RSH makes statutory appointees to non-compliant lease-based provider

News28 Sep 2020Sarah Williams

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has made three statutory appointees to the board of a lease-based supported housing provider it found non-compliant earlier this year.

Prospect was given a non-compliant G3/V3 rating in May (picture: Getty)

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Prospect Housing Limited, which operates in the West Midlands, was given a non-compliant ‘G3/V3’ in its first published assessment in May 2020 after the regulator found “issues of serious regulatory concern”.

Concerns included that the board had “failed to demonstrate it understands and is managing the risks it faces or has appropriate mitigation strategies in place to ensure the long-term viability of the organisation and protect social housing assets”.

The English regulator also referred to Prospect’s rapid growth in recent years and a number of “conflicts of interest” identified.

Now, the regulator has announced that it has made three statutory appointments to Prospect’s board. These are Chan Kataria, group chief executive at EMH Group, John Ghader, chief executive at Prima Group, and Paul Dolan, chief executive at Accent Group.

The move makes Prospect Housing the latest lease-based provider to see statutory appointees announced.

Harold Brown, senior assistant director and head of the regulator’s investigation and enforcement team, said: “Following the publication of the regulatory judgement on Prospect Housing in May 2020 we have been working with the provider to ensure it takes action to address the weaknesses in its governance and operational arrangements.

“We have made these three appointments following our most recent engagement to ensure that the existing board has additional capacity and access to the expertise and skills needed to resolve the failures.”

“Our priority in taking this regulatory action is to ensure that the interests of Prospect Housing’s tenants remain protected. We will publish an updated regulatory judgement in due course.”

Commenting on the appointees, Owen Ingram, recently appointed board chair of Prospect Housing, said: “In our desire to ensure we suitably house people who are most in need, we welcome the regulator’s decision to bring additional expertise and skills to the board.

“As a new team, Vicky McDermott, our chief executive, and I have been working hard to understand the true position of the organisation, and to work with tenants, managing agents and other partners to understand the root cause of the historic issues Prospect has faced.

“We have proactively kept the regulator informed and so understand their rationale for this decision and their desire to review our governance rating. We look forward to welcoming the three experienced board appointees in order to ensure the regulator, and more importantly our tenants, are confident that things will improve.

“We will not shy away from the challenges or opportunities ahead. I am confident we now have a capable, experienced and passionate team who are robustly considering future options with a shared commitment to ensuring safe, suitable and financially viable accommodation is provided to those in most need.”

In other regulatory news today, the RSH has issued its first rents-based regulatory notice, outlining that Wandle Housing Association overcharged providers approximately £320,000 between 2016 and 2020 as a result of incorrect rent-setting.