Look Ahead Care and Support Limited (LH0013) - Regulatory Judgement: 9 September 2026
Updated 9 September 2026
Applies to England
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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 | September 2026 |
| 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 | September 2026 |
| 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 | September 2026 |
Reason for publication
We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Look Ahead Care and Support Limited (Look Ahead) following an inspection completed in September 2026.
This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C2, a governance grade of G2 and a financial viability grade of V2.
Prior to this regulatory judgement, the governance and financial viability grades for Look Ahead were last updated in November 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 Look Ahead, we have concluded that there are some weaknesses in Look Ahead delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed, specifically in relation to outcomes in the Safety and Quality Standard, and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C2 grade for Look Ahead.
Our judgement is that Look Ahead meets our governance requirements but needs to improve some aspects of its governance arrangements to support continued compliance, specifically in relation to risk management and oversight of landlord health and safety. Based on this assessment we have concluded a G2 grade for Look Ahead.
Our judgement is that Look Ahead meets our financial viability requirements but needs to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance. This includes the need to invest in its existing homes together with the risks associated with its sales programme. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a V2 grade for Look Ahead.
How we reached our judgement
We carried out an inspection of Look Ahead 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 Tenant and Landlord Panel, spoke with tenants, held meetings with Look Ahead including its non-executive directors, interviewed staff, and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Look Ahead.
Our regulatory judgement is based on all the relevant information we obtained during the inspection as well as analysis of information supplied by Look Ahead in its regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.
Summary of findings
Consumer – C2 – September 2026
In relation to the Safety and Quality Standard, Look Ahead needs to improve its processes to ensure it is compliant with health and safety requirements. Look Ahead was unable to evidence board assurance over compliance with the legally required timescales to investigate, identify and repair hazards like damp and mould. While this represented a weakness in assurance arrangements, we were able to gain evidence that this is not currently having a significant impact on service outcomes for tenants. We will continue to engage with Look Ahead while it makes improvements to its board’s oversight of its compliance in this area.
In all other health and safety compliance areas, we gained assurance that Look Ahead has arrangements in place to ensure the health and safety of its tenants in their homes and associated communal areas.
We saw evidence that Look Ahead keeps an accurate and up-to-date record of the condition of its homes through physical surveys and has a process for keeping this information up to date. Look Ahead uses its understanding of the quality and safety of its tenants’ homes to make decisions on the planning of future investments to maintain and improve its homes.
Look Ahead provides an effective, efficient and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service and continues to implement actions to improve the service and outcomes for its tenants. We saw evidence that provided assurance that Look Ahead’s approach to dealing with repairs is informed by relevant information and the needs of its tenants, and that it makes use of tenants’ information to tailor its services appropriately.
We gained assurance that Look Ahead is delivering the required outcomes in relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard. There is evidence that it works with local partners to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where it provides social housing.
In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that Look Ahead works in partnership with local authorities and other relevant organisations to meet identified local housing need. Look Ahead has demonstrated that it offers tenancies or terms of occupation that are compatible with the purpose of the accommodation, the needs of individual households, the sustainability of the community, and the efficient use of its homes. We also saw evidence that Look Ahead supports its tenants to sustain their tenancies.
Look Ahead needs to improve the information it holds on its tenants’ protected characteristics and vulnerabilities. Current limitations in the information it holds reduce Look Ahead’s ability to assess whether outcomes and service delivery are fair and accessible across different tenant groups. Look Ahead has recognised these weaknesses and has identified improvements to the quality, coverage and use of tenant information.
Look Ahead has demonstrated that it offers a range of meaningful opportunities for tenants to influence its strategies, policies and services. We gained assurance that tenant feedback and insight is used to improve service outcomes and influence decision making, and that Look Ahead provides accessible information to tenants about its services.
We saw evidence that complaints are addressed fairly, promptly and effectively. We also saw evidence that performance information on complaints is regularly reviewed, and how Look Ahead has used this information to improve its services.
Governance – G2 – September 2026
Based on the evidence provided during the inspection, we gained assurance that Look Ahead’s governance arrangements are meeting the requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard. However, Look Ahead needs to improve some aspects of its governance arrangements.
Look Ahead has strengthened several areas of governance since its downgrade to G2 in November 2023, and we obtained assurance that weaknesses previously identified in financial governance and treasury management have been addressed.
Look Ahead regularly reviews its arrangements and gains assurance through a programme of internal audits, reviews and periodic external governance reviews. There is evidence that this activity is used to improve services to its tenants. The most recent external governance effectiveness review was carried out in 2025.
Look Ahead has a structured approach to developing and appraising board skills to support succession planning. However, Look Ahead needs to strengthen board skills in relation to its social housing landlord responsibilities, to ensure it can provide effective and meaningful scrutiny in this area.
Look Ahead evidenced that there is an appropriate risk management and controls assurance framework in place, which is aligned to its strategic risks. However, we concluded that the depth and quality of board reporting on how Look Ahead delivers on the health and safety outcome of the Safety and Quality Standard, particularly in relation to damp, mould and condensation, was not fully aligned with its agreed risk appetite. This impacted our assurance on the effectiveness of board oversight and challenge in this area. More focused and objective reporting in line with legal requirements would support the board’s strategic risk management as well as ensure more effective scrutiny.
Look Ahead has an embedded approach to achieving value for money and effectively demonstrated it has arrangements in place that facilitate effective challenge to make the most of its available resources.
Viability – V2 – September 2026
Based on the evidence gained through the inspection we have concluded that there is appropriate assurance that Look Ahead’s financial plans are consistent with and support its financial strategy. Look Ahead has provided evidence that it has an adequately funded business plan and sufficient security in place to support its financial plans.
Look Ahead faces material exposures that it needs to manage. Look Ahead is investing in its existing homes to improve their quality and energy efficiency. It also anticipates generating surpluses from the sale of new homes and while it is not reliant on these sales, they represent an uncertain cashflow for Look Ahead and a financial risk that it needs to manage. Look Ahead operates within a challenging financial environment. Alongside its increased spend on existing homes, this means it has the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios.
Background to the judgement
Look Ahead owns and manages around 1,100 social homes, and manages around 700 social homes that are owned by other landlords. Look Ahead’s homes are in London and the South East of England.
Look Ahead has four subsidiaries. Kingswood Care Services, Blythson Limited and Larch Residential Services Limited are non-registered subsidiaries providing care and support services. Look Ahead Developments Limited is not currently active.
At 31 March 2025, Look Ahead employed 1,192 full-time equivalent staff. Turnover for the year ended 31 March 2026 was £79m.
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.