Lease-Based Provider Downgraded To Lowest Governance Rating By Regulator

 A second lease-based provider has been given the lowest possible governance rating – G4 – by the Regulator of Social Housing. The regulator downgraded Prospect Housing in a regulatory judgement after finding “issues of serious regulatory concern”.  These included: a failure to understand its assets, contractual arrangements and the needs of tenants; and significant weaknesses in its control framework around rent-setting and collection. The regulator also found that Prospect had carried out reviews into “two serious safeguarding incidents” that revealed weaknesses in procedures that it could not remedy through its third-party service providers. Read more on the Social Housing website.

https://www.socialhousing.co.uk/news/lease-based-provider-downgraded-to-lowest-governance-rating-by-regulator-68212?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Regulator Downgrades HA Hit By Criminal Fraud Worth Nearly £1m

A housing association that fell victim to criminal fraud has been downgraded for governance by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) after suffering a “significant financial loss”.  Red Kite Community Housing has said that the loss, which it attributed to human error, is believed by current assessments to have totalled £932,691.48. It said “all indications” were that criminals had been able to launch the fraudulent attack in August because of “a breach of an external source’s computer systems”. In its regulatory judgement, published today, the RSH downgraded the provider to G2, from G1, citing a “basic failure in [Red Kite’s] system of internal controls”. Read more on the RSH website.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/861113/Red_Kite_Community_Housing_Limited_RJ_29.01.20.pdf

Pay to Stay Discussion: Key Issues

Forbes Solicitors held a discussion on “Pay to Stay” with Registered Providers (RPs) of social housing in response to the Government’s consultation. The discussion was an opportunity to discuss the current state of play, as well as how this policy may be structured and its impact. It focused on the following issues:

·         do RPs currently operate the voluntary “Pay to Stay” model and how is it operated?

in response to the consultation and the income threshold:

·         should the starting threshold be set out in relation to eligibility for Housing Benefit? and

·         how should income thresholds operate beyond the minimum threshold?

·         what is the estimate of the administrative costs of implementing the scheme and what are the factors driving such costs? and

·         what wider issues arise for RPs in light of this policy including regulatory or governance issues, statutory rights, feedback from tenants, unintended consequences and restrictions on use of “Pay to Stay” income.

Read more on the Forbes website.

Residents Graduate From UK’s Only Social Housing School

The first residents have graduated from the UK's only dedicated school of social housing. The Phoenix Academy was launched in April by south London social landlord Phoenix Community Housing to encourage tenant and leaseholder involvement and grow board members of the future. The Phoenix Academy covered a wide range of subjects, from the history of social housing to housing finance, and different types of governance to the development of construction techniques since Phoenix’s original stock was built in the early 1920s. Read more on 24dash.

New Regulator Takes ‘Holistic’ Approach

The new social housing regulator has unveiled its approach to regulation.  The Homes and Communities Agency has published its Regulating the standards document, which provides detail on how it will operate. The regulator says it will work to understand landlords’ business models from a wide evidence base to identify those likely to fail, rather than focusing on governance and viability separately.  It will still publish separate verdicts on governance and viability in its regulatory judgements, but the regulator will now ask eight questions relating to topics including individual landlords’ strategies, financial plans and leadership. Download the document form the HCA website.

Challenge to Housing Sector to Improve Annual Reports to Tenants

As landlords gear up to producing their second year annual reports to tenants, the four National Tenant Organisations publish their review report of the first year annual reports – “A good start, but could do better” - challenging the housing sector to improve annual reports next time round. The review identifies many positives in annual reports – particularly that the tenant-led reports were amongst the best. However, the review sets out that too many reports were written for the TSA and not for tenants; there was too much PR and corporate back slapping; too many did not include enough honest assessment of services and very few compared services with other landlords; too many did not include information on value for money, diversity and governance; and very few demonstrated that landlords had understood “local offers”. Above all, the review makes it clear that too few reports set out to excite their tenant readership. Download a copy of the TAROE report from its website.

Recent briefings - Click on the Hyperlinks for More Information

*Localism Bill – localism and ALMOs - NFA Briefing on the Localism Bill
*A more risky world - HQN Briefing on risk assessment
*Localism and the Big Society agenda: the role for social landlords? HQN Briefing which aims to generate a wider debate about the opportunities this agenda brings for social landlords
*New Help for Anti-Social Behaviour Victims - Trials of a new approach for handling complaints of antisocial behaviour. Home_Office Press Release
*Your questions answered – governance (part 1) - This HQN briefing is published in response to questions about governance from HQN members.

Three Valleys First Casualty Of TSA Regulation

The TSA has confirmed Three Valleys Housing (TVH), which manages around 5,000 homes in Derbyshire, has been placed under supervision by the TSA because of concerns about its governance and management. It is the first major association to be placed under supervision on the TSA’s watch. The Board of TVH has agreed that it will join another housing association, and the TSA supports this decision. Neither the TSA nor TVH’s board has identified suitable housing associations for a merger, though a number have expressed an interest. Find more of this story on the TSA website.

The TSA's Proposed Governance Standard – HQN Briefing

This briefing looks in detail at the proposed governance standard, and is intended to assist in responding to the statutory consultation and to help members prepare to meet the requirements of the new regulatory regime. Further briefings on the other standards are available through either The Housing Quality Network or through one of HQN’s specialist networks. HQN’s governance toolkit also provides much relevant additional background information on good governance. Members can download the briefing from the What’s New section of the HQN website and access the governance toolkit by clicking on the logo below.

Radical Change In Social Housing Governance

Governance – traditionally a backroom issue in social housing – will move centre stage from April when the performance of boards becomes paramount. The sector's regulator, the TSA, is consulting on six new standards due to come into force on 1 April, with one to cover governance and financial viability. The TSA's aims are clear: the onus is on boards to set and stick to their own standards. “We expect boards to be very much in control of their organisations but much more so going forward, as we will be much less prescriptive about codes of practice," says Louise Hyde, TSA governance policy manager. Read the rest of this article on the Guardian website.