Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard – a shift in power from landlords to tenants

Posted: 03/06/2024

The new Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard (TIAS), which forms part of the updated consumer standards, gives effect to the government’s desire to see tenants having more control over the way their homes are managed by their registered provider (RP) landlords. Together with the Social Tenants Access to Information Requirements (STAIRS) now being consulted on, it is a subtle, but nevertheless major, shift in the balance of power between landlords and tenants, which may well catch many registered providers unaware.

Board control

Prior to the introduction of the new TIAS, RPs had to consult tenants on any changes to their housing management policies and procedures (as well as rent setting), and ‘have regard’ to any representations made by them. It was, however, clear that the board was to retain ultimate control of what its RP did or did not do. This accords with good governance: the board should always be in control of its RP.

New power given to tenants

The new TIAS and the incoming STAIRS change this dynamic by shifting power away from the board and towards the tenants. It is now no longer sufficient to consult tenants and have regard to their responses; now RPs have to do much more. Here are just some of the required outcomes and specific expectations set out in the TIAS:

take tenants’ views into account and communicate how those views have been considered;
provide tenants with sufficient information to enable them to hold their landlord to account;
collect and provide information to support effective scrutiny by tenants;
give tenants a wide range of meaningful opportunities to influence and scrutinise their landlords’ strategies, policies and services;
assist tenants who wish to implement tenant-led activities to influence and scrutinise their landlords’ strategies, policies and services;
provide accessible support to tenants so they can influence and scrutinise their landlords’ strategies, policies and services; and
support tenants wishing to exercise their statutory right to manage, right to transfer or otherwise exercising housing management functions where appropriate.

The key point running through all the above is the new obligation on boards of RPs to not only take tenants’ views into account, but to actively allow them to influence boards’ decision making; boards will have to explain and justify their decisions in situations where they have not done so before. The Regulator of Social Housing can then assess whether it agrees with the board’s decision and whether the board’s actions constitute a breach of the TIAS.

In addition, STAIRS intends to impose an obligation on RPs to make detailed information about the RP (not just housing management issues) available to tenants and/or their legal representatives on request.

Tenant activists

Boards may, as a result of these changes, face pressure to accede to the demands of tenant activists for fear of the regulatory consequences if they do not. This fear could well lead to boards effectively ceding a degree of control over their RPs to groups of tenants who may well not be representative of the tenant body as a whole, and who may have their own agenda. This is clearly not good governance.

There have been several attempts in the past by rogue bands of unrepresentative tenants who have tried to ‘hijack’ their registered provider. In some of those cases the regulator had to intervene to prevent a disaster.

Getting the right balance

It is right for tenants as a whole to have the ability to scrutinise the services their landlord is providing, and to make their thoughts known and have them taken into account by the boards of their landlord. However, this cannot and should not impinge upon the right and duty of the board to manage its RP free from undue influence from third parties.

Getting this balance right will therefore be crucial.

What should RPs be doing?

RPs can help themselves by ensuring that they have effective processes in place to enable tenants to contribute to the discussion on landlord services and make their views known. RPs should also document carefully how they have considered these views and the reasons for coming to the conclusions that they have. Evidence based reasoning which has been properly documented will enable boards to make their case and enable the regulator to make a better-informed assessment of the situation.

Therefore, whilst RPs may sigh at yet more administration and record keeping, they should recognise that time spent on this now could avoid difficulty at a later date.

Please do contact us if you would like to discuss any of the issues highlighted in this article.