Did I miss something?

Returning to work from a week's leave, I was startled to make a couple of discoveries in Housing Today (16 January).

First, I was surprised to see that the Chartered Institute of Housing and the National Housing Federation have now become government agencies. I was taken aback yet more by an illustration (used twice, as above) which showed that, without warning, consultation or parliamentary activity, county councils appear to have taken on housing responsibilities. Is this a case of a week being a long time in housing?