Housing association admits breaching rent standard rules
1 January 2023
This article was first published on the Batchelor’s Solicitors website prior to its merger with Birketts.
A housing association has admitted to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) that it has fallen foul of Rent Standard rules.
Over a four-year period. Your Housing Group (YHG), which owns and manages more than 29,000 homes across the North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands, overcharged its tenants by a combined total of £648,000.
When the issue came to light during an internal audit, YHG self-referred the breach to the RSH. Following an investigation the housing association was found to have been non-compliant, with multiple instances of overcharging having come to light between April 2016 and March 2020.
RSH investigators discovered that the social housing provider had failed to apply the required 1% annual rent reductions to the net rent rather than gross rent which affected more than 300 properties.
The regulator also found that rents had been wrongly set on re-lets for 780 social rent general needs properties between 2020 and 2021.
Additionally, it had failed to cap 128 secure rent properties and had not set rents in accordance with the rent policy statement on general needs properties that were re-let for affordable rent.
In its report, the RSH criticised the housing association for failing to obtain valuations on 961 affordable rent re-lets. The regulator’s investigation team is now attempting establish whether this also resulted in rent overcharges for any of the affected properties.
Responding to the RSH’s judgment, Richard Groome, Chair of Your Housing Group, said: “Unfortunately, the cause was identified as a human error. We immediately informed the regulator and appointed an independent expert to verify the findings and our calculations.
“Across the wider group, we have completed a full investigation of rent setting and as a result are improving processes and procedures.
Additional controls have also been implemented to ensure this error does not occur again in the future.
“We’ve apologised to those customers who have been affected, contacting each resident directly and informed them that all monies owed will be fully refunded. And we are continuing to cooperate fully with the Regulator during their investigation”.
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The content of this article is for general information only. It is not, and should not be taken as, legal advice. If you require any further information in relation to this article please contact the author in the first instance. Law covered as at January 2023.