Decision

Walsall Housing Group Limited (L4389) - Regulatory Judgement: 18 December 2024

Updated 18 December 2024

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C1 Our judgement is that overall the landlord is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. The landlord has demonstrated that it identifies when issues occur and puts plans in place to remedy and minimise recurrence.	First grading	December 2024
Governance	G1 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements.	Assessed and unchanged	December 2024
Viability	V1 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios.	Assessed and unchanged	December 2024

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Walsall Housing Group Limited (whg) following an inspection completed in December 2024.

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grading of C1, a governance grading of G1 and a financial viability grading of V1.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, the governance and financial viability grades for whg were last updated in November 2023 following a stability check, to confirm grades of G1 and V1. This is the first time we have issued a consumer grade in relation to this landlord.

Summary of the decision

From the evidence and assurance gained during the inspection it is our judgement that whg is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C1 grade for whg.

Our judgement is that whg meets our governance requirements. whg has provided evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of its governance arrangements and that it continues to effectively manage the risks of its activities, allowing it to deliver its strategic and charitable objectives. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a G1 grade for whg.

Our judgement is that whg meets our financial viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios. whg has a strong financial profile, and its stress testing demonstrates that financial capacity is built into its business plan. whg has provided appropriate assurance that it has access to sufficient liquidity and adequate funding in place. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a V1 grade for whg.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of whg to assess how well whg is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and meeting our governance and financial viability requirements, as part of our planned regulatory inspection programme. During the inspection we considered all four of the consumer standards: Neighbourhood and Community Standard, Safety and Quality Standard, Tenancy Standard and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.

During the inspection we observed a board meeting and tenant scrutiny group, spoke to tenants, held meetings with whg including with its non-executive directors and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by whg.

Our regulatory judgement is based on all the relevant information we obtained during the inspection as well as analysis of information supplied by whg through its regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.

Summary of findings 

Consumer – C1 – December 2024

During the inspection, whg provided evidence-based assurance that it has appropriate systems in place to ensure the health and safety of its tenants in their homes and associated communal areas. There is evidence that whg keeps an accurate record of the condition of its homes at an individual property level through physical surveys and has a process for keeping this information up to date. whg has demonstrated that it uses its understanding of the quality and safety of its homes to make decisions on future investment.

whg has demonstrated that it provides an effective, efficient and timely repairs service to tenants and takes action to improve the service and outcomes for tenants when issues occur. whg identified issues with outstanding repairs and took proactive steps to address this to improve the outcomes for tenants.

whg demonstrated that it is working in partnership with appropriate partners to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where it provides homes. We saw evidence that whg takes account of tenants’ views to help drive service improvement and outcomes for tenants.

Overall, whg is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards in relation to transparency, influence and accountability. whg provides a range of opportunities for tenants to influence and scrutinise strategies, policies and services, with its customer voice strategy setting out how it considers the views of the wider tenant population. There is evidence that whg uses performance information and analysis to improve its services and outcomes for tenants, with the whg board receiving regular reporting across these areas. whg also provides a range of relevant and accessible information to tenants in various formats. whg’s approach to complaints handling is also clear and in line with the requirements of the standard, with lessons learned from complaints used to improve its services.

Governance – G1 – December 2024

Based on evidence gained through inspection there is assurance that whg’s governance arrangements enable it to effectively manage its risk and adequately control the organisation, allowing it to deliver its objectives. whg’s board demonstrated that it provides challenge on performance against the organisation’s strategic targets and consideration of risk appetite in strategic decision making.

whg has provided adequate assurance that its board proactively reviews its approach to delivering against its purpose and considers alternative options to ensure it is making the best use of resources.

We saw evidence that whg has established and maintains clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities within its leadership and governance structure. The relationship between its board and committees is working in line with its delegations to strengthen assurance in key areas of risk and compliance. Board member skills, experience and knowledge are aligned with the activities of the organisation and there is a process in place for developing and appraising skills to support with succession planning. We have seen evidence of this through board observation, meetings with non-executive directors and the executive team, as well as reviewing relevant documents including meeting minutes.

Continuing governance improvement is evidenced through annual effectiveness reviews and in-depth periodic external governance reviews. The most recent external review took place in May 2022, and we saw evidence of the recommendations from that review forming an action plan that was followed through and monitored by the whg board. The next external review is due to take place in 2025. 

whg has demonstrated that there is an appropriate risk management and control framework that aligns to its strategic risks, with evidence that this flows from whg’s board through the organisation. whg’s board actively seeks and gains an appropriate level of assurance across a range of areas and risks are managed effectively in practice.  

whg evidenced board ownership of stress testing and mitigation strategies and demonstrated that these are used to inform decisions, supplementing the wider control framework. We saw evidence that reporting to the whg board provides sufficient detail for the board to ensure effective oversight across the organisation. 

Viability – V1 – December 2024

Based on evidence gained through the inspection, we have concluded there is appropriate assurance that whg’s financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. whg has appropriately evidenced that it has an adequately funded business plan, sufficient security in place to support its financial plans, and whg is forecast to continue to meet its financial covenants under a wide range of adverse scenarios. whg’s board has effective oversight of covenant compliance with actual and projected covenants monitored regularly and reported quarterly to the board.

whg has a strong financial profile, with financial capacity built into its business plan and with strong levels of forecast headroom with no reliance on sales. whg forecasts adequate interest cover whilst continuing to deliver its development programme and investing in its existing stock to meet both de-carbonisation and stock quality aspirations.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

whg was formed in 2003 by a stock transfer from Walsall Council. It is a registered provider of social housing and a registered charity. whg is the only RSH registered entity in its group and operates four unregistered operational subsidiaries.

whg operates across 21 local authority areas in the Midlands and owns 21,734 homes, predominantly in Walsall.

At 31 March 2024, whg employed 767 full-time equivalent staff. Turnover for the year ended 31 March 2024 was £135.8m.

Our role and regulatory approach

We regulate for a viable, efficient, and well governed social housing sector able to deliver quality homes and services for current and future tenants.

We regulate at the landlord level to drive improvement in how landlords operate. By landlord we mean a registered provider of social housing. These can either be local authorities, or private registered providers (other organisations registered with us such as non-profit housing associations, co-operatives, or profit-making organisations).

We set standards which state outcomes that landlords must deliver. The outcomes of our standards include both the required outcomes and specific expectations we set. Where we find there are significant failures in landlords which we consider to be material to the landlord’s delivery of those outcomes, we hold them to account. Ultimately this provides protection for tenants’ homes and services and achieves better outcomes for current and future tenants. It also contributes to a sustainable sector which can attract strong investment.

We have a different role for regulating local authorities than for other landlords. This is because we have a narrower role for local authorities and the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, and Value for Money Standard do not apply. Further detail on which standards apply to different landlords can be found on our standards page.

We assess the performance of landlords through inspections and by reviewing data that landlords are required to submit to us. In Depth Assessments (IDAs) were one of our previous assessment processes, which are now replaced by our new inspections programme from 1 April 2024. We also respond where there is an issue or a potential issue that may be material to a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our standards. We publish regulatory judgements that describe our view of landlords’ performance with our standards. We also publish grades for landlords with more than 1,000 social housing homes.

The Housing Ombudsman deals with individual complaints. When individual complaints are referred to us, we investigate if we consider that the issue may be material to a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our standards.

For more information about our approach to regulation, please see Regulating the standards.

Further information

• Regulating the standards

• Regulatory standards for landlords