Decision

Cobalt Housing Limited (L4361) - Regulatory Judgement: 10 June 2026

Updated 10 June 2026

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C1 Our judgement is that overall the landlord is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. The landlord has demonstrated that it identifies when issues occur and puts plans in place to remedy and minimise recurrence.	Upgrade	June 2026
Governance	G1 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements.	Based on previous assessment	November 2025
Viability	V2 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our viability requirements. It has the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios but needs to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance.	Based on previous assessment	November 2025

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Cobalt Housing Limited (Cobalt) following responsive engagement completed in June 2026.

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer upgrade of C1, a governance grade of G1 and a financial viability grade of V2.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, the governance and financial viability grades for Cobalt were last updated in November 2025 following a stability check to confirm grades of G1 and V2. Cobalt previously had a consumer grade of C2 from an inspection completed in August 2024.

Summary of the decision

Following the inspection completed in August 2024, our subsequent responsive engagement with Cobalt has focused on the delivery of its improvement strategy. We have concluded that Cobalt is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. Cobalt has made the planned improvements to its repairs service and provided assurance that it is delivering this service in an effective, efficient and timely manner. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C1 upgrade for Cobalt.   

Our judgement is that Cobalt meets our governance requirements. Based on our previous assessment, Cobalt’s governance grade remains G1.

Our judgement is that Cobalt meets our financial viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios but needs to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance. Based on our previous assessment, Cobalt’s viability grade remains V2.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out a programmed inspection of Cobalt, which completed in August 2024, to assess how well it is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and meeting our governance and financial viability requirements. During the inspection, we considered all four of the consumer standards: Neighbourhood and Community Standard, Safety and Quality Standard, Tenancy Standard, and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard. The inspection identified issues relating to the outcomes of the Safety and Quality Standard. These weaknesses related to the provision of the repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service to Cobalt’s tenants, and on this basis, we concluded a consumer grade of C2 for Cobalt. Following the inspection, we continued our engagement  with Cobalt to understand how it was addressing these weaknesses.  

We undertook responsive engagement that included discussions with Cobalt and reviewed evidence that demonstrated improvements to its repairs service, including bringing the service in-house and improving its oversight of the outcomes of this service for tenants.

Our regulatory judgement is based on all the relevant information we obtained during the earlier inspection, our subsequent responsive engagement and an analysis of information supplied by Cobalt in its regulatory returns.

In confirming Cobalt’s governance grade as part of the stability check concluded in November 2025, our work was limited to verifying that the information contained in Cobalt’s regulatory returns did not appear inconsistent with its existing published governance grade following our inspection that concluded in August 2024.

Our judgement about how well Cobalt is delivering the viability outcomes of our Governance and Financial Viability Standard, as part of the stability check completed in November 2025, is based on a review of a range of documents provided by Cobalt, as well as analysis of information supplied by Cobalt in its regulatory returns.

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C1 – June 2026

During our inspection, completed in August 2024, Cobalt provided evidence that it understands the condition of its homes and that this informs the provision of good quality, well maintained and safe homes for tenants. This includes ensuring its homes meet the Decent Homes Standard.

Cobalt provided evidence that it has appropriate systems and processes in place for ensuring the health and safety of its tenants in their homes and communal areas. Cobalt provided assurance that it has a good understanding of its compliance with landlord health and safety requirements and that it uses external assurance reviews of its processes to assess the accuracy of its data around health and safety performance.

We found evidence of some weaknesses in the provision of the repairs and maintenance service to Cobalt’s tenants. Performance information, in combination with feedback and complaints from tenants, demonstrated that improvement was needed for Cobalt to evidence an effective, efficient and timely repairs and maintenance service. Cobalt was taking steps to manage repairs performance within the existing structure, with plans for new improved service and oversight arrangements agreed by Cobalt’s board.

Through our subsequent responsive engagement, we have assurance that Cobalt has implemented the planned improvements to its repairs service, including bringing the service in-house, and can now demonstrate that its repairs service is delivering the required outcomes for tenants. Cobalt has provided evidence that it now has stronger oversight of repairs performance and has taken steps to further improve the quality of its information in this area.

We have also reviewed Cobalt’s published performance information and regulatory returns and gained assurance that this information is consistent with an assessment of a consumer grade of C1.

In relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, we gained assurance during the inspection that Cobalt takes steps to prioritise the safety and security of its communities through a dedicated team of anti-social behaviour officers. It has specific performance targets on anti-social behaviour and there are regular reports to board to allow scrutiny of performance. Cobalt actively engages with tenants in this area to add context and insight to the information it holds. Cobalt provided evidence that it works with relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour in neighbourhoods where it provides social housing, providing examples of this happening in practice.

In relation to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, during the inspection we found that tenant engagement is well structured and supported. Cobalt evidenced that it provides opportunities for tenants to be involved in its governance structure as well as providing a framework for tenants to scrutinise and influence its strategies, policies and services. Cobalt gathers tenants’ views and insights to inform decision making, service standards and performance improvement. We also saw evidence that Cobalt provides tenants with accessible information about its landlord services.

