Southern gets governance upgrade as more landlords handed first consumer ratings

The RSH also awarded Southern Housing its first consumer rating of C2 today, following an inspection. 

The landlord had shown evidence of “appropriate systems in place to ensure the health and safety of its tenants”, according to the regulator.

However, there was evidence of “weaknesses in the provision of an effective, efficient and timely repairs service”.

Southern has also completed fire risk assessments for all its high-rise blocks that required one, which has led to a “significant number of fire remedial actions, a proportion of which are overdue, including high-risk actions”, the regulator said.

The RSH also today withdrew a regulatory notice from 2021, which found that SHG had breached the Rent Standard. The landlord has since refunded rent that was overcharged and made improvements, the RSH said. 

On financial viability, Southern retained its V2. However, the RSH said that its “significant fire remediation programme where some costs are unknown” is “putting pressure on its financial performance”. The regulator also flagged that while Southern is cutting its development programme, there is still “a significant programme to complete, which exposes it to housing market risks”.

Earlier this month, Southern reported a 93% drop in annual surplus to £3m.

Paul Hackett, chief executive of Southern Housing, said: “We established Southern Housing with the aim of creating a more resilient organisation and that is clearly happening.

“We’re on track to be fully integrated by summer 2025. This will enable us to realise the full benefits of the merger and I’m confident we’ll deliver services to a consistently higher standard.”

Meanwhile, four other landlords received their first consumer grades today in full regulatory judgements. 

Gentoo, which manages around 29,000 homes primarily in Sunderland, was awarded a C1 grade and retained its G1/V2 status. The regulator said that Gentoo is delivering the consumer standards, which include keeping an accurate record of the condition of homes and offering an “effective” repairs service.

Louise Bassett, chief executive of Gentoo, said: “We have been on a journey over the past 18 months to improve our service to customers and I am delighted to see this has also been recognised by the regulator.”

South London-based Phoenix Community Housing Association was awarded a C1 grade, but it was downgraded for governance to G2 while retaining its V2 viability grade.

On its consumer grade, the RSH said that the 7,700-home landlord had a “good understanding of its compliance with its landlord health and safety requirements” and that it had made improvements in its “approach to fire safety-related risk management”.

However on governance, the RSH said that “improvement is needed to increase the effectiveness of internal controls across a number of areas and to strengthen strategic oversight of risk”.

Denise Fowler, chief executive of Phoenix, said the group was “delighted” by the C1 but “disappointed” by the G2 and “committed to addressing the issues identified so as to bring us back to a G1 at the earliest opportunity”. 

Elsewhere, Bolsover District Council was awarded a C2. The RSH pointed to “weaknesses in the accuracy of component replacement records” for around 700 of the Derbyshire council’s homes, which had led the authority to report them as “non-decent”.

Karen Hanson, the council’s chief executive, said: “We look forward to working with the regulator to continuously make improvements and, with the support of councillors and a dedicated workforce, we are confident we can provide further assurance that our tenants receive the best possible service.”

Weaver Vale Housing Trust (WVHT), which operates around 6,500 homes in Cheshire, was awarded a C1 grade and retained its G1/V1 status. 

Wayne Gales, chief executive of WVHT, said the grades were due to “hard-working colleagues” and the success of a “customer feedback framework” that was re-launched in 2023. 

Earlier this year, the RSH’s deputy chief executive Jonathan Walters told Inside Housing that most landlords had “distance to travel” to comply with the new consumer standards.