Councils are required to secure tenant agreement on their compacts by next April, but official research published this week found that 70 per cent were still "not at an advanced stage".
A further 20 per cent were claimed to be "reluctant to implement," and only 10 per cent were "proactive" in their approach to the initiative.
The research claimed that the reluctant authorities saw "Best Value in housing and compacts as something imposed on them." They are also said to "lack the vision" to use the initiatives as "tools for improvement."
The research suggests that the housing sector is way out of step with the government's commitment to tenant involvement.
The findings prompted a rebuke from junior housing minister Chris Mullin who said there was "no room for complacency" on the issue.
He added: "Best Value and tenant participation compacts are a challenge for local authorities, and much work is still to be done. But the benefits are too important for local authorities to ignore or put aside as too difficult to achieve."
The survey, currently only available in summary form, also found that many councils did not have an integrated approach to Best Value and compacts. And case studies for the project found that even the more advanced councils still had a long way to go to achieve full compliance.
The research, conducted by the consultants Barony, surveyed 100 councils between April and September this year.
A more recent snapshot survey by the Tenants Participation Advisory Service shows that progress on the compacts is still slow.
TPAS deputy chief executive Sheila Adamson urged councils to "up the ante" on the implementation.
She added that it was "worrying" that so little had changed between now and when the government survey was carried out.
The full report is available next year, summaries are currently available on the DETR website: http://www.housing.detr.gov.uk
Source
Housing Today
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