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Birmingham’s largest exempt accommodation provider under investigation by regulator
The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has launched an investigation into the largest provider of exempt accommodation in Birmingham to look at issues that may impact on the landlord’s compliance with its standards.
The RSH confirmed today that Reliance Social Housing CIC had been placed on its ‘gradings under review’ list and that it would be investigating matters that may see it deemed non-compliant on governance and financial viability standards. No further details have been disclosed.
Reliance is the latest Birmingham-based exempt accommodation provider to be placed on the gradings under review list this year, after the regulator has taken a keen interest in this type of housing in recent times.
In February Ash-Shahada Housing Association, 3CHA and Concept Housing Association were all placed on the gradings under review list.
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Exempt accommodation is often used to house people who have very few options, such as prison leavers, rough sleepers, refugees and migrants, and those experiencing substance abuse issues.
Since such landlords provide loosely defined care and support services, their tenants can be exempt from housing benefit caps and associations can charge much higher rents than regular landlords.
In many cases, registered providers employ managing agents to provide accommodation and support services by entering into short-term lease arrangements with these companies.
The use of this type of accommodation has exploded in recent years in Birmingham and the West Midlands, with some housing associations managing thousands of properties.
Inside Housing revealed in June that the number of exempt accommodation claimants had hit 22,000, up from just 3,679 in 2014.
Reliance was the biggest provider of this type of accommodation, with 1,591 properties housing 5,642 claimants. The next nearest associations were Concept Housing with 3,773 claimants and Ash-Shahada with 2,539 claimants.
Currently, the seven biggest exempt accommodation providers are either under review or have been deemed non-compliant by the regulator.
Despite managing 5,642 exempt accommodation spaces, the majority of these will not be counted as social housing, which means that technically Reliance owns fewer than 1,000 social housing units, so does not currently have a regulatory grading and does not need to go under the in-depth assessments like associations with more than 1,000 homes do.
According to RSH board minutes, last year the regulator re-designated Reliance from being a for-profit association to being a not-for-profit association.
Amer Ijaz, chief executive of Reliance, said: “We have actively engaged with the Regulator of Social Housing and enjoyed an open, transparent dialogue.
“During this period, we have provided the regulator with evidence detailing our governance, procedures and operations.
“We are disappointed at the regulator’s decision at this stage but will continue to work with them to ensure they are fully aware of the high standards we hold ourselves to.
“However, it is important to understand that the regulator has informed us that being placed on the gradings under review list does not automatically mean that a downgrade to a non-compliant grading will follow.”
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