Housing Association Governance - Coursework Example

Introduction Housing associations are the independent bodies that aim to provide houses at reasonable cost. They provide housing to people in need and who are often unable to purchase their own homes. They help people in getting new homes as well as homes for rent. Like most organizations, housing associations have objectives which they have to meet. The main objective behind the development of this association is to make accommodation affordable for all. The key to success of these housing providers, in achieving the goals is the way they are governed (Shanks). In short a Housing Association is a society or company established for the purpose of providing; constructing; improving or managing; facilitating and encouraging the construction or improvement of housing accommodation. Housing associations are not governed by the state or the government. It is a privately functioning body that aims to provide people of all categories with the type of homes they need in their desirable location. The association consists of a board of members, senior officers who have knowledge about this sector, and some volunteers. The targeted groups for housing association can be older people, disabled people, young people, bachelors, couples, or any other type of people who are looking for homes to buy or for rent. The housing association is earning a great amount of money through this property dealing business as the housing has become expensive, especially in larger cities, which makes it difficult for people to find suitable homes for themselves. Housing Association Governance Good governance in the housing association is fundamental to establishing successful organisations. It enables them to deliver their aims and objectives and, in particular, deliver excellent quality services to tenants, ensure the proper use of public funding, and safeguard the reputation of the sector. The housing association governance operates according to the law and their constitutions; it is headed by an effective board with a sufficient range of expertise and executive arrangements that gives capable leadership and control. Housing association maintains the highest standards of integrity in all their dealings; it protects public investment and is responsive to residents’ views and priorities. Further the duties of housing association governance includes dealing with the Housing Corporation in an open and co-operative manner, notifying any anticipated or actual violation of the Code or anything that might significantly affect its ability to fulfil its obligations under the Code and de-track them from doing the actual duties. The governance demonstrates when carrying out all their functions, their commitment to equal opportunity, working towards the elimination of discrimination. Finally it demonstrates an equitable approach to the rights and responsibilities of individuals promoting good relations between people of different racial groups and operates a framework that effectively identifies and manages risks. These are the principle duties that the housing governance has to follow in order to achieve the prescribed goals of the sector and providing people with best services (Tenant Services Authority, 2009). Housing Association Governance and Residents The quality of housing association governance is inconsistent. Some governing bodies are excellent, with a clear understanding of what their role is and how this differs from others. However, other governing bodies have only a basic grasp of their role that get involved in low level operational issues, leaving their organisations to be led by the inexperienced officials of the company (Kearns, 1992). The organization solely depends on the type of governance. It the governance or the governing bodies are worthy it will result in formulating a good organization A housing association with a poor governing body can still deliver good services for tenants if staff performs well. But a poor governing body puts housing association at much greater risk of being unable to manage risks effectively. When things go wrong, when times are more challenging, or when difficult decisions need to be made, poor governance becomes more obvious. Key Issues between the Governance and Residents Governing bodies do not always spend enough time asking whether their organisation is getting the basics right for existing tenants and residents. It just keeps their organization going regardless of the services being provided to the residents. Often housing association governance spends more time on engaging in a small number of new developments rather than improving the quality of services to hundreds and thousands of existing tenants. When governance works well, it is because people of the organization make it work. The poor quality of governance is highly influenced by personality clashes, bad behaviours, dominant chief executives, and confused roles within governing bodies or between committees and staff. Due to the clashes and dysfunctional situation, the governing bodies put their interest above those of the tenants. These malfunctioned situations make governing bodies struggle to carry out their normal business effectively and can be hugely time-consuming to sort out and work entirely for the interest of residents and people seeking their services (Social Landlords in Scotland: Shaping up for improvement, 2009). Governing bodies generally have a rather lower level approach to risk management that often depend on the information provided by the management rather than on true understanding of the risks that the organization is facing. It is important that governing bodies see risk management as an definite part of their duties and not just supervise risks that have been defined for them by staff. The actual risk is when the organization is not fully satisfying the residents and make them suffer their mismanagement regarding the resident’s issues. In a number of organisations, governing bodies are not providing sufficient challenges to the management and the management is not providing the tenants