Decision

YMCA St Paul’s Group (LH4078) - Regulatory Judgement: 17 December 2025

Updated 17 December 2025

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer		Not assessed yet
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 YMCA St Paul’s Group (YMCA SPG) following a stability check completed in December 2025.

This regulatory judgement confirms a governance grade of G1 and a financial viability grade of V2.

Summary of the decision

Based on the relevant information and evidence we reviewed in carrying out the stability check, our judgement is that YMCA SPG 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 YMCA SPG.

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

This regulatory judgement is based on a stability check which does not include an assessment of YMCA SPG’s delivery of the outcomes of our consumer standards.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, the governance and financial viability grades for YMCA SPG were last updated in December 2024 following a stability check and responsive engagement to issue a governance upgrade to G1 and a financial viability grade of V2.

How we reached our judgement

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

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

In confirming YMCA SPG’s governance grade as part of the stability check, our work was limited to verifying that the information contained in YMCA SPG’s 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

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 December 2024 following stability check and responsive engagement with YMCA SPG. Below are the findings in that judgement about YMCA SPG’s delivery of our governance requirements.

Based on the evidence gained from our landlord improvement activity and responsive engagement, we concluded that we have appropriate assurance that YMCA SPG’s governance arrangements enable it to effectively manage its risks and adequately control the organisation, allowing it to deliver its objectives.

YMCA SPG has strengthened its governance arrangements and evidenced improvement in the quality, breadth and granularity of information going to the board. This includes information on landlord compliance with health and safety requirements, and on YMCA SPG’s financial position. Board reporting has been strengthened across all the areas of weakness identified, providing the board with oversight of performance and delivery, and enabling it to better identify issues and provide challenge when needed.

At the time of our In Depth Assessment completed in August 2023, additional work was being undertaken by YMCA SPG to improve its stress testing and mitigations, and the board needed to continue this work to better inform strategic decision-making. Through our engagement work, we have seen evidence that board oversight of stress testing and mitigation strategies is robust, and that the board is receiving regular reporting on progress against its strategic plan.

These improvements have strengthened the board’s oversight and ability to assess and respond to any presenting challenges or changes in its financial position.

Overall, we consider that YMCA SPG has provided appropriate assurance that it has sufficiently addressed the governance weaknesses we previously identified. Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements.

Viability – V2 – December 2025

Based on evidence gained from the stability check, we have assurance that YMCA SPG meets the viability requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard.

YMCA SPG’s financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. YMCA SPG 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 adverse scenarios.

While YMCA SPG has the financial capacity to deal with some exposures, it has material risks that it needs to manage to support continued compliance, YMCA SPG is a relatively high cost, low operating margin supported housing provider. It has a range of non-housing activities that reduce its forecast financial performance, is sensitive to operating cost pressures and has limited interest cover covenant headroom without enacting mitigations.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

According to the 2025 statistical data return, YMCA SPG owns 1,197 homes located in London, Surrey, and Berkshire.

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