December 2013

Phil Morgan was Chief Executive of TPAS (England) for 10 years and developed the concept of tenant scrutiny. He then became Executive Director of Tenant Services at the Social Housing Regulator and cowrote the Regulatory Framework including the requirements on tenant scrutiny and involvement. Phil is currently an independent consultant, commentator and speaker.

Below he outlines his 3 housing related wishes.

1. Build more houses

From 1 January 2014 the UK’s transitional controls on citizens of Bulgaria and Romania (A2 countries) will come to an end. These controls have been in place since Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union in 2007. The lifting of restrictions means that citizens from those countries will be able to access all of the labour market and will no longer be subject to a Worker Authorisation Scheme (the Scheme).

The Minister for Social Development is seeking views on how social housing is allocated. As part of his housing strategy he commissioned independent research on this issue. The research carried out by the Universities of Ulster and Cambridge has just been published and provides independent recommendations on the future of social housing allocations in Northern Ireland.

Nicola McCrudden, our Policy Manager, provides her views on this important matter:

Homelessness continues to be a significant challenge in Northern Ireland and a problem that afflicts the lives of many of local people.

According to DSD, “traditional responses to homelessness have focused on managing the impact of homelessness on individuals and families.. while this remains important, more needs to be done to prevent homelessness”. (DSD, Facing the Future: Housing Strategy for NI).