and occupants with the quality services. The key ingredient in this regard is independent thinking to ask questions, to get the right information and advice, and to step back, make their own decisions in light of the information and work to achieve the goals rather than work for the interest of organization (Social Landlords in Scotland: Shaping up for improvement, 2009). But governing bodies are not good at providing the members with proper information about their responsibilities. This in turn leads to poor services and negligence of the responsibilities. The housing associations are mostly working in order to get maximum numbers of clients and residents without considering the quality of services being provided. In response to the housing association governance, a survey was conducted to consult key stakeholders so that the area of potential difficulty could be identified. The survey was conducted in order to conclude what the residents feel about the governance and the type of work they are carrying out. The stakeholders included specialists, tenants and professional bodies (Jones, 2001). Although a range of views were expressed by the respondents, under the major issues addressed, most respondents argued that changes need to be made to the way social housing providers are governed. 86% respondents were not satisfied with the governance. They argued that the governance value their own interest more and avoid the problems and issues that the residents face. Respondents wanted this change because the current approach does not adequately address the complexity and diversity of the sector and also do not address their problems. The process of governance itself is complex. The respondents felt that there is a need to recruit and retain more high quality board members who can entirely work for the interest of the residents. There was a support for a move towards an outcome based approach (Jones, 2001). In the outcome based regime, housing associations are expected to demonstrate that the governing body has the ability to guide the organization and monitor the extent to which it is achieving its aim. This approach can bring a remarkable change because it was more in the favour of residents and their interests. The other issue that the respondents addressed was lack of support from the Housing Corporation to help housing organizations in implementing and maintaining accountability and liability. Housing Corporation was required to support the process of implementation of changes in order to preserve standards of governance and offer guidance and model of good practice. If the Housing Corporation governs and supports the housing organization, the governing bodies of association can maintain a balance between the organization’s interest and the interest of the residents. The respondents of the survey also wanted housing association to be reviewed under some legal structures (Jones, 2001). When eliminating all these issues, the governing bodies would be able to work for the interest of the tenants. The services they are providing clearly state that their first priority is the organization and its interests. It works to eradicate the risks that the organization and governance is facing without taking in account the residents and its interests. Conclusion Housing associations, due to their governance are facing difficult times; they need to make decision about the services they would provide and the purpose of setting up the companies, the type of business they would have, and the influence they are aiming to have on an area. They need to properly define their aims and goals so that they work efficiently in order to achieve the defined goals. Governing bodies will need to think beyond themselves, their interest and their organisations for the benefit of the residents and communities they serve and with the services it is likely to have in future. Continuing with the services that the company or governing bodies have delivered in past is very challenging. So in order to have the right image among the communities and the customers, the governance will have to perform well with a moderation in their services. It is the duty of the people in the governing bodies to understand and govern according to the context of their organization and business profile. The other solution for the providence of proper services can be to empower the residents and communities. The tenant empowerment means to encourage and help citizens to make the most out of their abilities to influence the way in which they receive services (Tenant Empowerment, 2007). When the residents will be given the opportunities and support, they would be responsible for shaping up services, and will be less dependent on the housing associations, in turn making their neighbourhood a better place to live. Empowering the tenants can also contribute to service improvement which the social housing association fails to provide. The local government white paper published in 2006 also stated that the citizens and communities should be empowered in order to make the services and public policies according to their ability. The collaboration between the local governments, housing association and tenants can increase the opportunity of better services and governance. Work Cited Jones, N. (2001). Modernizing Governance: An Enabling Approach, Compass Partnership, available at http://www.compasspartnership.co.uk/pdf/pr_6.pdf Kearns, A, (1992). Active Citizenship and Urban Governance, Transaction of the Institute of British Geographer, (Abstract only), JSTOR. Shanks, H. (n.a.). What is a housing association and what services do they offer?[online], available at http://www.ourproperty.co.uk/guides/housing_association.html Social Landlords in Scotland: Shaping up for improvement, (July, 2009). http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/shr_shapingupforimprovement.pdf Tenant Empowerment, (2007), Department of Communities and Local Government, available at http://www.communities.gov.uk Tenant Services Authority, (2009). Governance, available at http://www.tenantservicesauthority.org Read More