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One of the biggest cliffhangers in the TSAs review of regulation is of course …. will the TSA decide to regulate Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMOs) or the shareholding stock owning Local Authority (LA)?Professor Ian Cole, housing studies guru and advisor to the government, recommended it should be the local authority. But where a local authority has devolved management to an independent Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) for a number of years; can there really be a sound argument for not regulating the manager!

The TSA has received many responses from ALMOs saying that they want to be regulated. I am afraid we will have to wait until November to find out which side of the argument the TSA will come down on. But the sector is full of whispers.

It is now accepted that all social landlords should be regulated because this is essential to raising standards across all landlords and will help tenant to compare their landlords performance and value for money across the sector.

This must be a good idea and in Scotland both local authorities and housing associations have been regulated by the Scottish Housing regulator for a number of years.

So what are the issues the TSA faces in regulating ALMOs/Local authorities?

Local councillors may feel put out at being told what to do by the TSA!

In its June discussion document the TSA says that regulation of local authority owned stock will not cover Governance and Viability. This is because for local authority landlords governance and viability are matters for democracy but also the law. Local government statutes control  local authority housing particularly the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and subsidy and capital rules.

Could the TSA regulate an ALMOs viability?  Yes but viability would have to judged in the context of the HRA and subsidy rules.

Can the TSA regulate an ALMOs Governance? Yes if the ALMO ‘s governance is judged poorly in the regulation process- the TSA could demand the LA take back the management or get another organisation to manage the stock on its behalf (the later presumably after tenant consultation).

So who will the TSA choose to regulate? We believe, at the Board Development Agency it will be the Local Authority because the TSA does not have the resources to manage ALMOs.  The TSA has been given no extra resources and will have some hard choices to make if it is to operate within its budget.

If you have any views on LA and ALMO regulation please email yvonneatkinson@boardagency.org.uk