Associations will face closer scrutiny

The Housing Corporation is planning to investigate housing associations that do not accept enough homeless people.

A consultation document by the housing regulator says associations, which were criticised last year by the House of Commons’ public accounts committee for shirking their homelessness responsibilities, must accommodate more homeless households.

The report proposes monitoring the extent to which associations accept homeless applicants relative to the number of households living in temporary accommodation in the area.

It adds: “Where there appear to be issues we will take a closer look and identify areas and associations that are outliers.”

The consultation ends on 30 June. From www.housingcorp.gov.uk