English regulator postpones accounts submission deadline as it surveys RPs on coronavirus
The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has postponed the final deadline for housing associations to send it their accounts by three months and has lessened the value for money reporting requirements, in steps to further flex its approach.
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The update comes after the regulator yesterday released its short survey of questions to providers concerning how they are dealing with the key operational risks of the crisis.
The regulator has also directed providers towards further guidance about carrying out gas safety checks, published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
In a note on its website today, the RSH said it recognised that registered providers may face challenges in submitting their accounts to it within the “six months after year-end deadline” that is set in statute.
It asked providers to take steps to submit their returns “as soon as reasonably practicable”, but said it would not take action where accounts that would previously have been due by 30 September 2020 are delayed by up to three months, ie up until 31 December 2020.
In line with this, it has postponed the deadline for the Financial Viability Assessment (FVA) electronic accounts submission deadline to 31 December 2020.
However, RPs will still be bound by deadlines concerning lender covenants. Jonathan Pryor, partner at auditors Smith & Williamson said: "Most RPs have loan covenants that refer to providing the lender with financial statements within six months, or 180 days in some cases.
"Each RP would therefore need to agree with each lender that the covenant could be waived – or modified to say nine months, or 270 days, say."
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Value for money
In its today’s update, the regulator also said it will take a “proportionate” approach to value for money (VFM) regulation, to reduce the regulatory burden.
It said: “We recognise that reporting on VFM in line with the regulatory standards could prove challenging in the current circumstances as organisations are having to make rapid decisions about how to reprioritise the use of their resources.”
This means that, while providers should calculate VFM metrics from their accounts and report these as usual, the regulator does not expect them to spend time reflecting on the impact of the current circumstances in their VFM commentary.
It added: “If providers are unable to provide the level of reporting that they would otherwise have done, the regulator will take a proportionate response.”
Regulatory judgements
The regulator had previously announced that it had paused its programme of in-depth assessments indefinitely.
In the update today it said that it would continue to publish some remaining regulatory judgements up until the end of June 2020, either based on work that had started before the pause, which was being completed with the consent of the provider concerned, or from ongoing reactive engagement.
These reports will be published as they are completed, rather than in the usual monthly group releases.
The regulator said it may publish other regulatory judgements, for example following mergers or based on material reactive work unrelated to coronavirus.
But it said it has now paused its work to upgrade current G2 and G3 judgements.
It said “[This is] to allow us and providers to focus on responding to the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“We know that the providers concerned are working through actions to address issues identified in G2 and G3 judgements and this decision does not mean that the RSH has concerns about delivery of those improvements. We remain in touch with non-compliant and G2 providers to monitor their ongoing progress.”
The regulator also pointed the sector towards new guidance for landlords published by the HSE concerning carrying out gas safety checks.
Operational risks survey
In a letter on 26 March outlining initial steps to flex its regulatory approach, the RSH said that it would begin a monthly survey of providers concerning the operational risks posed by coronavirus.
Yesterday, it published the questions it will use, with key questions around emergency repairs, gas and fire safety compliance; asbestos, electrical, legionella and lift safety checks; and care and support staffing levels.
The survey and supporting guidance will be available to providers to complete on its NROSH+ portal. Providers should submit survey responses through NROSH+ by Friday 24 April, covering the period up to and including 17 April.
There are five core questions with multiple choice answers, designed to ascertain the current level of provision that organisations are maintaining around each area. For example the level of safe staffing and essential service delivery within care, supported and other vulnerable people’s accommodation where the organisation is the landlord.
The RSH will use the information it gathers to help identify where there may be challenges that the sector or individual providers need regulatory support to meet, it said.
Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of the RSH, said: “We want to help providers maintain tenant safety by identifying emerging operational risks across the sector and providing regulatory support where it’s most needed.
“That’s why we’re surveying providers across the sector to give us up-to-date information about the areas worrying them the most.
“We need providers to be honest with us about the risks they’re facing in these areas as they make difficult choices and trade-offs so that we can help them and others across the sector. This is neither box-ticking, nor an exercise to identify non-compliance.”
In an interview with Social Housing published today Ms MacGregor emphasised that the regulator is not seeking to “name and shame, but to help and assist”.
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