East England landlord receives governance upgrade in new judgements

“Flagship has improved its stress-testing and mitigation strategies to meet our governance requirements. This includes considering the impact of sufficiently severe stress testing against its golden rules, lenders’ covenants and headroom,” the RSH said.

It added that the landlord had also reviewed its corporate and governance structures, including strengthening the tenant voice.

Flagship’s financial viability grade remained unchanged at V2, which the regulator said was down to the landlord having the “financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios”.

The RSH said Flagship also faced “material risks to ensure continued compliance”, including increased investment in existing stock.

Peter Hawes, chair of Flagship, said: “We’ve acted on previous feedback and actioned areas that needed strengthening, including stress-testing, board oversight and assurance, to ensure we can manage risk in line with our risk appetite.

“By working with the regulator, the board, our staff and tenants to further strengthen our governance arrangements, we’ve been able to demonstrate our stability as an organisation, which is welcome in advance of our merger with Bromford Housing.”

Flagship and Bromford revealed plans for a tie-up in June last year, which will create an 80,000-home landlord.

Both reported rising half-year revenues in November, but are facing spending pressures on improving existing homes.

Macclesfield-based Peaks & Plains Housing Trust also received a judgement from the RSH. Its governance and financial viability ratings remained unchanged at G1/V2.

Mark Howden, chief executive of Peaks & Plains, said: “This achievement highlights our unwavering commitment to effective governance, regulatory compliance and consistently delivering high-quality services to our customers.

“Full credit goes to the entire team at Peaks & Plains, whose hard work and dedication ensure we continue to uphold these high standards.”