Bid to cut management costs undermined by official work
The government has scored an embarrassing own goal in its attempts to drive down council housing management costs.

Official research, leaked to Housing Today, has concluded that housing management is virtually impossible to define.

The disclosure of the research could not come at a worse time for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. It is pushing for the inclusion of a performance indicator in the new Best Value regime that would measure management cost per dwelling.

Such an indicator would be virtually meaningless in the light of the research findings.

The study which was carried out by the consultants Arthur Andersen concluded that a "detailed definition of housing management is extremely difficult and unlikely to be wholly achievable." It also highlights problems in determining the cost of housing management.

The consultants were asked to identify factors which could be used in subsidy determination - in other words how it could cut cash to higher spending councils. The project was part of former housing minister Hilary Armstrong's desire to see "increased efficiency in the management of housing stock."

But the research listed a series of different factors that influence management costs, which it admits are "beyond the control" of councils. These include socio-economic conditions, stock location and design, and the availability of other affordable homes.

The findings are ironic given the track record of Arthur Andersen in benchmarking of council services. The research is understood to have surprised the officials that commissioned it, and as result the study is unlikely to be formally launched.

The research is echoed in the work of policy action team on housing management this week, which concluded that there is no single definition of housing management.

National Housing Federation director of policy Liz Potter said: "The reality is that housing management is not an exact science. If any one counld have pinned it down it would be Arthur Andersen, the fact that they did not underlines how difficult it is to define it, in a way that applies in all circumstances."

Local Government Association head of housing group Paul Lautman said: "There is no off-the-shelf basis for comparing effectiveness of spending on housing services, it needs more detailed analyses. That is not to say you can't make valid comparisons between councils, but the notion that there is an informed way of comparing cost is a false one."

Source

Housing Today