Housing Minister Caroline Flint has announced that tenants will have the opportunity to reward good practice and take action against poor social landlords as she launched the recruitment for the board of the new social housing regulator, the Tenant Services Authority.

The minister called for two social housing tenants to come forward to apply for two of the four new positions on the board of the Tenant Services Authority, the new name for the Office for Social Tenants and Landlords, when it opens for business at the end of this year.

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When created by the Housing and Regeneration Bill currently before Parliament, the regulator will be able to identify which landlords are providing a good service to their tenants and reward them accordingly, by cutting red tape through reducing the number of routine inspections or the amount of paperwork. The regulator will be able to demand action against landlords who provide a poor service, calling for compensation for tenants suffering poor service, or in extreme cases change the landlord altogether.

Ms Flint said: "The new regulator will have wide ranging powers to affect change across the social housing sector and to ensure that the interests of tenants are protected. I want tenants to join the board of the new regulator to share their experience of social housing, to help reward the many excellent registered social landlords and to take suitable action against those who are not providing an acceptable level of service."

(CD/JM)