Decision

Peabody Trust (4878) - Regulatory Judgement: 29 April 2026

Updated 29 April 2026

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C2 Our judgement is that there are some weaknesses in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed.	First grading	April 2026
Governance	G1 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements.	Assessed and unchanged	April 2026
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.	Assessed and unchanged	April 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Peabody Trust (Peabody) following an inspection completed in April 2026.

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C2, a governance grade of G1 and a financial viability grade of V2.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, the governance and financial viability grades for Peabody were last updated in February 2025 following a stability check to confirm a G1 grade for governance and a V2 grade for financial viability. This is the first time we have issued a consumer grade in relation to this landlord.

Summary of the decision

From the assurance gained during the inspection, based on the evidence provided by Peabody, we have concluded that there are some weaknesses in Peabody delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed, specifically in relation to outcomes in the Safety and Quality Standard and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C2 grade for Peabody.

Our judgement is that Peabody meets our governance requirements. Peabody has provided evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of its governance arrangements and that it continues to effectively manage the risks of its activities, allowing it to deliver its strategic and charitable objectives. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a G1 grade for Peabody.

Our judgement is that Peabody meets our financial viability requirements. It has adequate covenant headroom, has the financial capacity to manage a reasonable range of adverse scenarios and has access to sufficient liquidity. However, Peabody has a number of financial risks that it needs to manage, including significant investment in existing homes and an increased disposal programme. Peabody therefore has reduced capacity to respond to adverse events. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a V2 grade for Peabody.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of Peabody to assess how well it is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and meeting our governance and financial viability requirements, as part of our planned regulatory inspection programme. 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.

During the inspection we observed board and committee meetings and two tenant panels, spoke with tenants, held meetings with Peabody including its non-executive directors, interviewed staff and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Peabody.

Our regulatory judgement is based on a review of all the relevant information we obtained during the inspection as well as analysis of information supplied by Peabody in its regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C2 – April 2026

Peabody provided evidence-based assurance that it has appropriate systems in place to ensure the health and safety of its tenants in their homes and associated communal areas. Peabody demonstrated that it has a good understanding of its compliance with landlord health and safety requirements, and that it is delivering the actions arising from legally required health and safety assessments. We saw evidence that Peabody has sufficient oversight of landlord health and safety compliance including at board level.

Peabody has effective arrangements in place for managing a significant and complex building safety programme. It has completed assessments for its higher risk buildings and is working through a remediation programme prioritised according to risk. Peabody provided evidence that it is making progress on delivering its building safety remediation programme and that it has appropriate mitigations in place in the meantime, which are regularly reviewed.

Peabody maintains accurate records of the condition of its homes at an individual property level through physical surveys, and has systems in place to ensure these are kept up to date. This understanding is used to inform its business plan, with an appropriate level of cost factored in for related works.

Our inspection found weaknesses in the provision of an effective, efficient and timely repairs and maintenance service. Peabody has made substantial changes to its repairs service over the past 18 months to deliver a more localised approach and there are early signs of improvement. However, more work is required for the repairs service to meet Peabody’s own targets on timeliness, including on emergency and priority repairs, to reduce cancellations and improve tenant satisfaction.

There is evidence that Peabody is managing the risks to its tenants from damp, mould and condensation, including prioritising cases according to risk and tenant vulnerabilities. Some improvement is needed to ensure that target timescales are met, and that remedial works are carried out in a timely manner.

In relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, we found evidence that Peabody works in partnership with other agencies to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where it provides social housing. We saw evidence that Peabody reviews the effectiveness of its anti-social behaviour service and makes improvements as a result, including targeted campaigns to raise awareness of anti-social behaviour and hate crime, and improving referral pathways with partner agencies. Peabody recognises that further work is needed to improve response times and tenant satisfaction.  

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, Peabody provided evidence that its approach to lettings and allocations is fair and transparent, that measures are in place to ensure terms of occupation are appropriate and meet the needs of tenants, and that tenants are supported to sustain their tenancy through adaptations and access to additional support.

Peabody has demonstrated that it treats its tenants with fairness and respect, but it needs to improve its understanding of the diverse needs of tenants including those arising from protected characteristics, language barriers, and additional support needs, to ensure it is delivering fair and equitable outcomes. Peabody provided evidence that it collects information about tenants’ additional needs, including when reporting a repair or making a service request, to tailor its response. We saw evidence of recent improvements to the information collected, and Peabody will need to continue this work to increase the level of information held.

