A supported housing provider has been put on the English social housing regulator’s ‘watch list’ today, following concerns over its governance and financial viability.
According to Inside Housing@
Chapter 1, which runs homelessness hostels across England, is under review by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), meaning it could be judged as not complying with the regulator’s rules.
A spokesperson for the 1,381-home landlord said the problems related to concerns over whether managers complied with the regulator’s code of governance, and the structure of the loan financing for Chapter 1’s investment programme.
The spokesperson added that one of the issues with the financing was a number of loans falling due at the same time.
In a statement on Chapter 1’s website, Rob Taylor, the organisation’s char of trustees, said: ‘It is with regret that I confirm that Chapter 1’s grading with the HCA is under review. They believe that we are not fully compliant with required governance and viability standards and will be issuing their formal judgment in the next few weeks.’
He added: ‘We are currently in discussion with the regulators in order to develop an action plan to address these concerns. We are co-operating in every way we can, and believe that the issues will resolved as soon as possible.’
In a statement, the HCA said: ‘We are currently investigating a matter relating to governance and viability which may result in a non-compliant rating.’
The HCA has previously not published a rating for Chapter 1 because it formerly had less than 1,000 homes – the benchmark for when the body starts to issue regulatory judgements.