Decision

Hexagon Housing Association Limited (L1538) - Regulatory Judgement: 27 August 2025

Updated 27 August 2025

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C2 Our judgement is that there are some weaknesses in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed.	First grading	August 2025
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.	Assessed and unchanged	August 2025
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.	Assessed and unchanged	August 2025

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Hexagon Housing Association Limited (Hexagon) following an inspection completed in August 2025.

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grading of C2, a governance grading of G2 and a financial viability grading of V2.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, the governance and financial viability gradings for Hexagon were last updated in January 2025 following a stability check, to confirm grades of G2 and V2.

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 Hexagon, we have concluded that there are some weaknesses in Hexagon delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed, specifically in relation to outcomes in our Safety and Quality Standard and Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C2 grade for Hexagon.

Our judgement is that Hexagon meets our governance requirements, but needs to improve some aspects of its governance arrangements to support continued compliance, specifically in relation to performance reporting and the effectiveness of its risk management and internal controls assurance framework. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a G2 grade for Hexagon.

Our judgement is that Hexagon meets our financial viability requirements, is meeting covenant requirements and has capacity to manage a reasonable range of adverse scenarios. However, Hexagon has a weak financial profile and needs to manage material risk to ensure continued compliance particularly in relation to its development programme. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a V2 grade for Hexagon.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of Hexagon 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 Hexagon’s tenant led Performance Review Group , spoke with tenants, held meetings with Hexagon including its non-executive directors and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Hexagon.

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

We also carried out responsive engagement that focused on Hexagon’s governance grading following a self-referral from the landlord in 2022.

Summary of findings 

Consumer – C2 – August 2025

During the inspection, Hexagon provided evidence-based assurance that it understands its responsibilities to ensure the health and safety of tenants in their homes and takes action to gain appropriate levels of assurance. Hexagon reports good performance on its compliance with landlord health and safety requirements. However, the information provided to Hexagon’s board could be improved by including progress on health and safety remedial actions and damp and mould casework. We gained assurance that Hexagon keeps accurate records of the condition of its homes at an individual property level, through physical surveys of all homes and has a process for keeping this information up to date. Hexagon provided evidence that it has a good understanding of its homes, which underpins decisions around management and future investment in homes.

We found weaknesses in the provision of an effective, efficient and timely repairs and maintenance service, which is reflected in low customer satisfaction and tenant complaints. There is evidence that Hexagon is taking steps around contractual arrangements to improve delivery of the repairs service however still needs to do more to fully understand the reasons for low satisfaction. We will continue to seek assurance that progress against identified actions continues at an appropriate pace and scale, and that this leads to improved outcomes for tenants.

In relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard we saw evidence that Hexagon works with relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) and hate crime in neighbourhoods where it provides homes. Hexagon’s board receives regular reports on ASB performance and there has been scrutiny of this by tenants. Hexagon has recognised that improvements to  ASB case handling is needed. Recent service enhancements have been made and Hexagon has started to see evidence of improved outcomes for tenants.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that Hexagon seeks to offer tenancies that are appropriate for the homes it lets, considering the purpose of the accommodation, the needs of individual households, the sustainability of the community and the efficient use of social housing. We gained assurance that Hexagon reports on and uses information on tenancy management to support tenants to sustain their tenancy.

In relation to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, we saw limited evidence that Hexagon consistently and systematically considers the diverse needs of tenants in the design and delivery of services. Hexagon recognises that it has gaps in the information it holds about its tenants and is developing plans to address this. Further work is needed to ensure the information is used to inform landlord services and to deliver fair and equitable outcomes for tenants.

Hexagon has made improvements to its complaints handling arrangements and we will engage with it to seek evidence of improved outcomes for tenants as a result.

The inspection team gained  sufficient assurance that tenants have helped shape service delivery, with a positive culture of engagement, and a range of opportunities for tenants to get involved to shape services at Hexagon. This included examples of tenants scrutinising and influencing changes to how the repairs, complaints and ASB services are delivered. We have seen less evidence of influence and scrutiny in relation to the landlord’s strategies and Board level decisions. Hexagon has plans in place for this to be strengthened and for clearer links to be established with its governance structure. We will continue to monitor progress on the outcomes from this work through our continued engagement with Hexagon.

Governance – G2 – August 2025

Based on the evidence gained from the inspection, there is assurance that Hexagon’s governance arrangements are meeting the requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard. However, Hexagon needs to take action to improve some aspects of its governance arrangements.

Hexagon was downgraded to G2 in February 2023 following responsive engagement due to issues with data quality, rent-setting, landlord health and safety, complaints performance, and accuracy of regulatory returns. Through the inspection and our responsive engagement, we were able to see evidence of improvement in these areas. We gained assurance that Hexagon has taken action to improve the quality of its data and strengthened its focus on landlord services. The need for continued improvements in outcomes for tenants has been reflected in our consumer grading.

We gained assurance that Hexagon is complying with the rent standard and has put in place appropriate controls to ensure and monitor ongoing compliance.

However, gaps remain in our assurance, that reporting on performance and key risk areas, is aligned with Hexagon’s stated risk appetite and gives the board sufficient oversight.   

There is a need for Hexagon to strengthen board oversight and challenge on financial performance and on risks relating to its development programme. Improvement is also needed to reporting across some aspects of health and safety, specifically remedial actions and damp and mould, building safety and the performance of the repairs service. Information needs to be clearer and more consistent so that the board can effectively challenge and ensure that timely corrective action is taken to address areas of underperformance. Hexagon needs to improve aspects of its risk and internal control framework to gain assurance that controls are sufficient to manage the risks it has identified. We have seen evidence that Hexagon is taking action to improve its approach, including through commissioning a review of development risks, and we will seek assurance that it is, at an appropriate pace, delivering sufficient improvement in how its arrangements to manage risk operate in practice.

During the inspection, Hexagon demonstrated that it regularly reviews its structure to assess how aligned it is to the delivery of its purpose and objectives. Hexagon was able to provide evidence that it has established clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities within its leadership and governance structure. There is also a structured approach in place to developing and appraising the skills, experience and knowledge of board members to support succession planning.

Viability – V2 – August 2025

Based on the evidence gained through the inspection we have concluded that there is appropriate assurance that Hexagon’s plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. Hexagon has evidenced that it has an adequately funded business plan based on reasonable assumptions. Hexagon has sufficient security in place to support its financial plan and it is forecast to continue to meet its financial covenants.

However, Hexagon’s financial performance is weak, and it has material exposures that it needs to proactively manage. Hexagon continues to increase investment in its existing homes whilst delivering a development programme to provide new homes. There is some reliance on growth in the number of homes owned and on the delivery of efficiencies so that Hexagon can improve its financial position. Therefore, there are risks to manage that have the potential to impact on Hexagon’s ability to respond to further adverse events.          

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Hexagon is a non-charitable community benefit society that manages around 4,500 homes based in south east London. Hexagon has one registered non-charitable subsidiary, Horniman Housing Association Limited.

Hexagon’s turnover for the year ended 31 March 2025, based on unaudited accounts for 2024-2025, was £40m and it employs 124 full-time equivalent staff. Hexagon’s development programme over the next five years aims to deliver 243 new homes, comprising of affordable rent and shared ownership.

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 new 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