Housing associations are a tricky confluence of private profit and public service. They inspire rancour across several parties, with The Spectator calling them ‘the true villains of the housing crisis’. Today, MPs called for sweeping changes to how housing associations are regulated on the back of evidence of managerial neglect. In theory, housing associations should be an easy sell. Non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost housing for people who need a home. As house prices in the private sector rocket, surely housing associations are the best of both worlds? A recent Guardian investigation suggests not. Stories of mould, rats, flooding