The Regulator of Social Housing has today announced that it is
taking enforcement
action against Concept Housing Association.
This follows a sustained period in which Concept has failed to
address serious failings in the way it is run.
Its approach to business planning is weak and the way it manages
risk is inadequate. Social landlords must act in the best
interests of tenants not those of external organisations. But
Concept cannot
demonstrate that its arrangements with external organisations are
appropriate.
Concept has not
managed its affairs effectively. RSH does not have confidence
in Concept's
long-term viability or its ability to protect tenants' homes from
undue risk, with a significant financial deterioration in recent
months. Its financial statements remain overdue to RSH by over a year.
RSH has pushed
Concept to
address these issues, but it has repeatedly failed to do so. As a
result, RSH is
using its powers to make Concept:
- Commission a third-party insolvency expert to develop a
wind-down plan. This will outline the steps that Concept would need to take
to protect tenants in the event of further deterioration of its
financial position.
- Get an independent review of board and executive skills, to
identify the gaps that need addressing, and produce a plan
rapidly afterwards to address them.
- Give RSH
evidence and independent assurance that it is meeting health and
safety obligations for all its social homes and that a plan is in
place to address any issues.
- Use these independent reviews to produce a credible
improvement plan that demonstrates a clear route to compliance.
Should Concept
fail to comply, RSH will take further
action.
RSH Chief
Executive Jonathan Walters said:
Our standards set vital protections for social housing. Landlords
need to be well run and financially viable, so they can ensure
tenants' homes stay in the social housing sector.
Concept has
failed to address our concerns and hasn't put things right
despite our intensive engagement.
We will not accept this. So today we are using our powers to make
Conceptaddress
its widespread failings.
In addition, RSH
has announced that it is currently investigating matters which
may indicate serious failings in Hexagon Housing Association
delivering the outcomes of the Governance and Financial Viability
Standard.
Hexagon has been added to RSH's gradings under review list
and the outcome of the investigation will be confirmed in a
regulatory judgement, once completed.
Ends
Notes to editors
- A registered provider is responsible for ensuring that it
manages itself effectively, achieves the standards set by
RSH, and engages
positively with its regulatory framework. Where a failure against
a standard or other problem has been identified, RSH expects providers to
respond in a prompt and effective manner. It may be necessary for
RSH to step in
and exercise its powers under the Housing and Regeneration Act
2008 as amended (the Act) when a provider fails to do
so. The regulator has published guidance on how the
regulator uses and intends to use its statutory regulatory and
enforcement powers.
- Sections 219 to 225 of the Act allow the regulator to require
a registered provider to take specified action to resolve a
specified failure or other problem. Sections 251 to 252 of
the Act allow the regulator to require a registered provider to
appoint a manager to manage the entirety of their affairs
relating to social housing or specific aspects of social housing.
Section 269 of the Act enables the regulator to appoint one or
more persons as an officer of a private registered provider.
-
RSH promotes a
viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able
to deliver more and better social homes. It does this by
setting standards and carrying out robust regulation focusing
on driving improvement in social landlords, including local
authorities, and ensuring that housing associations are
well-governed, financially viable and offer value for money. It
takes appropriate action if the outcomes of the standards are
not being delivered.
- If RSH is investigating a
landlord due to suspected serious failings, it may place them on
the gradings under review list. This is likely to be where
engagement is ongoing and RSH thinks it is appropriate
to alert stakeholders to the fact that it has serious concerns
about that landlord's delivery of the standards outcomes, which
it is investigating. More information about the gradings
under review list and RSH's approach is available
on its How we approach
regulatory judgements and gradingspage.
