Terms & Conditions

[Trevor Kenward]

Hello,
can anyone advise me please?
Is a Housing Association which is registered as a non-profit making charity, but which is NOT registered with the Housing Corporation as a RSL, excluded from having their rents referred to the Rent Service.
Thanks for any help

Trev

[Anthony Sandys]

I think it has to be registered with the Housing Corporation, as per the definition in HB reg 2(1), for it to be exempt.

[Kevin D]

Anthony is correct.

A rent referral is required unless the L/L is registered with the Housing Corp.

If it is yet another of these high rent “exempt accommodation” issues, you’re stuck with “old” HBR 11, or old HBR 10, or even “contrived”. If you’d like any other info, I’ll be happy to oblige.

Regards

[Trevor Kenward]

Thanks to Anthony ans Kevin (as usual) for confirming my opinion. The company involved are a HA who only have clients who are either refugees, 16-17 years olds, or ex-offenders. They are ‘acquiring’ property within my LA area and have stated that their rents (as yet amounts not specified) are not subject to Rent Service valuations in other areas of the country.
Do you feel there any pertitient questions that should be asked ?

Thanks

Trev

[Kevin D]

This sounds like strangely familiar language….. “exempt accommodation” here we go (again…).

[quote:53489d240d]Do you feel there any pertitient questions that should be asked ? [/quote:53489d240d]

Um, yes. Trouble is, where do I start? The following is just for starters…

1) Is the company REALLY a HA?
2) Is the company REALLY a registered charity?
3) Is the company REALLY a “voluntary organisation”?

For “2)”, check directly with the Charity Commission. For 1) & 3), don’t hesitate to ask the company for their Articles of Association and Memorandum of Association (assuming the company is a limited company).

Don’t take them at face value. Next……

4) Is any care, support or supervision being provided to the tenants?
5) If “yes” to “4)”, who provides the care?
6) If care is not provided by the L/L, is the care provided [u:53489d240d]on behalf of the L/L[/u:53489d240d]?

Again, don’t accept at face value any documents or flannel from any of the parties involved. Ask to see evidence of agreements between all parties – including Social Services if that is purported by the L/L.

Next…(in anticipation of the rents being abnormally high):

7) Is the L/L targeting such “vulnerable” groups in order to, literally, take advantage of the HB scheme? (“Baragrove” is well worth taking a look at).

In order to consider “contrivance”, ask some simple questions (just for openers – there are many other questions that should be looked at)….

– Would the scheme exist if HB wasn’t available?
– Could the L/L hope to obtain such high levels of rent by any other means?

Next….

8 ) Who actually owns the properties? Is there a third party company that doesn’t have to comply with any “not-for-profit” undertakings, but is related or connected to the “frontline” L/L?

9) Who are the individuals behind the company?? Don’t hesitate to undertake a FULL company search. That will show any Directors / Company Secretaries / shareholders (sometimes). Then, do Director searches of all the persons you find (and/or are already known to be connected to the company). In turn, conduct further searches on any other companies that turn up as being connected to those you have already seached and found other directorships etc (past and present).

Finally, under no circumstances fall for any case law quoted / threats of press involvement / “other LAs are paying” (probably wrongly) and absolutely don’t in any way indicate what an “acceptable” rent is (this may leave your LA open to legal action if your eventual decision is different). In the event any meetings are requested by the L/L, make sure you have another person with you (someone on the ball).

As has been stated on several earlier threads, I shall be more than happy to “name & shame” those I already have information on. There are no DPA implications – all the info is in the public domain in one form or another. For info that may cause difficulty, I will happily point you in the direction of LAs that have taken on L/Ls who are seeking to abuse the HB system. Feel free to pm me if you’d like to discuss the issue. Contrary to the inference in another thread a few months ago, I am freely sharing whatever information I have.

Regards

[Trevor Kenward]

Kevin, many thanks again
(I’ve tried to PM but ‘I ve been restricted)

Trev

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