Ms Orla Cleary:

It is just an extension. I think the majority of approved housing bodies would have very similar wording. I know in our constitution, there is the alleviation of housing need. The definition of what that is has just expanded somewhat to allow us to do those other things. For example, we would have education bursaries and so on. The problem is that the wording in the original Act was just so restrictive that it would not have allowed us to continue to do those.

On a practical level, there is no intention to change business models. The focus is still very much on the delivery of social housing, and now also affordable housing as well. We do not intend to change our business practices. Our advice is that we do not need to change our constitution and we can continue to carry out the roles. It went back to the information being slightly too restrictive and a lack of clarity as to how it would be interpreted. The other point is that the wording was slightly different from the wording in the Charities Act and the majority, if not all, of the housing associations are also registered charities. Therefore, it added a little bit of confusion. The slight expansion makes things a little more flexible for those AHBs that are solely involved in social and affordable delivery, and probably the care and support from housing associations, since it recognises that not all we do is delivering or managing housing.