News story

De-registration of National Community Homes CIC (formerly known as Larch Housing Association Ltd): Court decision following appeal 

Our statement on the decision in National Community Homes CIC (formerly known as Larch Housing Association Ltd) v Regulator of Social Housing [2022] EWHC 3171 (Admin):

We welcome the 12 December 2022 judgement of the High Court dismissing National Community Homes CIC’s appeal against our decision to de-register it.

Larch (now known as National Community Homes CIC) has been in persistent breach of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard since November 2019. Between 2019 and December 2021, it failed to demonstrate that it could sustain its viability on an ongoing basis.

As a result, it could not demonstrate that it met the relevant registration criteria and RSH gave notice that it would de-register the provider.

Following its unsuccessful appeal to the High Court, National Community Homes CIC has been removed from the register of social housing.

Jonathan Walters, Deputy Chief Executive of RSH, said:

We welcome the High Court’s decision in this case. De-registration is not something we do lightly, but landlords need to understand that if they persistently fail to meet our registration requirements, de-registration is a real possibility.

Notes to editors

  1. The registration criteria for providers of social housing are set out in section 112(3) of the Housing and Regeneration Act  2008 and ‘Guidance for new entrants on applying for registration as a provider of social housing’.

  2. RSH published regulatory notices about this de-registration decision on 22 December 2021 and 11 March 2022

Published 13 December 2022