And it confirmed that performance on housing benefit administration is still perceived to be in decline - three quarters reported housing benefit administration had become worse for their organisation in the last year. Only one organisation said administration had improved.
Almost half of the organisations surveyed - which ranged in size, type and geographical location - said keeping rent increases to RPI plus zero would be a difficult challenge.
One in four said they would be forced to make cuts as a result: development, maintenance, refurbishment and community projects would all suffer, respondents said.
Half of all those surveyed said rent restructuring was the biggest challenge facing them. Coping with changing demand and regeneration was the next most frequently cited challenge, followed by Best Value and Supporting People.
However, a significant group said RPI plus zero would have no impact as they were already well prepared - or that they positively relished the challenge. "Holding rents to RPI is difficult, but we already anticipated it coming. It will lead to a greater focus on Best Value because you cannot divorce the two," said Stephen Hayes, housing services support manager at Raglan housing association.
Orbit housing association chief executive David Hucker said: "Our business plan had always assumed this level. There's no extra pressure for us in this respect."
Others were less positive. Associations that had formed after stock transfer were particularly concerned. The Wrekin Housing Trust said the impact of the rent cap was "serious" given that its business plan was based on an RPI plus one increase: "It's not something we factored into our plan or the prices we paid for our housing stock." East Lindsey Partnership Housing chair John Keily described the situation as "very difficult for us".
Source
Housing Today
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