Decision

Previous regulatory judgement: Freebridge Community Housing Limited (5 July 2023)

Updated 13 December 2023

Applies to England

RSH Narrative Regulatory Judgement

• Provider: Freebridge Community Housing Limited
• Regulatory code: L4463
• Publication date: 5 July 2023
• Governance grade: G1
• Viability grade: V2
• Reason for publication: Viability regrade
• Regulatory route: In Depth Assessment

Regulatory judgement

This judgment regrades the regulator’s existing assessment of Freebridge Community Housing Limited’s financial viability from V1 to V2 and confirms its existing governance grade of G1 following completion of an In Depth Assessment (IDA).

Based on evidence gained from the IDA, the regulator has assurance that Freebridge Community Housing Limited (Freebridge) complies with the financial viability elements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard. It has an adequately funded business plan with sufficient security in place and is forecast to continue to meet its financial covenants. Freebridge plans to refinance its original stock transfer funding to deliver the development ambitions set out in its corporate strategy.

Under its current restrictive covenants Freebridge is forecasting limited monetary headroom, which coupled with current economic uncertainty in relation to inflation and interest rates, restricts its ability to manage a wide range of financial risks.

The regulator’s assessment of Freebridge’s compliance with the governance elements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard remains unchanged. Based on the evidence gained from the IDA the regulator has assurance that Freebridge’s governance arrangements enable it to adequately control the organisation and to continue meeting its objectives.

Other providers included in the judgement

None

About the provider

Origins

Freebridge is a community benefit society formed in 2006 on completion of a stock transfer.

Registered Entities

Freebridge is the only registered entity.

Unregistered Entities

There is one unregistered entity, Bridgegate Homes Limited, which is dormant.

Geographic Spread and Scale

The provider operates in the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk local authority area. It owns and manages 6,832 homes.

Staffing and Turnover

At 31 March 2023, the group employed 208 full-time equivalent employees. The group turnover for the year ended 31 March 2023 was £32.7m.^{[footnote 1]}

Development

Freebridge’s latest business plan includes a total planned development of 258 homes by 2026.

About our judgements

Key to Grades

Governance:

	Compliant
G1	The provider meets our governance requirements.
G2	The provider meets our governance requirements but needs to improve some aspects of its governance arrangements to support continued compliance.

	Non-compliant
G3	The provider does not meet our governance requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and in agreement with us the provider is working to improve its position.
G4	The provider does not meet our governance requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern, and the provider is subject to regulatory intervention or enforcement action.

Viability:

	Compliant
V1	The provider meets our viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios.
V2	The provider 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.

	Non-compliant
V3	The provider does not meet our viability requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and, in agreement with us, the provider is working to improve its position.
V4	The provider does not meet our viability requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern, and the provider is subject to regulatory intervention or enforcement action.

Note: The use of an asterisk (*) against a grade indicates that the assessment refers to a provider that is designated as being for-profit.

Definitions of Regulatory Routes

In Depth Assessment (IDA): An IDA is a bespoke assessment of a provider’s viability and governance, including its approach to value for money. It involves on-site work and considers in detail a provider’s ability to meet its financial obligations and the effectiveness of its governance structures and processes.

Stability Checks: Based primarily on information supplied through regulatory returns, a Stability Check is an annual review of a provider’s financial position and its latest business plan. The review is focused on determining if there is evidence to indicate a provider’s current judgements merit reconsideration.

Reactive Engagement: Reactive engagement is unplanned work which is triggered by new information or a developing situation which may have implications for a provider’s current regulatory judgement.

Stability Checks and Reactive Engagement: In some cases, we will publish narrative regulatory judgements which combine evidence gained from both Stability Checks and Reactive Engagement.

For further details about these processes, please see Regulating the Standards.

1. Based on unaudited accounts for 2022/23. ↩