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Regulator: Scottish association which put tenants at risk must transfer homes

A Scottish housing association will see all its homes transferred to another association after being criticised by the Scottish Housing Regulator for putting tenants at “significant risk”.

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A Scottish housing association will see all its homes transferred away to another association after being criticised by the Scottish Housing Regulator for putting tenants at “significant risk” #ukhousing

Kincardine Housing Co-operative will have to transfer all 72 of its homes to Grampian Housing Association following 70% of tenants who responded to a consultation saying they were in favour of the proposal.

This will be the first time the regulator has used its powers to transfer the assets of a social landlord.

The regulator proposed the transfer after a period of statutory intervention and investigations, which the regulator said uncovered “serious governance and financial management failures, which presented a significant risk to the co-operative’s tenant and service users”.


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Kincardine, which manages homes in Portlethen, Fordoun and Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, is a fully mutual co-operative. Grampian, to which the homes will be transferred, already manages all of its homes as Kincardine has no staff.

Ian Brennan, director of regulation at the Scottish Housing Regulator, said: “We have taken this decision to protect the interests of Kincardine’s tenants and to ensure they receive good-quality homes and services.

“The failures in governance and financial management at Kincardine Housing Co-operative were very serious and presented a direct risk to its tenants. The co-operative did not have the capacity to address these issues.

“The majority of tenants who responded to the consultation were in favour of the transfer to Grampian, which has been providing services to Kincardine’s tenants since July. Transferring Kincardine’s homes to Grampian will improve the services tenants receive and the management of their homes. We expect the transfer to be completed early in the new year.”

The regulator first intervened at Kincardine in November last year, when it imposed a statutory manager because of “serious and urgent risks to the delivery of services to tenants” and concerns about “potentially inappropriate payments”.

It also restricted Kincardine’s dealings, preventing it from undertaking financial transactions or making payments, and suspended the management committee’s chair, who then resigned.

The regulator’s preferred course of action was to transfer homes to Grampian, and after most tenants agreed, it said it would carry out the transfer.

It said it has also extended the appointment of the statutory manager until 31 March 2019 so that Kincardine can oversee the transfer and “protect the interests of tenants”.

Update: at 15.08 on 21.11.18 This story was updated to clarify that there was no ballot on this proposal, just a consultation.

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