The case for collaboration
How the Irish Council for Social Housing is supporting consolidation projects for Approved Housing Bodies
GROWTH DEVELOPMENT & REGENERATION
Image: Istock
Kevin Ryan
Collaboration Manager, Irish Council for Social Housing
Issue 68 | October 2023
There are currently 450 Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in Ireland. This number once exceeded 700 but even at 450, Ireland has a large number of AHBs when compared to the overall number of homes in the sector.
The reduction in the number of AHBs in recent years is likely to continue for several reasons. Uniquely, Ireland has many rural-based single scheme AHBs and many of these are looking at takeover options in response to wider sustainability challenges. These often focus on the twin drivers of board renewal issues and lack of expertise to meet new statutory regulation requirements.
Similarly, there are a high number of care and support AHBs (144) in the sector. In addition to the aforementioned sustainability challenges, many of these organisations are also considering how their housing function interacts with their core role of support and service provision. This has led to an increasing number of discussions with general needs AHBs about taking over the landlord/management side of these homes to allow these organisations to focus on support and service provision.
Response and support
In response to these challenges, the Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) has successfully developed a Collaboration Programme to support consolidation projects in the sector and to harness learning and best practice.
The programme is supported through funding by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The overall aim is to support collaboration and consolidation projects in the AHB sector through project-specific funding designed to accelerate and secure project completion.
Twenty-three projects were funded over two rounds of the programme in 2022 and 2023. It is hoped that the completion of these and future projects, will continue the rationalisation of the AHB sector and foster greater economies of scale to respond to the growing demand for housing support and services.
It is important that AHBs do not enter into any consolidation discussions because they feel that is what is expected of them. Instead, they should embrace the process with the hope of creating a stronger entity that can better serve current and future residents.
“It is hoped that the completion of these and future projects, will continue the rationalisation of the AHB sector and foster greater economies of scale to respond to the growing demand for housing support and services.”
With this in mind, here are five lessons that may be of interest to AHBs at the start of the process:
01
Ensure you consider all your options
Before reaching out to an AHB, deliberate all transfer and consolidation options that may be suitable at board level. These may include hiring a staff member, working with a service company or being taken over completely. Once collaboration/consolidation is identified as the best route, speak to the ICSH or directly to an AHB you want to partner with. Identifying one AHB will show you have fully considered the type of organisation they are and they will know you are serious about forming a partnership.
02
Discuss and ask at an early stage
Ensure there is good, open discussion and understanding between both AHBs before formal commencement. Spend time talking through scenarios and inform and involve both boards, who will be key to leading a transfer of assets. Even in informal discussions it is worth highlighting potential concerns or issues that may impact a transfer at a later date.
03
Formulate a timeframe and stick to it
If projects are left to drift without any reporting timeframes, priorities and personnel can change, leading to lack of accountability and ownership of a project. Assigning target dates for each phase creates expectations that people will be more mindful of sticking to.
04
Inform your stakeholders
Local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority, Charities Regulator and tenants all have a role to play and should be kept informed of ongoing developments as their timelines may not match your own. Ensuring there is a designated contact point for each stakeholder can increase speed when communication is required.
05
Don’t waste ‘in between time’
It may often appear that certain aspects of a collaboration are taking a long time, such as the legal transfer of properties; however if desired, some aspects such as a management agreements can be put in place much earlier and will allow a relationship to be built between AHBs before a formal handover.
