The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has published a Regulatory Notice (RN) for Empower Housing Association Limited, a not-for-profit lease-based provider. Empower owned and managed 448 units of social housing, categorised as supported housing, at 31 March 2021. As Empower owns less than 1,000 homes it does not currently have a published Regulatory Judgement (RJ).
The RSH has found Empower to be non-compliant with its Governance and Financial Viability Standard. Key aspects of the RSH’s findings are:
- Governance arrangements which are underdeveloped and inadequate for the size of the organisation
- Failures in financial and internal controls over a period of years, leading to some payments and financial commitments being made without the approval or oversight of the Board
- Inadequate risk management, limited business planning and an absence of stress testing and
- A lack of assurance that Empower’s properties meet the criteria of Specialised Supported Housing, meaning that the Regulator is not assured of the provider’s compliance with the Rent Standard.
All of the RJs, RNs and GUR listings published by the RSH can be viewed on the RSH’s website here.