Lib Dems reveal manifesto plan to abolish Housing Corporation

One of the first actions of a Liberal Democrat government would be to abolish the Housing Corporation in favour of the Audit Commission and the nine English regional assemblies.

And the main thrust of the party’s housing manifesto for the general election, to be published in February, is to be the provision of affordable homes.

The party’s local government spokesman, Edward Davey, revealed the Lib Dems’ plans in an exclusive interview with Housing Today.

Davey, who is MP for Kingston and Surbiton in Surrey, said: “A key thing for us is the regulation of registered social landlords.

“We want to abolish the Housing Corporation because it isn’t doing a particularly good job and is getting in the way. It is more part of the regulatory problem than the solution.”

The corporation’s regulatory role and the necessary staff would transfer to the Audit Commission with the investment role passing to the regional assemblies.

“The present system is very confusing and means that housing associations are under the cosh,” said Davey. “I have far more confidence in the Audit Commission – it has a legal and public track record of independence.

“If I were a lender and had to choose between the word of the Housing Corporation and the Audit Commission, I would go with the commission every time as it is financially independent. The corporation is too eager to toe the government line.

“Why spend so much money on a quango when there are other bodies that can do it?

“The end-to-end review was drivel and convinced no one of the corporation’s worth.”

Davey also said his party would allow local authorities to vary right-to-buy discounts to reflect their local circumstances.

He hinted that some homes in low demand areas could even be “given away” if this would help to reinvigorate housing markets.

The Housing Corporation declined to comment on Davey’s statements but the proposals got a cool reception from others in the sector.

John McHale, chief executive of 15,000-home transfer landlord Knowsley Housing Trust, said: “Whether it is the Housing Corporation or anyone else who regulates us doesn’t really matter – we will still face the same issues.

“What I’m interested in is a consistent and fair structure and we don’t have that now.”

Simon Dow, chief executive of RSL the Guinness Trust, said: “The Lib Dems should be focusing on providing decent homes and tackling rising homelessness, rather than a tedious organisational agenda.”

Jim Coulter, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said separating investment and regulation was a “mistake” as RSLs benefited from the present set-up.