Decision

Current regulatory judgement: Wakefield and District Housing Limited (17 January 2024)

Updated 17 January 2024

Applies to England

RSH Narrative Regulatory Judgement

• Provider: Wakefield and District Housing Limited

• Regulatory code: L4441

• Publication date: 17 January 2024

• Governance grade: G1

• Viability grade: V1

• Reason for publication: Viability regrade

• Regulatory route: Stability Check and Reactive Engagement

Regulatory judgement

This regulatory judgement regrades our previous published assessment of Wakefield and District Housing Limited’s financial viability from V2 to V1 and confirms its existing G1 grade for governance.

Our previous judgement noted that development plans and additional costs relating to investment in existing homes would reduce headroom against lender covenant requirements. Delivery of this investment, alongside economic uncertainty in relation to wider inflation and interest rate risks, reduced the capacity of Wakefield and District Housing Limited (WDH) to deal with adverse events.

WDH’s business plan has strengthened, informed by an updated capital programme to improve existing homes and reduced exposure to liquidity and interest rate pressures. These changes have had a positive impact on financial forecasts and improved WDH’s capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios.

The regulator’s assessment of WDH’s compliance with the governance elements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard remains unchanged. On the basis of the Stability Check, the regulator has concluded that there is no evidence to indicate a change to WDH’s current governance grading.

Other providers included in the judgement

None

About the provider

Origins

WDH is a charitable community benefit society. Its principal activities are the development and management of social housing.

Registered Entities

WDH is the only registered entity in the group.

Unregistered Entities

At 31 March 2023, WDH had two inactive subsidiaries and one joint venture. WDH Solutions Limited is a wholly owned non-charitable subsidiary of WDH. Its purpose is the provision of commercial repairs and maintenance services across a range of non-social housing settings. It has been wound down and is currently dormant. WDH New Build Services Limited is a wholly owned trading subsidiary and no trading activity took place in 2022 or 2023.

Bridge Homes (Yorkshire) LLP is a limited liability partnership with Wakefield Council. WDH has a 50% interest and Wakefield Council has a 50% interest. The joint venture has been established to build homes for sale.

Geographic Spread and Scale

WDH owns and manages around 31,900 homes. It operates primarily in Wakefield, with a wider area of operation across Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

Staffing and Turnover

WDH employs 1,209 full-time equivalent staff. Its turnover for the year ended 31 March 2023 was £173.3m.

Development

WDH intends to develop 1,874 homes between 2023 and 2028.

About our judgements

Key to Grades

Governance:

	Compliant
G1	The provider meets our governance requirements.
G2	The provider meets our governance requirements but needs to improve some aspects of its governance arrangements to support continued compliance.

	Non-compliant
G3	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	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:

	Compliant
V1	The provider meets our viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios.
V2	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.

	Non-compliant
V3	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	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.

Note: The use of an asterisk (*) against a grade indicates that the assessment refers to a provider that is designated as being for-profit.

Definitions of Regulatory Routes

In Depth Assessment (IDA): An IDA is a bespoke assessment of a provider’s viability and governance, including its approach to value for money. It involves on-site work and considers in detail a provider’s ability to meet its financial obligations and the effectiveness of its governance structures and processes.

Stability Checks: Based primarily on information supplied through regulatory returns, a Stability Check is an annual review of a provider’s financial position and its latest business plan. The review is focused on determining if there is evidence to indicate a provider’s current judgements merit reconsideration.

Reactive Engagement: Reactive engagement is unplanned work which is triggered by new information or a developing situation which may have implications for a provider’s current regulatory judgement.

Stability Checks and Reactive Engagement: In some cases, we will publish narrative regulatory judgements which combine evidence gained from both Stability Checks and Reactive Engagement.

For further details about these processes, please see Regulating the Standards.