The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) was appointed by the Government to regulate the new approaches and standards of the social housing sector in April.

The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) proposed the new regulatory approaches to the social housing sector, putting emphasis on the relationship between the landlords and the tenants at a local level. Besides, tenants will be the heart of decisions related to their homes and the services they received from their landlords, this gives the power for tenants to influence, shape and monitor the services delivered by the landlords.

Announced on 16^th November 09, this new regulatory framework for social housing will be launched in April 2010, which focused on 6 major areas as follows:

• Tenants involvement and empowerment
• Tenancy
• Home
• Neighbourhood and community
• Value for Money
• Governance and Financial Viability

Under these focuses, the tenants will have greater focus on the issues that matter the most to them - such as anti-social behaviour, repairs, rental payment etc. Other than that, they will become more involved within the community as well as being able to get informative feedback from their landlords.

On the other hand, landlords will have greater responsibility to work with their tenants and providing flexible and better services to the community, which will enhance the overall performance of the sector. Those landlords who fail to comply with the new rules could face huge fines or losing the property management rights to an organisation.

For your own security, it is essential to purchase landlords insurance and tenants contents insurance to protect your assets.