The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) sets standards that all social landlords must meet. They carry out inspections to ensure that housing associations are well-governed, financially viable, offer value for money and adhere to consumer standards.
Earlier this year, the RSH carried out a regulatory inspection of Cobalt Housing and have shared their judgement with us.
The inspection covers three areas:
- Governance
- Viability
- Consumer
There are four gradings that can be given for each area, with one being the highest and four being the lowest. The full regulatory judgement for Cobalt Housing published on the 14th August 2024 can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-judgement-cobalt-housing-limited/cobalt-housing-limited-l4361-regulatory-judgement-14-august-2024
Governance
We are pleased to retain our G1 rating. This means that our governance is robust and effective in identifying risks and that we are successfully delivering against our core purpose and strategic objectives.
Viability
We have moved from a V1 to a V2 rating. We still meet the regulator’s viability requirements, but our significant investments into our homes and communities will result in less financial headroom moving forward.
Consumer
This is a new measure that reflects consumer standards and covers:
- Neighbourhood and Community
- Safety and Quality
- Tenancy
- Transparency, Influence and Accountability
We received a C2 grading, which means that some improvements are needed.
We recognise that our repairs service needs considerable improvement, and have begun the steps needed to make sure this happens. This is our number one priority. The RSH acknowledged that our Improving our Repairs project would help us to address concerns raised.
We provided strong evidence in supporting customers to maintain their tenancies and in dealing with Anti-Social Behaviour. They found that our Customer Voice Strategy and our customer involvement methods are delivering in line with the standards. We have made commitments to continuously improve and embed our customer’s voice in our decision making and improvement journey.
You can read more about regulatory gradings on the RSH website at How we approach regulatory judgements and gradings – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
