The Scottish Housing Regulator today published its report on the outcome of its statutory intervention at Ruchazie Housing Association.
The report sets out why the Regulator intervened and the action it took to safeguard the interests of tenants and service users.
The Regulator began to engage with the Association in 2017 following concerns about Ruchazie’s handling of the departure of its senior officer. During this engagement the Regulator identified a number of serious failures in governance and financial management.
The Regulator used its statutory powers to appoint a manager and four members to the Association’s governing body in March 2018.
The Regulator ended its intervention in September 2020 after Ruchazie delivered substantial improvements to its governance and financial management.
Ian Brennan, Director of Regulation at the Regulator said:
“We are grateful to the statutory appointees for their support and commitment to help Ruchazie address the issues that led to intervention. Ruchazie worked hard to make the necessary improvements and completed its programme of improvements despite the challenges of the pandemic. Ruchazie put in place a strong governance and financial management framework and is focussed on delivering good outcomes for its tenants and service users.
Speaking about the intervention Hugh Holland, Chairperson of Ruchazie, said “Everyone associated with Ruchazie Housing Association has worked tirelessly over the last three years to secure the future of the Association, whilst maintaining high standards of services to our tenants. The support of Paul Rydquist, appointed statutory manager and appointees to the committee has been invaluable in making real and lasting improvements in governance, performance and financial viability.
The Management Committee and staff team continue to be committed to delivering excellent services and demonstrating good governance to our tenants and customers, and this has been evident throughout the last 18 months which have been challenging for all our colleagues in the social housing sector.“
Notes to editors
- The Scottish Housing Regulator was established on 1 April 2011 under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010. Its objective is to safeguard and promote the interests of tenants and others who use local authority and RSL housing services. The Regulator operates independently of Scottish Ministers and is accountable directly to the Scottish Parliament. It assumed its full regulatory responsibilities on 1 April 2012. The Regulator consists of the Chair and eight Board members. More information about the Regulator can be found on its website at gov.scot
- SHR sets out how it regulates social landlords in its published framework – Regulation of Social Housing in Scotland.