costs money and it deflects from the main business,” he said.

“More certainty over development would be nice because we could deliver programmes sooner. We’ve already identified a four-year programme.”

Richard Kitson, group chief executive of the Silbury Group, said longer-term development programmes would be welcomed because getting sites and taking them through planning permission could be a time-consuming process.

He added that lighter regulation would also make it easier for housing associations to compete with housebuilders.

Kitson said: “Our sector is relatively tightly regulated and we have to create more of a level playing-field with our competitors. Regulation needs to reflect the increased role of inspections, such as those carried out by the Audit Commission.”