LONDON, Oct. 29 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news:
Phoenixfailed tomakesuresystemsand controls were sufficiently robust to ensuretimelypayments were being madeand ensurecontinuedcovenant compliance,despitepreviousfindings byRSH that Phoenix needed to increase the effectiveness of its internalcontrols.
RSHalso found that Phoenixfailed toaddress skills gapsand changesin the boardin a timely mannerand that gaps in resourcing and oversightimpactedthe effectiveness of its governancearrangements.
WhilePhoenixhas managed its position with funders to avoid default, the failings were so serious thatRSHhasconcludedsignificant improvement is needed.
Phoenix had its consumer gradingdowngraded to C2, meaning there are some weaknesses and improvement is needed, specifically in relation totheSafety and Quality Standard.
Phoenixcontinues to meet the financial viability requirementsand itsV2 viability grading remainedunchanged, meaning ithas the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios.
RSH also publisheda number ofotherregulatory judgements, including downgradingGreenSquareAccordfrom G1 to G2.An inspectionfound thatGreenSquareAccordneeded toimproveaspects of its governance arrangements to support continued compliance, specifically in relation to board oversight of operational delivery and riskand strengthening its internal control arrangements.
GreenSquareAccordalso received C2/V2 gradings.
TheLondon Borough of Barnet,North EastDerbyshire District Council,andthe London Borough of Sutton and received C1 gradings,meaning that eachlandlordis delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards overall.
The London Borough of Hounslowreceived aC2,meaning there are some weaknessesin itsdelivery of the consumerstandards andimprovement is needed.
ClarionHousing Groupreceived C2/G1/V1gradingsandHoneycombGroup receivedC2/G1/V2 gradings.
RSH has also publishedoutcomesfor the first of this year's annual stability checks, includingLincolnshire Housing Partnership Limited,Advance Housing and Support Limited,Teign Housing, andTwo Rivers Housing. Allretainedtheir existing governance and viability gradings.
Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, said:
"Good governance is vital for managing risk properly and making the right strategic decisions.
"We will continue to use our regulatory powers to scrutinise the sector and hold landlords to account."
Notes to Editors
Links to each of the judgements are available in the table below:
Landlord
Consumer
Governance
Viability
Route
Advance Housing and Support Limited
N/A
G1
V1
Stability Check
London Borough of Barnet
C1
Inspection
Clarion Housing Group Limited
C2
G1
V1 (regrade from V2)
Inspection
GreenSquareAccordLimited
C2
G2 (downgrade)
V2
Inspection
Honeycomb Group Limited
C2
G1 (upgrade)
V2
Inspection
London Borough of Hounslow
C2
Inspection
Lincolnshire Housing Partnership Limited
C2(based onpreviousassessment)
G1
V2
Stability Check
North EastDerbyshire District Council
C1
Responsive Engagement
Phoenix Community Housing Association (Bellingham and Downham) Limited
C2(downgrade)
G3(downgrade)
V2
Responsive Engagement
London Borough of Sutton
C1
Inspection
Teign Housing
C2(based onpreviousassessment)
G1
V2
Stability Check
Two Rivers Housing
N/A
G1
V1
Stability Check
*
PhoenixCommunity Housing Association (UK) was placed on RSH'sgradings under review listin July.
*
RSH regulates housing associations and other private registered providers against its full set of standards. Councils are regulated against the consumer and rent standards only.
*
More information about RSH's responsive engagement, programmed inspections and consumer gradings is also available on its website.
*
RSH promotesa viable,efficientand 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, financiallyviableand offer value for money. It takesappropriate actionif the outcomes of the standards are not being delivered.
*
RSH carries out stability checks on all housing associations, and other private registered providers (PRPs), who own 1,000 homes or more. The stability checks are a yearly exercise. We look at the financial information PRPs havesubmittedto us (including their most recent business plan and annual accounts) and consider if there are any risks which might result in a change to their financial viability or governance gradings. The checks do not include local authorities because our Governance and Financial Viability Standard does not apply to them.
*
For general enquiries, emailenquiries@rsh.gov.uk. For media enquiries please see ourmedia enquiriespage.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
