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For-profit housing association with only one board member deemed non-compliant by regulator
A for-profit housing association has been deemed non-compliant by the Regulator of Social Housing after it discovered “significant failures”, including inadequately managed “conflicts of interest”, potential risks to tenant safety and only one person on its board.
In a regulatory notice issued last week, the regulator said Green Park Property Management, which manages 897 units in London and Birmingham, was non-compliant with the governance element of its governance and financial viability standards.
In the judgement it said that the organisation did not have basic governing procedures or policies in place.
In addition, it said the association did not have a compliant board which lacked the required independence needed, because it was comprised of only one board member.
Green Park said it accepted the regulator’s judgement and said it had now hired a chief executive who was in the process of appointing new board members and a chair.
he regulator confirmed to Inside Housing that it was the first for-profit registered provider that it had published a non-compliant finding for.
The regulator began its investigation into the organisation after receiving information about its operations from a “number of sources”.
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Scottish regulator warns landlords over tenant safety after issues found at a number of associationsDuring the investigation, it found that Green Park was unable to demonstrate that it had adequately managed “conflicts of interest”, which arose both as a result of connections with companies providing services to it and a personal loan provided by the board’s sole member.
Tenant safety was also found to be a “key risk”, as Green Park was unable to show it had put in place arrangements to ensure it met statutory health and safety obligations, “potentially putting tenants at risk”.
According to the regulator, Green Park operates a model that is based on leasing properties from several third parties who deliver all landlord services on its behalf. This process results in Green Park transferring a significant amount of the rent and income from tenants to third parties.
The regulator said that because of “inadequate monitoring and oversight” of this process, Green Park was unable to assure the regulator that the arrangements entered into “are not inappropriately advancing the interests of third parties”.
The investigation also found Green Park failed to provide appropriate support to its tenants when leases were terminated by the property owners, leading to tenants living in properties with landlords who are not registered providers.
The regulator does not normally publish regulator judgements on registered providers who manage fewer than 1,000 units. However, in cases where it finds that a provider with 1,000 units or fewer is not meeting regulatory standards it often publishes a regulatory notice.
A Green Park spokesperson said: “We accept the regulator’s judgement and will continue to work with the regulator in addressing the concerns identified.
“Green Park Housing has already started making improvements by appointing its new chief executive, Darshan Singh Matharoo, who is in the process of appointing new board members and a chair.
“So over the coming months, our new chief executive and the board, will be working on areas for development to ensure Green Park Housing is compliant with the governance element of the governance & financial viability standards and other regulator concerns identified in the regulatory judgement.”
Update at 12:15 08/10/2019 This article was updated with additional information from the regulator confirming that Green Park was the first for-profit housing association to be given a non-compliant rating.
