14. What assessment has the Minister made of the different rights afforded to tenants of a local authority and tenants of a registered social landlord? OAQ(5)0048(CC)

A full assessment of the rights of tenants of social landlords was undertaken during the development of the Renting Homes (Wales) Bill. The rights are broadly similar, although some differences exist, such as the right to buy and the right to acquire; other differences are being addressed through the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.

Well, may I ask the Minister to review this again because we’ve seen, in the merger of Tai Cantref and Wales & West Housing, a process that was entirely deficient, in my view, for a number of reasons, but, in this context, because of a total lack of consultation with tenants? He made reference earlier to the process of stock transfer. A ballot is held in terms of stock transfers, but, in this case, there was no effort whatsoever to garner the views of tenants. Well, the Minister says ‘no’, but I can tell him that there was just a brief section in a circular that went to tenants despite the fact that, as he should know, under the Housing Act 1985, secure tenants do have the statutory right to consultation, which isn’t true, of course, of assured tenants—another contrast. So, the process was entirely deficient. Can I ask him to give the same rights to RSL tenants as exist for local authority tenants?

I can assume by the questioning of the Member that he disagrees with the outcome. Unfortunately, that was the outcome. The decision to merge and the choice of merger partners was a unanimous decision taken by the Cantref board. The Member said there was no consultation and then there was a little bit of consultation. Consultation with tenants did take place—Cantref wrote to all its tenants, encouraging them to respond with any concerns. Meetings were also held with tenant groups. If the Member is convinced that is incorrect, then he should write to me with the detail.