We gained assurance that Peabody provides a range of meaningful opportunities to enable its tenants to scrutinise its performance, and that it takes tenant views into account in its decision making about how services are delivered. Peabody has recently made changes to its tenant engagement structures which are starting to embed, with further improvements planned to strengthen communication and demonstrate impact for its tenants.

Peabody has taken action to improve its complaints performance, and we saw evidence during our inspection that this has been effective in reducing its complaints backlog and improving response times. Peabody will need to continue this improvement to ensure that complaints are addressed fairly, effectively and promptly.

Governance – G1 – April 2026

Based on evidence gained through the inspection, we have assurance that Peabody’s governance arrangements are appropriate, and that the board and the executive have the skills and experience to manage risk and adequately control the organisation in line with its strategic and charitable objectives. 

Peabody’s board monitors and challenges performance against strategic targets and considers its risk appetite when making decisions. The board has robust oversight through a suite of metrics supported by third-line assurance through internal audit and relevant external reviews. We saw evidence of Peabody identifying aspects of reporting that require enhancement to maximise the effectiveness of board scrutiny and oversight. Peabody’s governance arrangements allow for active tenant scrutiny.

We have assurance that the skills and experience of Peabody’s board and executive team are aligned with the organisation’s strategy, operations and risks. Peabody demonstrated that it is aware of areas that require strengthening and applies learning to support continuous improvement. We saw evidence that effective governance is maintained by skills-led succession planning, board member appraisals, annual internal effectiveness reviews and periodic external effectiveness reviews. A streamlined, more focused board and committee structure has recently been introduced following a recommendation from an external governance review.

Peabody’s risk management and control framework is aligned to strategic risks. Action plans are in place to strengthen controls where needed and we saw evidence of continual improvements being made to maximise the effectiveness of the risk management framework.

Peabody demonstrates robust financial governance. Board reporting provides sufficient detail for the board to ensure effective oversight of financial and commercial risks that are part of its structure.

We gained assurance that the board proactively reviews its approach to delivering against its purpose and routinely considers alternative methods of delivering its strategic objectives. Peabody has a strategic approach to achieving value for money and it has demonstrated that the board provides robust challenge to support the organisation to deliver optimal benefits from the resources it has available.

Peabody maintains clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities within its leadership and governance structure. There is assurance that its board and committees work in line with its delegations and that the board periodically considers the adequacy of its governance structure.

We saw evidence that the board has clear ownership of stress testing and mitigation strategies. Board reporting provides sufficient detail for the board to ensure effective oversight of Peabody’s financial and commercial risks.

Viability – V2 – April 2026

Based on the evidence gained through the inspection, we have concluded that there is appropriate assurance that Peabody’s financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. Peabody has appropriately evidenced that it has an adequately funded business plan and is forecast to continue to meet its financial covenants.

There are material risks within Peabody’s financial plan that it will need to manage. Peabody is increasing investment in its existing homes, including an extensive programme of spending on building and fire safety.

Peabody is also planning to deliver a stock rationalisation programme to support its financial profile during the period of increased investment in its homes. Peabody remains exposed to the housing market as it continues to deliver its committed development programme.

We have assurance that Peabody has effective reporting and oversight in place in respect of these matters. However, the scale of material risks faced by Peabody mean that we will continue to actively monitor its financial performance and its capacity to manage adverse scenarios on an ongoing basis.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Peabody is a charitable Community Benefit Society which owns around 93,000 social homes. Peabody Trust is the parent of the group and the primary social landlord.

There are two further active registered entities in the group: Town and Country Housing and Peabody Developments Limited.

There are three public limited companies in the Group: Peabody Capital PLC, Peabody Capital No 2 Plc and TCHG Capital PLC, which have been, together with Peabody Trust, the issuers of the Group’s listed bonds.

There are two active registered charities in the Group: Peabody Community Foundation, and George Peabody Donation Fund.

There are three wholly owned direct labour organisations in the Group providing repair and maintenance services which arose following previous mergers, Peabody Group Maintenance Limited, Connect Property Services Limited and TCH Repairs Limited.

The Group also includes interests in a number of limited liability partnerships which are joint venture vehicles with third parties for specific development or regeneration projects.

Peabody’s stock is concentrated in London and the South East of England. The majority of homes are for general needs, but it also provides homes for shared ownership, supported housing and housing for older people. Peabody have an above average proportion of flats and homes in tall buildings.

At 31 March 2025, Peabody Group employed 3,941 full time employees. Peabody plans to complete 5,000 new homes over the next five years.

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