Rules under which rent increases implemented by housing associations could have been ruled illegal have been altered.
Associations will be allowed to set a fixed date on which rent increases can be implemented.

A regulatory reform order has changed rules stating that increases could only take place after the passage of a full calendar year. This meant, for example, that housing associations that implemented increases on the first Monday of each April ran the risk of making the changes before a full 365 days had passed since the previous increase.

Liz Potter, director of policy at the National Housing Federation, said: "The change will protect housing associations from future challenges over rent increases.

"This is a result for the federation and its members, reflecting the work put in to persuade ministers of the need to act to clear up anomalies from the 1988 Housing Act."

Potter added that there was still some doubt about the viability of a retrospective challenge, but that NHF members were likely to be immune if they had followed previous advice on rent increases.

Source

Housing Today