Decision

Community Gateway Association Limited (L4457) - Regulatory Judgement: 26 August 2026

Updated 26 August 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	August 2026
Governance	G1 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements.	Based on previous assessment	July 2025
Viability	V1 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios.	Based on previous assessment	July 2025

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Community Gateway Association Limited (Community Gateway) following responsive engagement completed in August 2026.

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

Prior to this regulatory judgement, Community Gateway’s most recent consumer grade was C2 which was issued in July 2025 following a planned inspection that also confirmed a governance grade of G1 and a financial viability grade of V1.

Summary of the decision

Following an inspection completed in July 2025, our subsequent responsive engagement with Community Gateway focused on its progress in improving its delivery of the outcomes of our consumer standards. From the assurance gained during the responsive engagement and based on the evidence provided by Community Gateway, we have concluded that it is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards.

Community Gateway has made improvements to its health and safety compliance systems and data and strengthened the assurance to board on outcomes required under the Safety and Quality Standard. Community Gateway has also made improvements to the way it delivers outcomes under the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.  

Community Gateway has evidenced that it is delivering an efficient, effective and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service and has made improvements to the way it communicates with its tenants about repairs. 

Community Gateway has also increased its awareness of tenants’ diverse needs. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C1 upgrade for Community Gateway.

Based on our previous assessment, Community Gateway’s governance grade remains G1.  

Our judgement is that Community Gateway meets our financial viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios. Based on our previous assessment, Community Gateway’s viability grade remains V1.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of Community Gateway, which concluded in July 2025, 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 Gateway Central meeting, spoke with tenants, held meetings with Community Gateway including with its non-executive directors, and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Community Gateway.

Following the inspection, we engaged with Community Gateway focusing on the weaknesses we identified in its delivery of the Safety and Quality Standard and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard. This responsive engagement included discussions with Community Gateway and reviewing evidence provided by it relating to its health and safety compliance systems and information, board reporting and oversight, its targets and communication with tenants on repairs, its awareness of tenants’ diverse needs and the completeness of its strategic risk register.

Our regulatory judgement about how well Community Gateway 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 Community Gateway in its regulatory returns and other regulatory activity. 

Our judgement about how well Community Gateway is delivering the governance and viability outcomes of our Governance and Financial Viability Standard is based on the inspection that concluded in July 2025.

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C1 – August 2026

Following the inspection that concluded in July 2025, we engaged with Community Gateway to understand how it was addressing the weaknesses identified during the inspection. In relation to the Safety and Quality Standard, although it has appropriate systems in place to ensure the health and safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas, and is managing its health and safety compliance risks, the inspection identified that improvements were needed in the systems and information that it relies on for health and safety compliance. Improvements were also needed to board reporting, performance targets, timeliness of repairs service and how Community Gateway communicates with tenants about repairs. In relation to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, Community Gateway needed to continue to increase its awareness of tenants’ diverse needs.

Community Gateway has provided evidence-based assurance that it has made improvements to the systems and data it relies on for health and safety compliance and has evidenced continued strong performance in this area. We have seen evidence of improved board reporting on assurance relating to compliance with the Decent Homes Standard and strengthened board oversight of the safety and quality of its homes including decency, damp and mould, smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms.

Community Gateway has provided evidence that it is delivering an effective, efficient and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service and is meeting its own performance targets. Community Gateway has also improved the way it communicates with its tenants about repairs. 

Community Gateway has continued to increase its awareness of its tenants’ diverse needs, including using its information to inform how it delivers services. The increase in disability, health and reasonable adjustment data has enabled it to further tailor its services at an individual level.

We have also reviewed the information contained in Community Gateway’s published performance information and regulatory returns to gain assurance that this information is consistent with an assessment of a consumer grade of C1. 

In the following areas we have not changed our view of assurance gained during the July 2025 inspection, and these also support a consumer grade of C1.

Our inspection found that in relation to the Safety and Quality Standard, we saw evidence that the board has oversight of fire safety and the fire risk assessment programme and there is appropriate assurance that risks in this area are being managed. 

