Decision

Freebridge Community Housing Limited (L4463) - Regulatory Judgement: 14 January 2026

Updated 14 January 2026

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer		Not assessed yet
Governance	G1  Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements.	Assessed and unchanged	January 2026
Viability	V2  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	January 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Freebridge Community Housing Limited (Freebridge) following a stability check completed in January 2026.

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

Summary of the decision

Based on the relevant information and evidence we reviewed in carrying out the stability check, our judgement is that Freebridge meets our viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios. However, it needs to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance. We have therefore concluded the landlord’s grade is unchanged and issue a V2 grade for Freebridge.

From the stability check, there is no evidence to indicate a change in governance grade is required. Freebridge’s governance grade remains G1.

This regulatory judgement is based on a stability check which did not include an assessment of Freebridge’s delivery of the outcomes of our consumer standards.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, the governance and financial viability grades for Freebridge were last updated in January 2025 following a stability check to issue a governance grade of G1 and a financial viability grade of V2.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out a stability check of Freebridge as part of our annual stability check programme.

Our judgement about how well Freebridge is delivering the viability outcomes of our Governance and Financial Viability Standard is based on a review of a range of documents provided by Freebridge, as well as analysis of information supplied by Freebridge in its regulatory returns.

In confirming Freebridge’s governance grade as part of the stability check, our work was limited to verifying that the information contained in its regulatory returns did not appear inconsistent with its existing published governance grade.

Our stability checks do not assess a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our consumer standards.

Summary of findings

Governance – G1 – January 2026

From the stability check, there is no evidence to indicate that a change in governance grade is required.

Viability – V2 – January 2026

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

There is appropriate assurance that Freebridge’s financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. Freebridge’s business plan is adequately funded following a recent financing exercise, and sufficient security is in place. It is forecast to continue to meet its financial covenants.

However, Freebridge faces material financial exposures that it needs to manage. It is increasing its investment in its existing homes, including for building safety and energy efficiency, while continuing to develop new homes. This weakens forecast financial performance and, when set in the context of economic pressures, reduces the capacity in Freebridge’s business plan. Stress testing demonstrates that financial risks, particularly the expenditure required to improve the energy efficiency of Freebridge’s homes, and interest rate and inflation uncertainties, must continue to be managed to ensure Freebridge has the ability to respond to adverse events.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

According to the 2025 statistical data return Freebridge owns 6823 homes in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk.

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