Decision

Magenta Living (L4435) - Regulatory Judgement: 29 July 2026

Updated 29 July 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	July 2026
Governance	G1 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements.	Assessed and unchanged	July 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	July 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Magenta Living (Magenta) following an inspection completed in July 2026.

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C1, a governance grade of G1 and a financial viability grade of V2.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, the governance and financial viability grades for Magenta were last updated in December 2025 following a stability check to confirm a G1 grade for governance and a V2 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 Magenta, we have concluded that overall Magenta is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C1 grade for Magenta.

Our judgement is that Magenta meets our governance requirements. Magenta 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 Magenta.

Our judgement is that Magenta meets our financial viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios. However, Magenta is exposed to financial risks, including with its planned expenditure on improving the quality and energy efficiency of its existing homes, and the development of new homes. Its stress testing shows that there is financial capacity in the business plan to mitigate a reasonable range of adverse scenarios. Magenta has provided assurance that it has access to sufficient liquidity, has adequate funding in place, and that its future plans are consistent with its strategy. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a V2 grade for Magenta.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of Magenta 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 a customer and communities committee meeting, spoke with tenants, held meetings with Magenta including its non-executive directors and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Magenta.

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

Summary of findings  

Consumer - C1 - July 2026

In relation to the Safety and Quality Standard, Magenta provided evidence-based assurance that it has appropriate systems in place for ensuring the health and safety of its tenants in their homes and associated communal areas. Magenta demonstrated that it has appropriate systems in place to identify and meet legal requirements that relate to the health and safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas and ensures that all required actions are carried out within appropriate timescales.

We saw evidence that Magenta keeps an accurate and up-to-date record of the condition of its homes at an individual property level, drawing on a range of information including physical surveys, and has a process for keeping this information up to date. These surveys include an assessment of compliance with the Decent Homes Standard. Magenta has demonstrated that it uses its understanding of its homes to drive its asset management strategy, business plan requirements and management of risks relating to the type of homes it owns, including those in tall buildings. We saw evidence that it receives appropriate expert advice and deploys mitigations while programmed works are planned or underway.

Magenta provides an effective, efficient and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service across its homes. We saw evidence that Magenta’s approach to repairs is informed by the diverse needs of its tenants and that it uses feedback from its tenants to make continual improvements to its approach.

Magenta is delivering the outcomes of the Neighbourhood and Community Standard. We saw evidence that it works in partnership with relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where it delivers social housing. Magenta monitors that its response to reports is timely and uses feedback from tenants to identify and make improvements to its approach.

We saw evidence that Magenta allocates its homes in a fair, transparent and efficient way, in line with the required outcomes in the Tenancy Standard. Measures are in place to ensure the terms of tenancy are appropriate and meet the needs of tenants and support tenancy sustainment. These include a range of methods to promote tenancy sustainability and help tenants access financial support. Magenta evidenced it has a range of ways to deter and tackle tenancy fraud.

In relation to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, Magenta evidenced that it listens to its tenants and provides a wide range of opportunities for tenants and its wider communities to influence services, policies and strategies. Tenants have opportunities to contribute their views, and we saw evidence that Magenta considers tenant input, including at board level. There is evidence that feedback from its tenants has improved service delivery and strategic decision making.

We gained assurance that Magenta treats its tenants with fairness and respect. It uses relevant information to understand the diverse needs of its tenants and tailors its services accordingly. Magenta provides timely and accessible information about its performance and landlord services.

Magenta provided evidence that it is delivering an effective complaints service, with appropriate oversight by the board and tenants. We have seen evidence that Magenta learns from different types of complaints and complaint outcomes and uses this learning to make improvements. Tenants are involved in scrutinising complaints handling and there is appropriate assurance that Magenta is continuing to seek improvements in this area.

Governance - G1 - July 2026

Based on evidence gained from the inspection, we have assurance that Magenta’s governance arrangements remain appropriate to the size and complexity of the organisation and enable it to effectively manage its risks and control the organisation in line with its strategic objectives. Its board demonstrated sufficient oversight of strategic delivery, challenges and performance against strategic priorities and considers its risk appetite in strategic decision making.

We saw evidence that Magenta has an established approach to achieving value for money and it demonstrated that it has arrangements in place to ensure it makes the most of its available assets.

Magenta maintains clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities within its leadership and governance structure. We saw evidence that its board and committees work in line with delegations and that the board periodically reviews the effectiveness of its governance structure. Board members’ skills, knowledge and experience are aligned with Magenta’s activities and a structured approach to succession planning is in place. We have assurance that Magenta continuously improves its governance arrangements, with board and committees considering effectiveness at the end of each meeting, annual board member appraisals and periodic external effectiveness reviews, the most recent of which was completed in 2024.

Magenta has a risk management and control framework that is aligned to its strategic risks. We have seen evidence of board discussion and challenge of the controls deployed to mitigate strategic risks and of the assurance provided to demonstrate that controls are operating effectively and risks are being effectively mitigated.

We saw evidence of stress testing against Magenta’s main risks, including combinations of risks, with appropriate ownership and scrutiny by the board. There is opportunity for Magenta to provide greater financial detail in some areas of reporting to support the board’s understanding of Magenta’s financial position and better align the golden rules to its risk appetite.

Viability - V2 - July 2026

Based on the evidence gained through the inspection we have concluded that there is appropriate assurance that Magenta’s financial plans are aligned with and support its financial strategy. Magenta has demonstrated that its business plan is adequately funded with sufficient security in place to support its financial plans. It is forecast to remain compliant with its financial covenants, while continuing to maintain compliance with the Decent Homes Standard.

Magenta has the financial capacity to manage a reasonable range of adverse scenarios. However, there are material financial exposures that Magenta must continue to manage. Magenta’s financial plan assumes a significant level of efficiency savings that have yet to be delivered, and further work is required to assess the additional cost provision that may be required to deliver a full programme of energy efficiency improvements into the longer term. Magenta is also increasing investment in its existing homes, while forecasting a significant increase in the number of new homes it plans to deliver. These factors impact on Magenta’s capacity to respond to adverse events.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Magenta operates mainly in the Wirral and North West and owns around 12,760 social housing homes.

At 31 March 2025, Magenta’s turnover was £86.7m and it employed 564 full-time equivalent employees.

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

Related documents

• Decent Homes Standard