It has also published terms of reference for a new Fees
and Resources Advisory Panel which will meet for the
first time in October to enable engagement on fees with a
range of stakeholders, and provide transparency.
The regulator was granted powers to charge fees under the
Housing and Regeneration Act 2008. It set out initial
proposals in a discussion paper in 2014 and held a
statutory consultation at the end of 2016, consulting
extensively with sector representative bodies.
The new fees regime will include:
- a one-off flat-rate registration fee of £2,500 for
successful registration with the regulator
- a fixed annual fee of £300 for providers with fewer
than 1,000 social housing units
- an annual per unit fee for large providers with 1,000
or more social housing units, for 2017/18 this will be
£4.72
Due to the decision to start charging fees from 1 October
2017, 50% of the annual fee is payable for 2017/18.
Ashby, Chair of
the HCA Regulation
Committee said:
Following extensive consultation with the social
housing sector, we undertook to make some changes to
the initial proposals. This included delaying the
introduction of fees to October 2017 and setting up a
Fees and Resources Advisory Panel. I hope the guidance
we have published today reinforces our aim for the
fee-charging scheme to be fair, simple, transparent and
practical. We are committed to keeping our costs under
review and therefore the fee level reasonable and
proportionate, while maintaining effective regulation.
Thank you to the many organisations who have expressed
an interest in joining the Panel. It is part of our
commitment to be transparent with stakeholders in
relation to the fees charged and the quality of the
regulation delivered. And it will enable us to engage
with a range of sector stakeholders alongside our
existing arrangements.
Social housing
regulation fees - Guidance for registered
providers and the Fees and Resources
Advisory Panel - terms of reference are
available on the website.
-
The decision statement for the consultation
on fees, which ran from November 2016 to January
2017, is available on the website.
-
Funding for some aspects of the regulation function,
such as reactive regulation including consumer
regulation, will be continued through government
grant in aid.
The Homes and Communities Agency is the single, national
housing and regeneration delivery agency for England, and
is the regulator of social housing providers.
As regulator, its purpose is to promote a viable,
efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to
deliver homes that meet a range of needs.
It does this by undertaking robust economic regulation,
as enshrined in legislation, focusing on governance,
financial viability and value for money that maintains
lender confidence and protects the taxpayer.
