News story

RSH gives deregistration notices to St Andrews and Kinsman

The regulator has assessed that St Andrews and Kinsman are unable to demonstrate that they meet eligibility criteria for registration.

From:
Regulator of Social Housing
Published
30 June 2023

The Regulator of Social Housing has today (Friday 30 June 2023) published further regulatory notices for St Andrews Community Housing Association (St Andrews) and Kinsman Housing Limited (Kinsman) regarding its intention to deregister each social housing provider.

Registration as a registered provider brings with it the requirement to meet the regulatory standards on an ongoing basis. St Andrews and Kinsman are both small providers which are in serious and persistent breach of the regulator’s standards. Each own and manage social homes under arrangements entered into after registration which give material controls and all beneficial interest to a third party. As a result, the regulator continues to have serious concerns about each provider’s financial viability and weak governance arrangements.

Each provider has failed to take adequate action to address their ongoing non-compliance in response to enforcement notices that the regulator published in February 2023.

The regulator has assessed that St Andrews and Kinsman are unable to demonstrate that they meet eligibility criteria for registration. They do not have adequate control over their social housing assets, putting them at undue risk, which means they are unable to sustain their financial viability on an ongoing basis as required. Each provider has an opportunity to make representations to the regulator before it makes a final decision.

Jonathan Walters, deputy chief executive at RSH, said:

We have used a range of regulatory and enforcement powers to make St Andrews and Kinsman address their issues, but they have been unable or unwilling to do so. As a result, we have notified each provider of our intention to remove them from the register of social housing providers.

Notes to editors

  1. The regulator maintains a register of providers of social housing. To be eligible for registration, an organisation must demonstrate its eligibility as set out in section 112 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.

  2. The regulator has notified both St Andrews and Kinsman that it is proposing to exercise its power to de-register them from the register of social housing providers under section 118 of the Housing and Regeneration Act.

  3. RSH published regulatory notices for St Andrews and Kinsman Housing Limited on 19 December 2018 and 28 November 2018 respectively, following breaches of the economic standards. RSH also published a further regulatory notice for Kinsman Housing Limited on 13 March 2019 following a breach of the consumer standards. The regulator published enforcement notices for each provider on 15 February 2023.

  4. RSH promotes a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver and maintain homes of appropriate quality that meet a range of needs. It does this by undertaking robust economic regulation focusing on governance, financial viability and value for money that maintains lender confidence and protects the taxpayer. It also sets consumer standards and may take action if these standards are breached and there is a significant risk of serious detriment to tenants or potential tenants.

  5. For press office contact details, see our Media enquiries page. For general queries, please email enquiries@rsh.gov.uk or call 0300 124 5225.

Published 30 June 2023