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NHF launches effort to tackle auditor shortage

News14 Jul 2022James Wilmore

The National Housing Federation (NHF) is stepping up efforts to tackle the shortage of auditors working in the sector and calling on housing associations for help.

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The National Housing Federation is stepping up efforts to tackle the shortage of auditors working in the sector and calling on housing associations for help #UKhousing #SocialHousingFinance

The trade body has started taking a variety of actions, including contacting auditors directly, to address the problem – which it has warned will get worse if it is not tackled. 

 

“A lot of members have raised this as a problem; it’s pretty pronounced,” John Butler, finance policy leader at the NHF, told Social Housing. 

 

NHF members have reported receiving no responses to tenders for audit work, which has led some landlords to ask the regulator for a deadline extension to submit their returns, the body said. 

 

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) also sounded the alarm earlier this year about the shortage of auditors.

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The problems have been exacerbated by some housing associations being classified as public interest entities – which, due to changes in audit regulations, has added extra cost and complexity. The auditor sector is also facing a recruitment crisis, similar to a number of other industries. 

 

As part of the NHF’s efforts, it is asking housing associations to open up their external audit procurement process. This includes filling out an audit tender template, prepared by the NHF, and sending it to the trade body’s list of external auditors. 

 

“We’re hoping that by doing that, many more auditors will be interested in housing associations,” Mr Butler said.

 

The NHF has also been researching the UK’s top 50 leading accountancy firms that do not currently audit housing associations and is approaching them about working in the sector.

“We’ve already had six or seven calls all expressing an interest in the sector,” Mr Butler said. 

 

The NHF is also planning on hosting a training day, potentially with help from the RSH, for auditors who do not have experience of the sector, according to Mr Butler. 

 

“The idea is to give these firms some comfort about what they have to do to audit our members,” he said. “We will also be inviting them to our finance conference in Liverpool next year.”

 

Mr Butler concluded that “early engagement” with auditors by associations is also vital, ideally months before a tender document is sent out. 

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