So,the ONS has decided that social housing providers are public bodies after all. Whatever happens next, the outlook for tenants looks perilous The exact legal status of housing associations has been unclear for decades. Are they “private, or independent,charitable organisations” in the words of David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, and are they public bodies? This lack of clarity goes to the very heart of the government. Within the past few weeks,chancellor George Osborne described housing associations as “classified to the private sector” while a few days later David Cameron, at prime minister’s questions, and described them as an inefficient fragment of the public sector. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com