England’s social housing regulator has confirmed the planned seventy-five pence increase in the per-unit fee to an estimated £5.47 per property for 2020/21.

The regulator’s chief executive Fiona MacGregor has written to all registered providers notifying them of the increase, which she says will allow it to raise £2m through fees, to ensure it can regulate the social housing sector effectively.

The fees increase was the subject of a consultation, but this received just 17 responses from the sector. There will be no increase to the initial registration fee or the fixed fee for small providers with fewer than 1,000 properties next year. The regulator will reconfirm the indicative per-unit fee level in the fees statement to be published in due course.

The regulator will deliver an expanded programme of In-Depth Assessments and ongoing regulatory engagement for the largest and most complex providers. Ms MacGregor said all providers benefit from the sector’s reputation being protected through effective regulation of such providers.

It had been waiting for the Government’s response to the social housing green paper consultation to be published, which might impact on the scale and type of future regulation, but this has been delayed again although during the Grenfell inquiry debate Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said he expected publication soon.

By Patrick Mooney, Editor