The Minister for Housing and Planning Jan O’Sullivan has launched a draft voluntary code for the regulation of approved housing bodies. The code is available for public consultation until 21 September.
The draft code is a first step towards a statutory regulatory framework aimed at protecting State investment in the voluntary and co-operative sector over the last two decades and will provide assistance to those working in the sector.
Several hundred approved housing bodies of varying sizes are operating in the sector, from small bodies with a handful of housing units run entirely by volunteers to large bodies with several thousand units and dozens of fulltime staff. The draft code outlines minimum regulatory standards that will apply to all and additional standards and requirements that apply to larger bodies.
Minister O’Sullivan noted the changes in the funding environment for the sector and said “if the sector is to attract the necessary public and private investment we must have a strong regulatory regime in place to provide independent validation of the sector’s performance”.
The code will formally be launched following the public consultation.