Plus Dane Housing is welcoming the decision by the Homes and Communities Agency to upgrade the organisation in its latest regulatory judgements.
Following a governance downgrade to G3 in 2013 and being placed on the grading’s under review list in May this year in relation to its financial viability, Plus Dane
Housing can now confirm its regulatory judgement as G2, V2.
The Regulator’s concerns about the commercial subsidiary Three60 and the risk it posed to the organisation and its social housing assets was cited as a reason in both
the governance downgrade and being placed on the grading’s under review list.
Plus Dane owns and manages over 18,000 homes across Merseyside and Cheshire and has a turnover of £101m.
Chief Executive Barbara Spicer CBE, said: “Throughout the last two years Plus Dane has worked openly and transparently with the Regulator to address a range of issues which put the organisation at risk. The Board entered into a Voluntary Undertaking with the HCA setting out plans to improve on the areas highlighted in the Governance downgrade. Our subsequent placing on the grading under review list for viability came about as a result of the new Executive and Board addressing long standing financial risks associated with our commercial subsidiary.
“In addressing those financial risks the organisation has assured the Regulator to the extent that we have maintained our viability rating – this is extremely good news, but does not change the fact that there remains much to do at Plus Dane to get to an inherently stronger financial position. Our primary objective was to remove the risk
that Three60 posed to our social housing assets and by re-structuring our finances we have achieved this.
“Throughout, we have never questioned the Regulator’s decisions – they have a job to do and were simply doing it.
“Plus Dane needs to continue to focus on being the best landlord and provider of services for our tenants and customers it can be. In doing so we will hopefully
continue to move towards better regulatory judgments”
Commenting on the upgrade to its Governance rating, Linda Minnis, Chair of Plus Dane Housing said: “We are delighted to receive an upgrade to our governance rating from the HCA. The Board and our new Chief Executive, working with the Regulator, have delivered a considerable amount of work to ensure we strengthen the governance of the organisation. This has included fundamentally reviewing the leadership of Plus Dane, embedding a very different approach to risk management and business planning and delivering all commitments agreed as part of the voluntary undertaking.
“Critically we have streamlined the workings of our Boards so that we have full oversight of every element of the business and its subsidiaries in one place.”
