RSH provides clarity on regulating for-profit providers
The Regulator of social Housing has updated its Regulating the Standards information.
The Regulator of Social Housing has today (16 March 2022) published an update to ‘Regulating the Standards’ setting out its approach to grading for for-profit providers.
RSH expects all registered providers to meet the same standards, regardless of whether they have a for-profit or not-for-profit business model. All private registered providers should be well governed, financially viable, and provide safe and good quality homes for their tenants.
There are, however, differences between for-profit and not-for-profit providers which the regulator needs to take into account when assessing governance and financial viability. In particular, for-profit providers have different capital structures and cash flow dynamics and are often part of wider groups of connected companies rather than standalone organisations.
The updated edition of Regulating the Standards provides clarity to stakeholders on how the regulator will report its findings from In-Depth Assessments of for-profit providers. This will be applied when the regulator reports its first regulatory judgements of for-profit providers which own more than 1,000 homes. The updated guidance also includes a range of minor amendments to other areas of the document which are set out in the publication.
The approach aligns with the regulator’s primary focus to promote a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver and maintain homes of appropriate quality that meet a range of needs.
Fiona MacGregor, Chief Executive of RSH, said:
We are pleased to share our updated regulatory guidance with stakeholders, which sets out the way in which we will report our first in-depth assessments of for-profit providers.
All providers are custodians of people’s homes and need to ensure those homes meet the needs of their tenants over the long term. It is vitally important that providers meet the standards that we, their tenants and stakeholders expect.
Regulating the Standards 2022 is available on the RSH website.
ENDS
Notes to editors
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Regulating the Standards outlines the regulator’s operational approach to assessing providers’ compliance with economic and consumer standards. Those standards and the requirements they place upon registered providers are set out in separate documents available on the Regulator of Social Housing’s pages on www.gov.uk.
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Reflecting the regulator’s risk-based proportionate approach, it regulates providers differently depending on their level of risk exposure. Providers which own fewer than 1,000 social homes are subject to a different level of regulatory engagement on the economic standards. The regulator’s approach is detailed in Regulating the Standards.
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The new version of Regulating the Standards updates the document published in March 2020.
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For press office contact details, see our media enquiries page. For general queries, please email enquiries@rsh.gov.uk or call 0300 124 5225.
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The Regulator of Social Housing 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.