Decision

Broadacres Housing Association Limited (LH4014): Regulatory Judgement - 14 October 2026

Updated 14 October 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	October 2026
Governance	G2 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements but needs to improve some aspects of its governance arrangements to support continued compliance.	Based on previous assessment	January 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.	Based on previous assessment	January 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Broadacres Housing Association Limited (Broadacres) following our responsive engagement completed in October 2026.

This regulatory judgement upgrades our previous published assessment of Broadacres’ consumer grade from C2 to C1.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, Broadacres’ most recent consumer grade was C2 which was issued in October 2024 following a planned inspection that also confirmed a governance grade of G2 and financial viability grade of V2. The governance and viability grades remained unchanged following a stability check in January 2026.

Summary of the decision

Following an inspection completed in October 2024, our subsequent responsive engagement with Broadacres focused on the progress it has made in improving its delivery of the outcomes of our consumer standards and the Governance and Financial Viability Standard. From the assurance gained during our responsive engagement and based on the evidence provided by Broadacres we have concluded that it is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards.

Broadacres has made progress in delivering the outcomes of the Safety and Quality Standard by strengthening board oversight, assurance and challenge on its health and safety reporting. It has made improvements to how it monitors and tackles anti-social behaviour, delivering improvements and evidencing more effective partnership working with relevant organisations. Broadacres has also evidenced that it has made improvements in delivering the outcomes of the Tenancy, Influence and Accountability Standard in relation to delivering equitable outcomes for tenants. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C1 upgrade for Broadacres.

Based on our previous assessment, Broadacres’ governance grade remains G2. We will continue to engage with Broadacres as it makes positive steps to implement its governance improvement plan.

Our judgement is that Broadacres 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 our previous assessment, Broadacres’ viability grade remains V2.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of Broadacres, which concluded in October 2024, 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 a board meeting and a customer scrutiny panel, spoke with tenants, held meetings with Broadacres, including with its non-executive directors, and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Broadacres.

Following the inspection, we engaged with Broadacres to gain assurance that it was addressing the weaknesses we identified in relation to the requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard and its delivery of the outcomes of the Safety and Quality, Neighbourhood and Community, and Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standards. Our responsive engagement included discussions with Broadacres, reviewing evidence it provided relating to its board reporting and oversight of health and safety compliance, how changes to service delivery improved outcomes for tenants in tackling anti-social behaviour, its complaints handling and its understanding of tenants’ diverse needs in order to tailor services.

Our regulatory judgement about how well Broadacres is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards is based on all the relevant information we obtained during the inspection, subsequent responsive engagement and analysis of information supplied by Broadacres in its regulatory returns and other regulatory activity.

Our judgement about how well Broadacres is meeting the requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard is based on the inspection that concluded in October 2024 and stability check that concluded in January 2026.

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C1 – October 2026

Following the inspection that concluded in October 2024, we engaged with Broadacres to understand how it was addressing the weaknesses we identified during the inspection. These related to board oversight of its assurance on health and safety compliance, weaknesses in how it monitored and tackled anti-social behaviour, the limited information it held on its tenants, including protected characteristics, and the limited use of the information it did hold to ensure its housing and landlord services deliver equitable outcomes for tenants. Broadacres had also self-identified weaknesses in its complaints handling and had made improvements as a result.

In relation to the Safety and Quality Standard, at the time of the inspection, Broadacres had appropriate systems in place to ensure the health and safety of its tenants in their homes and associated communal areas, but there were weaknesses in board oversight of health and safety compliance. Through our engagement, Broadacres has evidenced that it has improved the quality of its board reporting to facilitate improved oversight and challenge of performance on identifying and meeting all legal requirements relating to the health and safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas.

In relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, at the time of the inspection, Broadacres had identified weaknesses in how it tackles and monitors anti-social behaviour. It had agreed an improvement plan but was unable to evidence positive outcomes following delivery of this plan. The plan included the introduction of a new anti-social behaviour strategy, more focused resource to tackle anti-social behaviour and strengthened partnership working. Through our responsive engagement, Broadacres has evidenced that the improvement plan has been successfully delivered and provided evidence that confirmed service outcomes have improved, including improved response times and an increase in tenant satisfaction.

Similarly, in relation to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, Broadacres identified weaknesses in how it handled complaints and had already made improvements intended to deliver better outcomes for its tenants. Broadacres identified themes and trends in the complaints they received, addressed root causes, including streamlining how it manages complex repairs, and improved communication and training to ensure a more consistent level of service. Broadacres has now evidenced sustained improvements in its complaints handling to deliver better outcomes for its tenants and has improved tenant satisfaction measures.

