Decision

Watmos Community Homes (L4383) - Regulatory Judgement: 17 December 2025

Updated 17 December 2025

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.	Based on previous assessment	April 2025
Governance	G1 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements.	Assessed and unchanged	December 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	December 2025

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Watmos Community Homes (Watmos) following a stability check completed in December 2025.

This regulatory judgement confirms a governance grade of G1and a financial viability grade of V2. Watmos has a consumer grade of C1 following a planned inspection completed in April 2025.

Summary of the decision

Based on the relevant information and evidence we reviewed in carrying out the stability check, our judgement is that Watmos 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. We have therefore concluded the landlord’s grade is unchanged and issue a V2 grade for Watmos.

From the stability check, there is no evidence to indicate a change in governance grade is required. Watmos’ governance grade remains G1.

This regulatory judgement is based on a stability check which does not include a reassessment of Watmos’ delivery of the outcomes of our consumer standards.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, the landlord’s most recent consumer, governance and viability grades were C1, G1 and V2, which were issued in April 2025 following an inspection.

During the inspection, we considered all four of the consumer standards: the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, the Safety and Quality Standard, the Tenancy Standard, and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.

During the inspection we observed a board meeting and Watmos’ Resident Committee, spoke with tenants, held meetings with Watmos, including non-executive directors, and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Watmos.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out a stability check of Watmos as part of our annual stability check programme.

Our judgement about how well Watmos is delivering the viability outcomes of our Governance and Financial Viability Standard is based on a review of a range of documents provided by Watmos, as well as analysis of information supplied by Watmos in its regulatory returns.

In confirming Watmos’ governance grade as part of the stability check, our work was limited to verifying that the information contained in Watmos’ regulatory returns did not appear inconsistent with its existing published governance grade.

Our stability checks do not assess a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our consumer standards.

Summary of findings

Consumer – C1 – April 2025

Below are the findings of our most recent regulatory judgement about Watmos’ delivery of the outcomes of our consumer standards, which assessed Watmos’ consumer grade as C1. The regulatory judgement was issued in April 2025 following a programmed inspection.

During the inspection, Watmos provided evidence-based assurance that it has appropriate systems in place for ensuring the health and safety of its tenants in their homes and communal areas. Watmos has demonstrated that it has a reasonable understanding of its homes at an individual property level obtained through physical surveys and a recent large-scale improvement programme of its tower blocks in Walsall. Watmos is continuing its programme of individual surveys and expects to have surveys for all its homes by mid-2025. Watmos has provided evidence that it uses this information to identify investment needs, and to ensure homes meet the Decent Homes Standard.

We gained assurance through the inspection that Watmos provides an effective, efficient and timely repairs service. Watmos has provided evidence that it uses its data and performance information to identify and address any differences in repairs service outcomes across the areas it operates in and continues to work with tenants to ensure consistency.

Watmos provided assurance that it is delivering the outcomes of the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, working in partnership with appropriate partners, including local authority departments, the police and other relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the neighbourhoods where it provides homes. We also saw evidence that it is allocating and letting its homes in a fair and transparent way and supporting its tenants to maintain their tenancies.

In relation to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, we gained assurance during the inspection that Watmos is delivering the required outcomes. Engagement and scrutiny arrangements are designed to provide a wide range of meaningful opportunities for tenants to share their views and provide scrutiny. There is evidence that feedback from tenants and scrutiny reviews have influenced Watmos’ decision making.

Watmos has provided assurance that it makes effective use of its performance data to improve services and provides a range of information to tenants to support effective scrutiny. Improvements made as a result of scrutiny reviews by tenants include how Watmos manages ASB cases, damp, mould and condensation, and complaints.

We saw evidence of Watmos using its data to focus improvements where performance is lower across certain tenant groups, including through engaging with those tenants and using their views to influence improvement plans.

Watmos demonstrated that it treats tenants with fairness and respect and is continuing to increase its understanding of its tenants. Watmos demonstrates an active approach to considering tenants’ diverse needs in the design and delivery of services and monitors its performance in continuing to deliver outcomes to tenants in this area.

Watmos regularly reviews performance information on complaints handling. It provided evidence that it learns from information on complaint types and outcomes, using this to make improvements.

Governance – G1 – December 2025

From the stability check, there is no evidence to indicate that a change in governance grade is required.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, we issued a regulatory judgement in August 2025 following a programmed inspection of Watmos. Below are the findings in that judgement about Watmos’ delivery of our governance requirements.

From the evidence we gained during the inspection, we have assurance that Watmos has an appropriate risk management and control framework with appropriate risk management and control framework that aligns with its identified strategic risks, alongside a risk assurance map identifying controls and their respective effectiveness. We also gained evidence that the board effectively monitors the delivery of strategic objectives through its performance framework and has put plans in place to remedy underperformance.

During the inspection, we gained assurance that Watmos’ board is sufficiently skilled to deliver the organisation’s strategic objectives. Regular self-assessments against a skills matrix have supported effective recruitment to the board, leading to enhanced expertise in finance and risk management. The board has clear expectations of the quality of stress testing it requires and provides effective challenge on the level of assurance sought across the control environment. Watmos maintains clear responsibilities and accountabilities within its executive and non-executive leadership structures.

Through our inspection, we gained assurance that the board has appropriate oversight of performance against strategic objectives including outcomes for tenants through performance reports, service reviews, scrutiny spotlights and the work of its committees.

Watmos also provided assurance that it reviews its corporate structure, and how this helps deliver an efficient and effective organisation in line with its charitable objectives, undertaking independent reviews of its governance arrangements. We saw that it was doing this in consultation with tenants and with appropriate external advice. WATMOS demonstrated it understands its assets and liabilities and takes steps to improve the value for money of its services.

Viability – V2 – December 2025

Based on evidence gained from the stability check, we have assurance that Watmos continues to meet the viability requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard.

We have assurance that Watmos’ financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. Watmos has an adequately funded business plan, sufficient security in place to support its plans, and is forecast to continue to meet its financial covenants. Watmos has also provided appropriate assurance that it is closely monitoring performance against its loan covenants, and that this is reported to the board regularly.

Watmos has a number of risks to manage over the short term to enable it to continue its investment in existing homes and reduce the potential to increase the stress on its financial position. Having recently completed a significant investment programme in its tower blocks, Watmos needs to work towards delivering the increased headroom it has forecast in its business plan.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

According to the 2025 statistical data return, Watmos owns 2,609 homes in Walsall and Lambeth.

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