During the inspection, Cobalt was able to evidence that it has taken action to deliver fair and equitable outcomes for tenants in relation to the housing and landlord services it provides. For example, there was evidence that Cobalt had engaged with and consulted tenants to establish their diverse needs.

We saw evidence that Cobalt regularly reviews performance information on complaints handling. It provided evidence of learning from information on complaint types and outcomes and using this information to make improvements.

Governance – G1 – November 2025

From our stability check completed in November 2025, there was no evidence to indicate that a change in governance grade was required.

Prior to the stability check, we issued a regulatory judgement in August 2024 following our programmed inspection of Cobalt. The findings of that judgement about Cobalt’s delivery of our governance requirements are set out below.

Based on the evidence gained from the inspection, there is assurance that Cobalt’s governance arrangements enable it to effectively manage its risks and adequately control the organisation, allowing it to deliver its objectives. We saw evidence of board challenge on performance against Cobalt’s strategic objectives and robust consideration of risks in its decision making.

Cobalt provided appropriate assurance that its board proactively reviews its approach to delivering against its purpose and regularly considers alternative options to ensure it is achieving value for money in making best use of resources.

Cobalt was able to provide evidence that it has established and maintains clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities within its leadership and governance structure. The relationship between its board and committees was working in line with its delegations to strengthen assurance in key areas of risk and compliance.

Continuing governance improvement is evidenced through annual effectiveness reviews and an in-depth periodic review which is scoped comprehensively to provide a robust evaluation of Cobalt’s governance in practice. The most recent external review took place in November 2022, and Cobalt has implemented its recommendations.

Board member skills, experience and knowledge are aligned with the activities of the organisation and there is a structured approach to developing and appraising skills to support succession planning. We saw evidence of this through board observation, meetings with non-executive directors and the executive team, as well as reviewing relevant documents including meeting minutes.

Cobalt has a risk management and control framework that aligns to its strategic risks. There was evidence of robust discussion and board challenge of the controls and assurance on strategic risks and of risks being managed effectively in practice.

There was evidence that Cobalt’s board actively seeks and gains an appropriate level of assurance across a range of areas. There was evidence of how this assurance has been used to inform, validate and make improvements to stock condition and landlord health and safety information, and the approach being taken to improve the repairs and maintenance service.

Board ownership of stress testing, mitigation strategies and wider governance over risks through regular and structured review of golden rules is evident. Reporting to board provides sufficient detail for the board to ensure effective oversight.

Viability – V2 – November 2025

Based on evidence gained from the stability check completed in November 2025, we have assurance that Cobalt meets the viability requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard.

Cobalt’s financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. Cobalt has an adequately funded business plan, sufficient security in place to support its plans, and is forecast to continue to meet its financial covenants. Cobalt has also provided appropriate assurance that it is closely monitoring performance against its loan covenants, and this is reported to the board regularly.

Cobalt is investing in existing homes, while continuing to develop new homes. The increase in investment in existing homes is in response to findings from physical stock condition surveys, and to make homes more energy efficient. Delivering this alongside an increasing development programme means that the business plan will be funded by an increased level of debt and interest payments associated with that.

As a result, the financial performance of the organisation is reduced on an ongoing basis. Stress testing demonstrates the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

According to the 2025 statistical data return Cobalt owns 5,773 social homes in the North West of England.

Our role and regulatory approach

We regulate for a viable, efficient, and well governed social housing sector able to deliver quality homes and services for current and future tenants.  

We regulate at the landlord level to drive improvement in how landlords operate. By landlord we mean a registered provider of social housing. These can either be local authorities, or private registered providers (other organisations registered with us such as non-profit housing associations, co-operatives, or profit-making organisations). 

We set standards which state outcomes that landlords must deliver. The outcomes of our standards include both the required outcomes and specific expectations we set. Where we find there are significant failures in landlords which we consider to be material to the landlord’s delivery of those outcomes, we hold them to account. Ultimately this provides protection for tenants’ homes and services and achieves better outcomes for current and future tenants. It also contributes to a sustainable sector which can attract strong investment. 

We have a different role for regulating local authorities than for other landlords. This is because we have a narrower role for local authorities and the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, and Value for Money Standard do not apply. Further detail on which standards apply to different landlords can be found on our standards page. 

We assess the performance of landlords through inspections and by reviewing data that landlords are required to submit to us. In Depth Assessments (IDAs) were one of our previous assessment processes, which are now replaced by our inspections programme from 1 April 2024. We also respond where there is an issue or a potential issue that may be material to a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our standards. We publish regulatory judgements that describe our view of landlords’ performance with our standards. We also publish grades for landlords with more than 1,000 social housing homes. 

The Housing Ombudsman deals with individual complaints. When individual complaints are referred to us, we investigate if we consider that the issue may be material to a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our standards.  

For more information about our approach to regulation, please see Regulating the Standards.

Further information

• Regulating the standards

• Regulatory standards for landlords