Holiday reading
As the social housing sector winds down for the summer and we pack our suitcases for a week or two's break, what will the well-informed housing professional be reading by the pool?
We hope you'll be catching up with back issues of the magazine, but in addition, here are some of Social Housing magazine's recommended top reads ...
Thinktank Localis caused a storm earlier this year by publishing 'Principles for Social Housing Reform', a paper by the Conservative Party's leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council Stephen Greenhalgh and chartered surveyor John Moss. If you haven't taken a look already, it's definitely worth doing so, if only because this is the first sign of concrete thinking on housing policy to come out of the party for quite some time, and may provide clues as to the party's direction if it wins power at the next general election.
Just before Parliamentary recess began, the Department for Communities & Local Government published its consultation paper on reform of the Housing Revenue Account. Submissions to the consultation are due in by 27th October, so get drafting.
The Scottish Housing Regulator recently produced a commentary on social landlords' performance over the last five years. 'Social Landlords in Scotland: Shaping up for improvement' found that the sector has considerable work still to do.
Treasury staff and board finance committee members will want to look over the Tenant Services Authority's revised treasury management guidelines, which have been beefed up to reflect the new and riskier economic environment in which we find ourselves. The TSA has also just published discussion papers on viability and governance which will help shape its new regulatory regime.
The National Housing & Planning Advice Unit has controversially revised upwards its estimates of housing need, arguing that the recession has not ameliorated the country's housing shortage. 'More Homes for More People: Advice to Ministers on Housing Levels to be Considered in Regional Plans' can be found on the DCLG website.
