The Regulator of Social Housing has served enforcement notices on St Andrews Community Housing Limited (St Andrews Community Housing) and Kinsman Housing Limited (Kinsman Housing).
RSH is using its powers to make St Andrews Community Housing and Kinsman Housing commission independent reviews to address each of their persistent and serious cases of non-compliance with regulatory standards. Each provider must provide clear action plans with timescales to RSH following the reviews, and must also engage with RSH before acquiring any new homes.
St Andrews Community Housing and Kinsman Housing, both of which are small providers, are non-compliant with the regulator's economic standards. Kinsman Housing is also in breach of the regulator's consumer standards.
St Andrews Community Housing and Kinsman Housing each own and manage social homes under arrangements which give material controls and all beneficial interest to a third party. The regulator continues to have serious concerns about weaknesses in each provider's governance, and that each has arrangements which inappropriately advance third party interests. The regulator also has serious concerns about the ability of each provider to manage risks to ensure their long-term viability and ability to protect their social homes.
In addition, Kinsman Housing has failed to assure RSH that it has addressed issues relating to fire safety in some of its homes.
RSH expects providers to take prompt and effective action to address breaches of regulatory standards, but St Andrews Community Housing and Kinsman Housing have each failed to do so.
Harold Brown, RSH's Senior Assistant Director for Enforcement and Investigations, said:
St Andrews Community Housing and Kinsman Housing have both continually failed to address the issues we identified, including their poor governance and property arrangements which have inappropriately advanced the interests of third party investors.
This is unacceptable. We are using our enforcement powers to require each of them to address their failures and return to compliance. They must act promptly to put things right and, if necessary, we will consider using further powers.
