Information for investors
Details about our Private Finance team, our work and the history of private finance for social housing.
Applies to England
Private Finance team
The Private Finance team is the main point of contact for current and potential lenders, investors, ratings agencies and advisors.
Our Private Finance function aims to:
- ensure financial stakeholders understand our role and approach
- maintain an effective information flow between RSH and key external stakeholders by offering regular bilateral meetings and an annual investor conference; support for potential new entrants; and providing a sounding board for innovative product developments
- develop our corporate understanding of the current position and future direction of the sector funding market
- apply that understanding to the development of strategic policy and operational approaches
- uphold the reputation of the regulator and the sector, contributing to maintaining the confidence of key external stakeholders and supporting the continued supply of funding.
The team can be contacted by emailing Private.Finance@rsh.gov.uk.
Mark Windridge – Head of Private Finance
Mark has worked for a housing association, a commercial property company and a major funder to the sector. Mark has also served as a member of the housing SORP working party, which determines accounting practices for housing associations.
Will Perry – Director of Strategy
Will leads the regulator’s strategy function, including private finance, policy, registrations, new entrants, business intelligence and stakeholder relations. A qualified chartered accountant, he has previously worked in corporate finance lead advisory, government audit and housing consultancy and is the regulator’s nominee on the board of The Housing Finance Corporation.
Objectives of regulation
The Regulator of Social Housing purpose is to promote a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver homes that meet a range of needs. Our statutory objectives are set out in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (as amended) and include encouraging and promoting private investment in social housing.
What investors can expect from the regulator
The regulator encourages private investment in social housing by contributing to a stable, low-risk investment environment. We believe this is beneficial to both tenants and investors. While we do not guarantee the obligations of registered providers, we have a strong record of preventing and resolving issues in registered providers when they arise. As a result, nearly £100bn of private finance is available to registered providers supporting the provision of over 2.9 million homes.
We engage openly with investors and potential investors through our annual capital market investor conference, representative groups and bilaterals. Please get in touch if you are thinking of investing in the sector, or wish to discuss current issues.
What we do
We set standards for registered providers and seek assurance that they are being met. Registered providers include not-for-profit organisations such as housing associations and, local authorities and for-profit providers.
Economic and consumer standards
For private registered providers, we undertake economic regulation, focusing on governance, financial viability and value for money that maintains lender confidence and protects the taxpayer. For providers with 1,000 or more units under management, we undertake detailed, risk-based assessments of compliance with the economic standards and issues gradings for Governance and Viability. Where these gradings change, we also publish a narrative report. More detail on how we regulate can be found in Regulating the Standards.
We also set consumer standards for all registered providers and may take action if these standards are breached and there is a significant risk of serious detriment to tenants or potential tenants. From April 2024, we are introducing a new integrated regulatory approach, with proactive regulation of the consumer standards.
We have a range of powers and sanctions which we can deploy to resolve consumer and economic issues in providers. We use these sparingly, and have a good record of achieving resolutions without resorting to our statutory powers. We seek to identify and resolve economic and financial issues well before they become serious, and view our insolvency powers as a last resort.
Publications
From time to time, registered providers do encounter problems and the regulator produces regular booklets that describe the issues and the solutions including With the benefit of hindsight. Another publication is the annual Sector risk profile, which is designed to help registered providers, Board members and others to understand the operating environment and main risks facing the social housing sector, and to think strategically about how their organisation can manage its risks. For our part, the benefits of maintaining good relationships with the lenders, investors, intermediaries, ratings agencies and advisors are very clear and enable effective protection of creditors in most situations.
Accountability
We have a statutory duty to perform our functions in a way that minimises interference and is proportionate, consistent, transparent and accountable. We are accountable to Parliament for the discharge of the fundamental objectives. The Chair of the Board is accountable to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Chief Executive, as accounting officer, is accountable to the principal accounting officer at MHCLG and has a separate direct line of accountability to Parliament as well.
See our About us page to read more.
Further information
More information about the standards that registered providers must meet, our approach to regulation and our publications can be found below.
Regulatory standards, procedures and guidance
To find out about what each grading means, what our Standards are, and how we regulate, see the Regulatory standards, procedures and guidance page. This includes how we scope and carry out our In-Depth Assessments of providers in the Regulating the Standards document, particularly Annex C.
Analytical and statistical reports
The regulator publishes statistics and analysis such as the Quarterly survey, Sector Risk Profile (mentioned above), Global accounts and the Statistical Data Return. These can be found on the Analysis and statistical reports page.
Regulatory judgements
RSH updates its list of registered providers on a monthly basis. It also publishes regulatory judgements and notices for registered providers and instances of when their grading is under review. These can be found on the Lists of current registered providers, judgements, notices and gradings under review page.
History of private finance into the sector
Although the modern form of the sector was first established by the Housing Act 1964, the principals of the social housing movement can be traced back much further. While Almshouses had been first provided to the poor, old or distressed from the 10th century (paid for at the time through donations to Christian institutions), the mid-19th century witnessed individuals including George Peabody, Octavia Hill and Nathan Rothschild motivated to tackle the slum housing that was widespread in English cities. Often starting with their own seed equity, developments attracted investors by offering a 4 or 5 per cent return despite rents being set at ‘affordable’ levels for the lowest paid people in society.
The early part of the 20th century saw central Government and local authorities take the lead in provision of social housing, while housing associations concentrated on more specialised accommodation. However, housing associations had shown their ability to efficiently build, maintain and operate low-cost rented property and the Housing Act 1988 sought to leverage this capability by drawing in private finance to create ‘mixed funding’ schemes. The Act also included the possibility for local authorities to sell their housing stock to a housing association, who could then raise private finance to fund works to bring these properties up (and maintain them) to a decent standard.
Some 30 years later, the sector in England had employed some £72bn in debt and manages around 2.9m properties
Please note: The figure for the number of properties mentioned on this page is based on the Statistical Data Return 2019.