Decision

Croydon Churches Housing Association Limited (LH0495) - Regulatory Judgement: 24 June 2026

Updated 24 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.	First grading	June 2026
Governance	G1 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements.	Assessed and unchanged	June 2026
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.	Assessed and unchanged	June 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Croydon Churches Housing Association Limited (Croydon Churches HA) following an inspection completed in June 2026.

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C1, a governance grade of G1 and a financial viability grade of V1.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, the governance and financial viability grades for Croydon Churches HA were last updated in December 2025 following a stability check to confirm a G1 grade for governance and a V1 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 Croydon Churches HA, we have concluded that Croydon Churches HA is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C1 grade for Croydon Churches HA.

Our judgement is that Croydon Churches HA meets our governance requirements. Croydon Churches HA 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 objectives. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a G1 grade for Croydon Churches HA.

Our judgement is that Croydon Churches HA meets our financial viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios. Croydon Churches HA has a strong financial profile, and its stress testing demonstrates that financial capacity is built into its business plan. Croydon Churches HA has provided appropriate assurance that it has access to sufficient liquidity and adequate funding in place. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a V1 grade for Croydon Churches HA.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of Croydon Churches HA 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 a tenant panel, spoke with tenants, held meetings with Croydon Churches HA including its non-executive directors, interviewed staff and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Croydon Churches HA.

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

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C1 – June 2026

In relation to the Safety and Quality Standard, Croydon Churches HA provided evidence-based assurance that it has appropriate systems in place to ensure the health and safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas and is meeting landlord health and safety requirements.

Croydon Churches HA provided evidence that it has accurate records of the condition of its homes based on physical assessments, and a process for keeping this information up to date. The information on the quality and safety of its homes informs decisions on future investment to maintain and improve the homes it provides.

Croydon Churches HA has demonstrated that it provides an effective repairs and maintenance service. It has recently appointed a new contractor and streamlined its repairs process by bringing its call centre in-house, strengthening capacity and refining processes to improve performance and oversight. Croydon Churches HA has seen improvement in the delivery of its repairs and maintenance service and provided evidence of improved outcomes for tenants.

In relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, we have assurance that Croydon Churches HA works in partnership with numerous relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where it provides social housing. Croydon Churches HA uses information about its tenants to target improvements for tenants with complex and diverse needs, and tailors its approach to tenants’ needs on a case-by-case basis.

In relation to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, we have assurance that Croydon Churches HA treats tenants fairly, understands their needs, and designs services accordingly. Tenants report confidence in the fairness and respect shown by the landlord. Engagement routes are meaningful, with opportunities to influence and scrutinise strategies, policies, and services. Croydon Churches HA demonstrated that tenants’ views are considered in decision-making regarding service delivery, and that this has influenced service improvements.

Communication with tenants is good and information is clear so that tenants can use its services, understand what to expect and hold it to account. Croydon Churches HA handles complaints fairly, promptly and effectively, and uses the learning from complaints to improve service delivery.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we have assurance that Croydon Churches HA is delivering the required outcomes for allocations and lettings. It has clear policies and effective assurance in place, with evidence that it is granting appropriate tenancies and terms of occupation.

Governance – G1 – June 2026

Based on evidence gained through the inspection, we have assurance that Croydon Churches HA’s governance arrangements enable it to effectively manage its risks and adequately control the organisation with clear oversight of customer experience, service quality and compliance, enabling it to deliver its strategic objectives.

Croydon Churches HA makes use of independent reviews to test that it has a robust governance framework, effective assurance mechanisms and sound reporting structures. Its most recent external governance review was carried out in the autumn of 2024.

Our inspection found that Croydon Churches HA is actively monitoring the delivery of its corporate strategy. Reporting is comprehensive and aligned to strategic objectives, and internal audits provide substantial assurance across the majority of areas supplemented through internal deep dives and further external assurance.

Croydon Churches HA’s risk management framework provides clear board oversight of the risks facing the organisation and the controls in place to manage them. We found that risks are being managed effectively, including in relation to investment in homes, development and sales, and landlord health and safety.

We have seen evidence that the board uses performance information to address areas of weaker performance, while also driving value for money and improving customer satisfaction. This includes enhancements to its overall repairs service influenced by tenants’ input and feedback.

Viability – V1 – June 2026

Based on evidence gained through the inspection, we have concluded there is appropriate assurance that Croydon Churches HA’s financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy.

Croydon Churches HA’s business plan demonstrates a robust financial profile and an adequate level of headroom against its funders’ covenants, with no reliance on sales income.

There is an effective internal financial framework in place to manage financial risks, alongside strong board scrutiny of financial performance and stress testing outcomes. Croydon Churches HA has sufficient liquidity to deliver its current business plan requirements, with sufficient security to allow additional debt to be drawn if required. Stress testing illustrates capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

At 31 March 2025, Croydon Churches HA owned 1,570 social homes across three London boroughs: Croydon, Sutton and Bromley.

At 31 March 2025, Croydon Churches HA’s turnover was around £15.5m and it employed 49 full-time equivalent staff.

Croydon Churches HA has a modest development programme, with approximately 190 homes to be delivered over the first five years in line with its strategic aim to deliver at least 40 affordable homes per year with up to 20 additional private sales to grow its portfolio.

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