English regulator makes statutory appointments after ‘considerable engagement’ with lease-based HA

News11 Sep 2019Sarah Williams

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has announced that it has made three statutory appointments to the board of a lease-based supported housing provider, following a previous regulatory notice and a non-compliant regulatory judgement.

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Housing regulator @RSHEngland makes statutory appointments after “considerable engagement” with lease-based HA #ukhousing #socialhousingfinance #governance

Westmoreland Supported Housing is given three statutory appointments by @RSHEngland following non-compliant #governance rating #ukhousing #socialhousingfinance

Westmoreland Supported Housing, which works with care providers to deliver accommodation for adults with complex learning and physical disabilities, was rated non-compliant G3/V3 in a November 2018 judgement.

Then, in May this year, the RSH concluded in a regulatory notice that it had breached both its Home Standard and its Tenancy Standard.

In a press notice today, the regulator said that it had made the three statutory appointments following “considerable regulatory engagement” with the registered provider.

The statutory appointments are the first made by the regulator since it appointed board members to another supported housing provider, First Priority, as recorded in that provider’s February 2018 regulatory notice.

The regulator has been engaging with a number of lease-based providers of supported housing and in April published a ‘lessons learned’ report that stated: “It is currently hard to see how a provider of [specialised supported housing] which is substantially financed by long-term leases and subsequent tight margins can meet the requirements of the governance and financial viability standard.”

Under the lease-based model, rather than directly owning the accommodation they let to tenants, registered providers take out long-term leases – typically 20 years or more – on properties owned by third parties.

According to the RSH’s November 2018 regulatory judgement, Westmoreland operates in 107 local authority areas nationally.

Before First Priority, the RSH’s most recent statutory appointments were made in 2014 at Quadrant-Brownswood, a tenant co-operative managing general needs housing in London (which does not follow the lease-based model).

Commenting on today’s announcement, Harold Brown, senior assistant director and head of investigation and enforcement at the RSH, said: “We have been working with Westmoreland on an ongoing basis to address the issues set out in the regulatory judgement published in November 2018 and regulatory notice published in May 2019.

“We have made these appointments following our most recent engagement with Westmoreland, to ensure that the existing board members have support to address the weaknesses in the provider’s governance and financial management.”

Mr Brown said that the regulator would publish an updated regulatory judgement in due course, adding: “Our priority in taking regulatory action is to ensure that the interests of Westmoreland’s tenants remain protected.”

In a statement to Social Housing, Mike Doran, chair of Westmoreland, said: “We recently transformed the board with the appointment of six new members, all with strong skills and established backgrounds gained from working many years in social housing.

“We welcome the additional support from the RSH and the appointed individuals will further enhance the board’s capacity and complement the skills and experience we have in place.

“The new board has already made significant progress in supporting [Westmoreland] to implement major changes to the association’s operations. We are confident that we have a board in place with the conviction, experience and skills to create a positive future for [Westmoreland].”