Railway Housing Association and Benefit Fund (A1855): Regulatory Judgement - 24 September 2025
Updated 24 September 2025
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 2025 |
| Governance | G1 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements. |
Upgrade | September 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 | September 2025 |
Reason for publication
We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Railway Housing Association and Benefit Fund (RHA) following an inspection completed in September 2025.
This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C2, a governance upgrade to G1 and a financial viability grade of V2.
Prior to this regulatory judgement, the governance and financial viability grades for RHA were last updated in January 2025, following a stability check which confirmed 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 evidence and assurance gained during the inspection it is our judgement that there are some weaknesses in RHA’s delivery of the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvements are needed, specifically in relation to the Safety and Quality Standard and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C2 grade for RHA.
Our judgement is that RHA meets our governance requirements. RHA has provided evidence to demonstrate that it has strengthened its governance arrangements since its downgrade in November 2023. RHA has provided evidence of improvements made in the effectiveness of its governance arrangements, demonstrating that the board and leadership team have the skills and capacity to deliver RHA’s strategy. RHA continues to effectively manage the risks associated with its activities, with performance reporting frameworks in place to support delivery of its strategic and charitable objectives. Based on this assessment we have concluded a G1 grade for RHA.
Our judgement is that RHA meets our financial viability requirements, has the financial capacity to manage a reasonable range of adverse scenarios and has access to sufficient liquidity. RHA’s financial performance reflects the investment it is making in existing tenants’ homes, and it needs to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance with funding covenants. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a V2 grade for RHA.
How we reached our judgement
We carried out an inspection of RHA to assess how well RHA 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, spoke with tenants, held meetings with RHA including its non-executive directors, and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by RHA.
In response to RHA’s earlier governance downgrade we carried out responsive engagement that focused on the implementation of a wide ranging governance and organisational improvement programme. Our regulatory judgement is based on the relevant information we obtained during the inspection as well as analysis of information received from RHA in its regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.
Summary of findings
Consumer – C2 – September 2025
RHA provided evidence-based assurance that it has effective systems in place to ensure the health and safety of its tenants in their homes and associated shared spaces. RHA evidenced that it understands applicable health and safety legal requirements and that it is delivering the actions arising from legally required health and safety assessments. RHA demonstrated that it has an appropriate approach to manage the risks to its tenants from damp, mould and condensation. We saw evidence that RHA has a process in place to assist its tenants in need of housing adaptations and that this process is effectively communicated.
In relation to the Safety and Quality Standard RHA provided evidence-based assurance that it keeps an accurate record of the condition of its homes at an individual property level through physical surveys. These surveys include an assessment of compliance with the Decent Homes Standard. RHA evidenced that its approach to assessing the condition of its homes is kept up to date using information from a range of relevant sources.
During the inspection we found evidence of some weaknesses in the delivery of an effective, efficient and timely repairs service. We gained assurance that RHA has proactively identified and addressed the causes of these weaknesses. The performance of the repairs service has recently improved and RHA needs to demonstrate that this can be sustained over the longer-term.
We saw evidence that, in relation to the Tenancy Standard, RHA allocates its homes in a fair and transparent way, it has processes in place to support tenancy sustainability and has controls to ensure it is delivering required outcomes.
In relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, RHA evidenced that it works in partnership with appropriate organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where it provides homes. The landlord recognises that some improvements can be made in developing partnership working outside of its core geographical areas.
In relation to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, we gained assurance that RHA has proactively identified and is taking steps to increase the accuracy and relevance of data held on the diverse needs of its tenants. Although we saw examples where service delivery is tailored to take account of individual needs, improvement is required in how RHA considers individual characteristics of tenants to ensure it is providing equitable service outcomes across its portfolio.
RHA evidenced that it treats its tenants with fairness and respect and has made improvements to ensure it addresses complaints fairly, effectively and promptly. RHA demonstrated that it learns from complaints so that it can continuously improve its services.
We saw evidence that RHA listens to its tenants’ views and is implementing a new resident engagement strategy that aims to provide meaningful opportunities for its tenants to influence and scrutinise the way landlord services are delivered. Elements of the strategy are still evolving, so we will need to assess how these are embedded to gain assurance that the required outcomes are being successfully delivered. The service and performance information made available to tenants is accessible and we have seen evidence of tenants using this information to scrutinise services.
Governance – G1 – September 2025
Based on the evidence gained from the inspection we have assurance that RHA meets our governance requirements. RHA was previously downgraded to G2 in November 2023 due to weaknesses in the board’s oversight in some key areas, leaving it exposed to potentially material risks.
RHA has since evidenced improvements to its governance arrangements that enable it to effectively oversee and manage its risks and adequately control the organisation, allowing it to deliver its strategic objectives. Governance improvements, driven by its management team and overseen by its board, have been delivered as a key element of RHA’s corporate strategy.
We saw assurance that RHA has strengthened its management and board bringing additional skills, experience and capacity to its leadership. Succession planning arrangements along with board and committee terms of reference have been refreshed and a robust governance effectiveness framework is in place.
RHA evidenced that it is delivering on its strategy, and that board oversight is supported by appropriately focussed reporting on strategic delivery and key risk exposures. Where performance has not met targets, we saw evidence that the board is proactive in understanding the causes and providing interventions to improve outcomes. RHA provided evidence of a strong risk management framework and an effective controls assurance environment.
RHA demonstrated that it makes strategic decisions that are in line with its risk appetite and legal and regulatory obligations, seeking external advice as appropriate. We saw evidence that RHA considers alternative methods of delivering value for money and makes best use of its resources to deliver its strategic objectives.
RHA provided appropriate assurance that the quality of its financial reporting is effective and enables the board to oversee key financial risks, and that its business plan is based upon appropriate and reasonable assumptions. RHA provided evidence of board oversight of stress testing and mitigation strategies and that these are used to inform decisions, supporting the wider control framework.
Viability – V2 – September 2025
Based on evidence gathered during the inspection, we conclude that RHA’s financial plans are appropriately aligned with and supportive of its strategic objectives. RHA has demonstrated that its business plan is adequately funded and is forecast to remain compliant with its financial covenants.
RHA has sufficient financial capacity to manage a reasonable range of adverse scenarios. RHA has recently renegotiated its financial covenants with its lenders to manage its future financial viability, while delivering increased investment in its existing housing stock and potential future development.
We will continue to monitor RHA’s financial performance and its capacity to respond to emerging risks.
Background to the judgement
About the landlord
RHA operates mainly in the North East of England and owns around 1,500 social housing homes.
RHA generated turnover of £8.7m in the year ended 31 March 2024 and employed the full-time equivalent of 35 staff. RHA has no subsidiaries.
RHA currently has no plans to develop homes.
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