Think tank

There is no proper hierarchy of payment. Your association would have to establish a protocol which states that when payments come in from tenants, the money is posted to either rent first then service charges or vice versa. This protocol should be given to new tenants on sign-up and should also be circulated to other tenants.

The protocol should also allow for the possibility of specific instructions from the tenants overriding the standard procedure.
Nick Sweet,NHF national coordinator for Supporting People

In the absence of any specific provision in the tenancy agreement, the initial choice as to a part payment lies with the debtor. In other words, if the tenant specifies that a payment relates to rent then the landlord would be obliged to treat it as a rent payment, but if the tenant makes no statement as to which debt is being satisfied then the landlord may choose where to put the money.

If neither party makes a selection then the basic principle of law is that the oldest debts are paid first, so they are satisfied in the order that they fall due.

Tenants may be specific when making a payment, particularly if they want to question a service charge or a support charge; they may be inclined to say: "I am making a payment as regards the rent but I am withholding the payment in relation to the charge in question." In these circumstances the landlord would be obliged to apply the money as specified by the tenant. In all other circumstances, it is up to the landlord to choose which debt is being settled.
Rosemary hart, Partner and housing specialist at legal firm Trowers & Hamlins

Support for tenancies run by management agencies
I have heard that the advice is not to put support in tenancies that are managed on our behalf by agencies. Why is this?

This applies to the situation where a management agency is managing tenancies on behalf of the landlord and is the holder of the support contract from the administering authority. It is very clear to see the two different accountabilities of support and landlord in operation in this situation.

The agent is contracted by the landlord to provide tenants with housing management services through a management agreement, and by the administering authority to provide support services through the support contract. The advice to landlords in these situations is to keep these accountabilities separate.

If the landlord placed the provision of support within the tenancy agreement then the landlord would be legally obliged to provide support services, even though there is no contractual relationship between the landlord and the administering authority to provide these services.

In this situation it is much more preferable for the agent to use a support contract with the tenant to establish the contractual relationship rather than relying on a support clause in the tenancy.
Nick Sweet,NHF national coordinator for Supporting People

Support plans for sheltered tenants
Do I have to draw up support plans for all my sheltered housing tenants?

Yes. All sheltered tenants will have to have support plans in the future, and they will need to be reviewed at least once a year.

They don't need to be complicated, but they do need to be specific to that person.

The Emerging Role of Sheltered Housing has produced a good-practice guide to support planning that sheltered housing providers may find useful. See the EROSH website at www.shelteredhousing.org.
Nick Sweet,NHF national coordinator for Supporting People

Sheltered housing tenants will have a "looser" type of support plan, and no change from current arrangements is envisaged for "traditional" sheltered schemes. ODPM

Performance indicators
I run a small homeless people's hostel. When our interim contract begins, how will the hostel's performance be measured?

The performance of a support provider will be measured against a competent provider of services of a similar kind to support services.

The support provider must also provide the services in accordance with any statutory obligations and all codes of practice, as well as performance ratings and quality standards that are contained in the interim contract or any deeds of variation issued in relation to the interim contract.

In addition to the general provisions, there are the service performance indicators, which for the interim contract cover staffing levels, utilisation of services and availability of services. It is also possible for administering authorities and support providers to agree to use other performance indicators from information already collected.
Rosemary hart, Partner and housing specialist at legal firm Trowers & Hamlins

The definitions for the three mandatory performance indicators for interim contracts (availability of services; utilisation of services and staffing levels) are set out in the Proposed Performance Framework for Supporting People on the ODPM's Supporting People website. Excel workbooks are also available to help providers and administering authorities assess performance against each of these indicators.
Shaun Bennett, Consultant at CVS – advising the ODPM on Supporting People

Can I recover costs arising from late contracts?
Given that so many contracts have not yet been signed and it is likely that they will continue to come in late to providers, we are worried – as a housing association – about our income over the initial period of providing the service. If contracts are not in place and signed by 31 March, would a housing association providing a service be able to invoice for and recover the cost of carrying out the work if the local authority did not pay for the service?

Local authorities were required to have interim contracts in place by 28 February. Unfortunately, it seems that many local authorities have not achieved this.

You would be well-advised to press the local authority for the payments schedule ahead of getting the draft contract, so that at least the fee can be agreed as quickly as possible.

The registered social landlord should submit an invoice on the basis of the model interim contract by reference to that payment schedule as soon as possible.

If there is no agreed payment schedule then the RSL, nevertheless, should submit an invoice for the amount that it is expecting to receive under the Supporting People grant, assuming a model interim contract is in place.