Withdrawn Regulatory Notice: Kinsman Housing Limited (13 March 2019)
Updated 8 September 2023
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2023
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-judgement-kinsman-housing-limited/regulatory-notice-kinsman-housing-limited-13-march-2019
Withdrawn on 8 September 2023: Kinsman Housing Limited was de-registered on 7 September 2023
RSH Regulatory Notice
- Provider: Kinsman Housing Limited
- Regulatory code: 4769
- Publication date: 13 March 2019
- Governance grade: N/A
- Viability grade: N/A
- Reason for publication: Consumer Standards
- Regulatory route: Reactive Engagement
Other providers included in the judgement
None
Regulatory Finding
The regulator has concluded that
a) Kinsman Housing Limited (Kinsman) has breached the Home standard
b) As a consequence of this breach, there was the potential for serious detriment to Kinsman’s tenants
c) The regulator will work with Kinsman as it seeks to remedy this breach and will continue to consider what further action should be taken, including whether to exercise any of its powers
The Case
Kinsman has a responsibility under the regulator’s Home standard to have a costeffective repairs and maintenance service in place, and to meet all applicable statutory requirements which provide for the health and safety of tenants in their homes. That includes requirements under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 which requires registered providers to assess the risk of fire, and to take precautions to prevent the risk of fire.
The regulator received information from a third party which indicated that Kinsman had not adequately responded to potential issues with the structural safety of a number of its homes, along with concerns about the safety of gas, fire and electrical installations.
Kinsman was notified of the potential issues in a new building in January 2017 but did not put in place plans to carry out the necessary survey work until September 2018. This was following a third-party referral to the regulator and the regulator’s subsequent engagement with Kinsman. This means that for a considerable period of time, Kinsman did not have assurance that its building was safe and that tenants were not at risk of harm. Surveys commissioned by Kinsman between September and December 2018 identified significant defects and repairs issues including works required to ensure fire safety.
The Regulator’s Findings
While the survey commissioned by Kinsman in September 2018 on the structure of the building identified some significant issues, it did not conclude that these posed a serious risk to tenants. However this initial survey recommended further more intrusive inspections including of the gas, electrical and fire safety mechanisms in place.
A subsequent survey carried out by Kinsman in December 2018 identified some serious and wide-ranging concerns in relation to fire safety. In addition although a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) for the building dated January 2018 concluded that the risk was at a tolerable level, there were a number of follow up actions necessary to ensure the property and its tenants were safe. These risks were known about for a considerable period of time and the evidence demonstrates that Kinsman was extremely slow to act when concerns were raised and failed to identify significant risks. This resulted in a considerable period of time elapsing before a plan to resolve these matters was produced. Kinsman is now making progress in delivering the actions required. Tenants were potentially exposed to an unknown risk of danger over a long period of time. Fire safety is self-evidently important because of the potential for serious harm to tenants.
Taking into account the seriousness of the issues, and the duration for which tenants were potentially exposed to risk, the regulator has concluded that it is proportionate to find that Kinsman has breached of the Home standard and that there was a risk of serious detriment to tenants during this period.
Section 198A of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (as amended) states that the regulator’s regulatory and enforcement powers may be used if a registered provider has failed to meet a consumer standard. In order to use regulatory or enforcement powers, as well as the failure to meet the standard, there should also be reasonable grounds to suspect that the failure has resulted in a serious detriment to the provider’s tenants (or potential tenants) or that there is a significant risk that, if no action is taken by the regulator, the failure will result in a serious detriment to the provider’s tenants (or potential tenants).
Kinsman is carrying out a programme of works to rectify these failures. The regulator will work with Kinsman as it seeks to address the issues which have led to this situation, and will consider what, if any, further action to take in relation to the breach of the Home standard.
About our Regulatory Notices
Regulatory notices are issued in response to an event of regulatory importance (for example, a finding of a breach of the Rent Standard or of a consumer standard that has or may cause serious harm) that, in accordance with its obligation to be transparent, the regulator wishes to make public. More detail about Regulatory notices is set out in ‘Regulating the Standards.’
Key to grades
Governance:
- G1 (Compliant): The provider meets our governance requirements
- G2 (Compliant): The provider meets our governance requirements but needs to improve some aspects of its governance arrangements to support continued compliance
- G3 (Non-compliant): The provider does not meet our governance requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and in agreement with us the provider is working to improve its position.
- G4 (Non-compliant): The provider does not meet our governance requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and the provider is subject to regulatory intervention or enforcement action.
Viability:
- V1 (Compliant): The provider meets our viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios.
- V2 (Compliant): The provider meets our viability requirements. It has the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios but needs to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance.
- V3 (Non-compliant): The provider does not meet our viability requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and, in agreement with us, the provider is working to improve its position.
- V4 (Non-compliant): The provider does not meet our viability requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and the provider is subject to regulatory intervention or enforcement action.