Decision

Previous regulatory judgement: Mosscare St. Vincent's Housing Group Limited (14 December 2022)

Updated 29 November 2023

Applies to England

RSH Narrative Regulatory Judgement

• Provider: Mosscare St. Vincent’s Housing Group Limited

• Regulatory code: 4857

• Publication date: 14 December 2022

• Governance grade: G1

• Viability grade: V2

• Reason for publication: Viability regrade

• Regulatory route: Stability Check and Reactive Engagement

Regulatory judgement

This judgement regrades our assessment of Mosscare St. Vincent’s Housing Group Limited’s financial viability from V1 to V2 and confirms its existing G1 grade for governance.

The regulator has assurance that Mosscare St. Vincent’s Housing Group Limited (Mosscare St. Vincent’s) complies with the financial viability elements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard and that its financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. Mosscare St. Vincent’s has an adequately funded business plan, sufficient security and is forecast to continue to meet its financial covenants.

Mosscare St. Vincent’s is increasing investment in its existing stock. This planned investment is based on analysis of stock condition information and takes account of cost inflation increases to maintenance and major repairs. Delivering this investment, coupled with the current economic uncertainty in relation to wider inflation and interest rates, reduces Mosscare St. Vincent’s capacity to respond to adverse events.

The regulator’s assessment of Mosscare St. Vincent’s compliance with the governance elements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard remains unchanged. On the basis of the Stability Check, the regulator has concluded that there is no evidence to indicate a change to Mosscare St. Vincent’s current governance grading.

Other providers included in the judgement

None

About the provider

Origins

Mosscare St. Vincent’s is a charitable community benefit society and was formed following the merger of Mosscare Housing Limited and St. Vincent’s Housing Association in July 2017.

Registered Entities

Mosscare St. Vincent’s is the only registered entity in the group.

Unregistered Entities

Mosscare St. Vincent’s has two unregistered entities. MSV Invest Ltd was formed to hold the group’s commercial housing asset portfolio. GMJV FundCo LLP is an equal joint venture with nine other registered providers who, along with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, created Hive Homes (Greater Manchester) LLP, the aim of which is to undertake property development for market sale.

Geographic Spread and Scale

Mosscare St Vincent’s owns and manages around 9,000 homes, with the majority located in Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and West Yorkshire.

Staffing and Turnover

Mosscare St. Vincent’s employs the full-time equivalent of 323 staff. Its turnover for the year ended 31 March 2022 was £49.4m.

Development

Mosscare St. Vincent’s intends to deliver around 1,500 units between 2023 and 2029. Its programme includes homes for affordable rent, social rent, low cost home ownership, supported social rent and non-social rent.

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.

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.