Registered providers — social housing managers now require professional qualifications

An amendment to The Social Housing Bill has major implications for registered providers of social housing and their staff. Here, Partner and Joint Head of Housing and Regeneration Josephine Morton and Trainee Solicitor Ceri Bowen explain the changes, including which qualifications social housing managers and executives now require and what this means for registered providers.

The Social Housing (Regulation) Bill

There is currently no legal requirement for social housing managers of registered providers to have a professional qualification. However, this is set to change following a recent amendment to the The Social Housing (Regulation) Bill (the Bill).

The Bill is part of the Government’s plan to “deliver transformational change” for residents in social housing following the Grenfell Tower tragedy and more recently the tragic death of Awaab Ishak. The intention is to provide tenants with better redress, improve regulation within the sector and drive-up standards.  

The Bill is now in its final stages, having passed its third reading in the House of Commons. Once the amendments made by the House of Commons have been considered by the House of Lords and the exact wording has been agreed by both Houses, the Bill will be ready to receive Royal Assent.

What does this mean for registered providers of social housing?

The amendments being considered by the House of Lords have various effects on registered providers. One of the most significant amendments concerns the professionalisation of the social housing sector. Under these amendments, registered providers are required to ensure that all employees with management responsibilities have (or are working towards obtaining) the specified professional qualification. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities estimates that this will impact 25,000 ‘relevant managers’ across the sector. The amendment identifies the ‘relevant managers’ as “senior housing executives” and “senior housing managers”.

What is a Senior Housing Executive?

A senior housing executive is defined as an employee or officer of the registered provider with responsibility for the day-to-day management of the provision of services relating to social housing. They must play a significant role in making decisions about a substantial part of the activities relating to social housing and managing or organising a substantial part of these activities. Senior housing executives will be required to obtain a foundation degree from the Chartered Institute of Housing or a Level 5 Qualification regulated by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation.

What is a Senior Housing Manager?

A senior housing manager is defined as an employee or officer of the registered provider with responsibility for the management of housing and property-related services. Senior housing managers will be required to obtain a Level 4 Qualification regulated by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulations.

For the sake of completeness, ‘employees’ also includes anyone employed under a contract of apprenticeship.

Next steps for registered providers

Registered providers should consider which of their employees fall within the definition of a ‘relevant manager’ and whether any of these employees have (or are willing to obtain) the necessary professional qualifications. It is also important to keep these requirements in mind when advertising relevant roles and recruiting.

As it stands, registered providers could be required to fund the training themselves, whereas Local Authorities may be considered for possible funding. Currently, approximately 26 centres have been approved to deliver the training, which is expected to involve a combination of coursework, assessments and practical demonstrations. In light of this, registered providers should review training budgets and discuss the practicalities of obtaining qualifications with the relevant employees.

Once the contents of the Bill become law, the requirements above must be met by social housing landlords. It is still unclear how long the transition period will be. However, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has confirmed that a failure to meet the standards could result in registered providers being dealt unlimited fines by the Regulator of Social Housing.

It is therefore important that registered providers make plans for compliance as soon as possible to put themselves in the best possible position once the requirements are enforced.

To find out how our housing and regeneration team can support you, get in touch with us at josephine.morton@brabners.com and ceri.bowen@brabners.com.