There is evidence that Community Gateway has an accurate understanding of the condition of its homes at an individual property level, based on a physical assessment of all homes and that it has a well-developed approach to keeping this information up to date. Community Gateway’s updated approach to surveying homes includes an assessment of potential hazards in the home. Community Gateway’s board is provided with appropriate assurance on compliance with the Decent Homes Standard.

In relation to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, we have evidence that Community Gateway uses its ‘Gateway’ structure to enable tenants to fully participate. It provides a range of opportunities for tenant engagement. We saw evidence of the ways in which tenants can influence and scrutinise strategies, policies and services. The board receives progress updates against Community Gateway’s Community Empowerment Strategy, which was developed in partnership with tenants. There is evidence of the meaningful opportunities for tenants leading to service improvements including on website accessibility, the introduction of courses supporting tenants in financial hardship and boosting visits to the customer hub. During our subsequent responsive engagement, we saw evidence of tenant scrutiny activity informing the changes that Community Gateway has made to its repairs service, which are leading to improved outcomes for tenants.

Community Gateway has improved its handling of complaints and use of complaints data so that it has more accurate, timely and insightful information. Community Gateway’s resident committee (Gateway Central) receives quarterly Customer Insight reports providing them with oversight of complaints, with further oversight at the board level. The board is focused on reducing the number of recurring complaints and improving satisfaction.

In relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, we found evidence that Community Gateway works in partnership with other agencies to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where it provides social housing. 

Community Gateway has demonstrated that, in relation to the Tenancy Standard, it has an approach to lettings and allocations that is transparent and that measures are in place to monitor adherence to its policies. 

Governance – G1 – July 2025

Below are the findings of our most recent regulatory judgement about Community Gateway’s delivery of the governance requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, which assessed Community Gateway’s governance grade as G1. The regulatory judgement was issued in July 2025 following an inspection.

During the inspection we gained assurance that Community Gateway’s governance arrangements, including its risk and control framework, enable it to effectively manage its risks and adequately control the organisation. There is detailed reporting that allows the board to scrutinise operational performance and progress in meeting its corporate objectives.

We saw evidence that Community Gateway has clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities within its leadership and governance structure. It has periodic governance effectiveness reviews, most recently in 2023. There is an appropriate succession plan for the board that is regularly reviewed. Community Gateway’s rules require the Chair to be a Community Gateway tenant. The board recognises the importance of developing both tenant board members and Gateway Central members as part of its succession planning. 

Community Gateway’s risk management and control framework is aligned to its strategic risks. We saw evidence through our board observation, meeting with non-executive directors and the executive team that there is an understanding of the risks facing the organisation and the controls in place to mitigate them.

Community Gateway has an appropriate approach to its stress testing that enables the board to understand and manage risks to its viability. Community Gateway stress tests a range of scenarios reflecting its risk profile and informed by its assets and liabilities register. Regular reporting allows the board to monitor Community Gateway’s financial performance according to its risk appetite. The overall approach to stress testing enables the board to understand and manage risks to Community Gateway’s viability.

Viability – V1 – July 2025

Below are the findings of our most recent regulatory judgement about Community Gateway’s ability to meet the viability requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, which assessed Community Gateway’s viability grade as V1. The regulatory judgement was issued in July 2025 following an inspection.

Based on evidence gained from the inspection, we have assurance that Community Gateway’s financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. Community Gateway has an adequately funded business plan, sufficient security in place, is effectively managing its treasury arrangements to deliver its strategy and is forecast to continue to meet its financial covenants under a wide range of adverse scenarios.

We saw evidence that Community Gateway’s board has effective oversight of loan covenant compliance, forecast financial performance is strong and it is not sensitive to the loss of sales surpluses from its business plan. The board must continue to develop its understanding of costs and liabilities in relation to net zero carbon.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Community Gateway is an exempt charity under the Co-Operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. It owns and manages around 7,000 social homes, predominantly in the Preston area.

Community Gateway is the asset holding group parent and the only registered provider of social housing in the group. It has three wholly owned unregistered subsidiaries:

• Patterdale Developments Limited
• Preston Vocational Centre Limited
• Community Gateway Homes Limited

At 31 March 2025, Community Gateway employed 293 full time equivalent (FTE) staff. Turnover for the 2024/25 financial year was £46m. Community Gateway aims to deliver 500 new affordable homes between 2024-27.

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