The Management of Social Housing Rent Collection and Arrears

The Northern Ireland social housing sector comprises approximately 115,000 dwellings.

Of these, 93,000 are owned by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and the remaining 22,000 by the 36 Housing Associations (HA).

In 2006-07, the total rent collectable in respect of these properties was GBP 344 million (GBP 258 million by NIHE1 and GBP 86 million by Associations).

Social housing tenants generally have a high degree of financial vulnerability: for example, a large proportion of NIHE's rental income (some 70 per cent) is derived from Housing Benefit.

Collecting rent from tenants with full Housing Benefit entitlement is relatively straightforward, as NIHE is responsible for administering this Benefit on behalf of the Department for Social Development.

However, collecting rent due directly from tenants is more challenging, especially from those who are repeatedly in and out of employment and on and off Housing Benefit in the course of their tenancy. This report is divided into four parts covering the various aspects of these challenges: that they make measuring performance complex; that the NIHE's overall rent arrears performance is variable; that the NIHE is in the process of implementing an improvement plan; and that the Housing Associations' rent arrears performance is variable.