Broadacres has also evidenced that it has made improvements to the way it collects and uses relevant information and data to understand the diverse needs of its tenants, including those arising from protected characteristics and uses this information to ensure its housing and landlord services deliver fair and equitable outcomes for tenants.

In several areas we have not changed our view of the assurance gained during the October 2024 inspection, which also supports our assessment of a consumer grade of C1.

Our inspection found that Broadacres maintains an accurate record of the condition of its homes at an individual property level through physical surveys of all its homes and has a process for keeping this information up to date. The inspection identified that Broadacres has sought external specialist assurance in this area which included considering how best to make sure the information that it holds is accurate, consistent and complete.

Broadacres demonstrated that it has an effective, efficient and timely repairs service to tenants. It has made proactive, tenant focused improvements to the repairs service to improve outcomes for tenants.

During the inspection we gained assurance that Broadacres treats its tenants with fairness and respect.

We found evidence during the inspection that tenants have a wide range of meaningful opportunities to influence and scrutinise Broadacres’ strategies, policies and services. These opportunities have directly influenced how Broadacres delivers services to improve outcomes for tenants, including recent opportunities to scrutinise grounds maintenance and complaints. Tenant engagement is clearly structured, from a local level through to board level, and well supported by Broadacres’ staff.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, our inspection found evidence that Broadacres’ approach to lettings and allocations is transparent, that measures are in place to ensure terms of tenancy are appropriate and meet the needs of tenants. There are a range of measures in place to support tenancy sustainment including successfully helping tenants to access financial support.

Governance – G2 – January 2026

From our stability check completed in January 2026, 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 October 2024 following a programmed inspection of Broadacres. Below are the findings in that judgement about Broadacres’ delivery of our governance requirements. We continue to engage with Broadacres as it makes positive steps to implement its governance improvement plan.

Based on the evidence gained from the inspection there is assurance that Broadacres’ governance arrangements enable it to effectively manage its risk and adequately control the organisation, allowing it to deliver its objectives. Broadacres’ board demonstrated that it provides challenge on performance against the organisation’s strategic targets, financial position, and consideration of risk appetite in strategic decision making.

Broadacres’ risk management framework was being reviewed internally during the period of this inspection. We found evidence that Broadacres’ approach to risk management has been strengthened in recent months, including with the introduction of key risk indicators. The risk management framework is aligned to Broadacres’ strategic risks. There is however further improvement needed to ensure the framework is implemented effectively, and Broadacres’ board is assured on the adequacy and effectiveness of its internal controls.

The board’s oversight of landlord health and safety risk and compliance is limited, with improvements needed in the regularity and detail of board’s scrutiny of compliance and performance. Broadacres’ risk register includes controls such as quarterly landlord health and safety reporting for board, but this is not currently being implemented in sufficient detail.

We found evidence of weakness in Broadacres’ approach to stress testing. The information provided to the board in the most recent stress testing exercise did not include the full selection of stresses or quantified mitigations required to give the board sufficient assurance. We identified a level of error and inconsistency within the stress testing and mitigation reporting to board that limited the board’s role in managing risk and gaining assurance that Broadacres can withstand a reasonable range of adverse scenarios.

Broadacres has 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.

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 have seen evidence of this through board observation, meetings with non-executive directors and the executive team, as well as reviewing relevant documents including meeting minutes.

Continuing governance improvement is evidenced through annual effectiveness reviews and triennial in-depth external governance reviews. At the time of the last inspection, the most recent external review of Broadacres’ governance took place in February 2023.

We continue to engage with Broadacres to monitor its progress as it continues to deliver improvements to aspects of its governance arrangements.

Viability – V2 – January 2026

Based on evidence gained from the stability check in January 2026, we have assurance that Broadacres meets the viability requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard.

Broadacres meets and continues to forecast compliance with its financial covenant requirements, with sufficient liquidity in place to deliver its plans, and it has the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios. However, Broadacres needs to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance. Broadacres is investing in its existing homes to improve quality and energy efficiency while continuing to develop new homes.

In addition to this investment, Broadacres anticipates generating surpluses from the sale of new homes. Broadacres is not reliant on these sales, however they represent an uncertain cashflow for the organisation and a financial risk it needs to manage.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Broadacres operates mainly in the north of England, predominantly in Yorkshire and the Humber, and owns around 7,000 homes.

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

Related documents

• Decent Homes Standard