Decision

Ocean Housing Group Limited (L4422) - Regulatory Judgement: 28 January 2026

Updated 28 January 2026

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer		Not assessed yet
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.	Downgrade	January 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	January 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Ocean Housing Group Limited (Ocean Housing) following a stability check and responsive engagement completed in January 2026.

This regulatory judgement confirms a governance downgrade to G2 and a financial viability grade of V2.

Summary of the decision

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

Our judgement is that Ocean Housing 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. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a viability grade of V2 for Ocean Housing.

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

Prior to this regulatory judgement, the governance and financial viability grades for Ocean Housing were last updated in November 2024 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 Ocean Housing as part of our annual stability check programme and undertook responsive engagement that focused on the effectiveness of Ocean Housing’s governance arrangements. The responsive engagement included reviewing documents and third-party reports provided by Ocean Housing, and discussions with members of Ocean Housing’s executive team and its chair. Our regulatory judgement is based on all of the relevant information we obtained during the responsive engagement process and an analysis of information supplied by Ocean Housing in its regulatory returns.

Summary of findings

Governance – G2 – January 2026

Based on the evidence gained from our responsive engagement, we have assurance that Ocean Housing’s governance arrangements are meeting the requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard. However, we have concluded that it needs to improve aspects of its governance arrangements to support continued compliance with the standard.

Ocean Housing needs to improve the effectiveness of its risk and control framework in relation to oversight and management of strategic risks associated with its unregistered subsidiary, Gilbert and Goode. Ocean has also not ensured an effective approach to procurement, contract management and budgetary control in relation to its repairs service. Weaknesses in procurement of works and contract monitoring resulted in unknown overspends against its repairs budget.   

Ocean Housing’s risk and control framework has not worked effectively in practice in relation to managing underperformance of its subsidiary within its own set targets and failed to identify and address these in a timely manner. Ocean Housing needs to strengthen its procurement, contract management and financial controls to ensure they operate effectively to identify, alert and highlight potential budget overspends. Its board and management have not ensured appropriate oversight and controls were in place to manage these risks. These weaknesses have impacted on its ability to deliver its strategic objectives. Ocean Housing needs to improve its governance arrangements to ensure it manages its affairs with an appropriate degree of skill, independence, diligence, effectiveness, prudence and foresight. 

Ocean Housing is now taking action to improve its governance arrangements and controls across the relevant areas and is engaging positively with us to resolve the issues identified. We will continue to work with Ocean Housing to seek assurance that sufficient improvements in how its arrangements operate in practice are being delivered at an appropriate pace.

Viability – V2 – January 2026

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

Ocean has an adequately funded business plan, sufficient security in place and is forecast to continue to meet its financial covenants under a reasonable range of scenarios. However, there are material risks that it needs to manage to deliver its plans. Ocean Housing’s increased investment in existing stock and the continuing exposures to the housing market reduce its capacity to respond to adverse events. 

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

According to the 2025 statistical data return Ocean Housing owns 4,414 homes in Cornwall.

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