Decision

Phoenix Community Housing Association (Bellingham and Downham) Limited (L4505) - Regulatory Judgement: 29 October 2025

Updated 29 October 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.	Downgrade	October 2025
Governance	G3 Our judgement is that the landlord does not meet our governance requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and in agreement with us the landlord is working to improve its position.	Downgrade	October 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	October 2025

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Phoenix Community Housing Association (Bellingham and Downham) Limited (Phoenix) which concludes an investigation into whether Phoenix meets the requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard and the Consumer Standards. Phoenix was placed on the gradings under review list in July 2025.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, the consumer, governance and financial viability grades for Phoenix were published in August 2024 following an inspection, which confirmed a consumer grade of C1, a governance downgrade from G1 to G2 and a V2 grade for financial viability.

Summary of the decision

From the evidence and assurance gained during the investigation, we have concluded that there are some weaknesses in Phoenix delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed, specifically in relation to outcomes in our Safety and Quality Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C2 grade for Phoenix.

Our judgement is that Phoenix does not meet our governance requirements and significant improvement is needed. Our investigation found that Phoenix failed to ensure it had a robust risk and control framework in place, and to address skills gaps and make material decisions relating to board changes in a timely manner. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a G3 grade for Phoenix.

Our judgement is that Phoenix continues to meet our financial viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios. Its business plan is based on reasonable assumptions and it has provided appropriate assurance that it has access to sufficient funding. Phoenix’s financial profile reflects the significant investment it is making in tenants’ homes, and it needs to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a V2 grade for Phoenix.

How we reached our judgement

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

Summary of findings 

Consumer – C2 – October 2025

While Phoenix takes reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of its tenants and has demonstrated it understands the condition of its homes, improvements are needed to ensure remedial actions from fire risk assessments (FRA) are dealt with in a timely manner.

At the time of the inspection, in June 2024, Phoenix had provided assurance that it had appropriate plans to address 230 overdue medium risk FRA remedial actions by March 2025. Reporting in June 2025 indicated an increase to 862 overdue actions. The latest reporting provided to us shows that Phoenix had 427 overdue actions as at 16 September 2025. We have assurance that there are no high-risk actions outstanding and that Phoenix has a plan to address all overdue actions by May 2026. 

There are also weaknesses in delivering the outcomes of the Safety and Quality Standard, and Phoenix accepts it must take steps to prioritise improvements in data integrity as well as ensuring it provides appropriate assurance through its refreshed internal audit programme. Phoenix is working with the regulator to ensure it makes the necessary improvements.

Phoenix has provided evidence that it ensures the involvement of tenants in decision making at all levels and uses a range of information for tenants to support effective scrutiny.

Governance – G3 – October 2025

Based on evidence gained from our investigation, we have concluded that Phoenix does not meet our governance requirements, resulting in a downgrade to G3. Landlords are expected to manage their affairs with an appropriate degree of skill, independence, diligence, effectiveness, prudence and foresight and operate with an appropriate and robust risk and control framework.

The regulatory judgement in August 2024 found that Phoenix needed to increase the effectiveness of internal controls across a number of areas and test its assurance on the effectiveness of governance arrangements. Although Phoenix took steps to develop a governance improvement plan, it failed to ensure that systems and controls around payments were sufficiently robust to ensure covenant compliance. While it has managed its position with funders to avoid default, the failings were so serious that we have concluded Phoenix does not meet our governance requirements.     

Further, our investigation found evidence that Phoenix failed to address skills gaps and make material decisions relating to board changes in a timely manner. A combination of vacant board positions, gaps in resourcing and oversight have resulted in Phoenix not providing adequate assurance of the effectiveness of its governance arrangements. While steps have now been taken to recruit new, suitably skilled and experienced board members and a permanent chair, we will need further assurance to demonstrate that governance changes are effective particularly in relation to board oversight, challenge and scrutiny to ensure Phoenix’s affairs are managed appropriately.

Phoenix has commissioned reviews to identify the root causes of failures and where changes are needed. It has developed an action plan and is working with the regulator to deliver the necessary improvements.

Viability – V2 – October 2025

We have concluded that there is appropriate assurance that Phoenix’s financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. Phoenix has an adequately funded business plan, with access to sufficient liquidity and security, and no reliance on sales income to maintain funder covenant compliance. This means that the cashflows it plans to generate from rental income demonstrate that funder covenants can be met.

Phoenix is increasing investment in its existing homes and as a result its financial performance demonstrates a weakening of forecast interest cover. In the context of financial pressures, including inflation and cost increases, Phoenix has the capacity to respond to a reasonable range of adverse scenarios, but it will need to manage these material risks.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Phoenix was formed in 2007 as a result of a stock transfer from the London Borough of Lewisham. It operates mainly in the south of Lewisham.

Phoenix is the only RSH registered entity in its group and is a non-profit registered provider of social housing. Phoenix has one unregistered subsidiary, Home Makers The Property People Limited (Homemakers). Homemakers provides private lettings management services.

Phoenix owns and manages around 7,700 homes. Phoenix has five blocks over 18m and a further nine blocks over 11m high.

Group turnover at March 2025 was £48m, of which around 95% was social housing letting, 3% from the management of leaseholders and the remainder from other income. The average number of full-time equivalent staff for the year ended 31 March 2025 was 266. 

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