Why we are engaging with Blochairn Housing Association Ltd (Blochairn)
We are engaging with Blochairn about its governance, financial health, financial management, planned organisational changes, stock quality and tenant and resident safety.
In October 2022, following an independent governance review, Blochairn identified a number of areas of non-compliance with regulatory requirements including the Standards of Governance and Financial Management (the Standards).
Blochairn’s senior officer left the organisation in October 2022, and it appointed an interim senior officer in November 2022. Blochairn then completed a strategic options appraisal (SOA) which identified that it was not financially viable in the medium term.
In February 2023 we changed Blochairn’s regulatory status to ‘non-compliant – working towards compliance’. We assessed that Blochairn did not comply with Standards one, two, three, four, five and six. Blochairn developed an improvement plan to address the serious weaknesses in its governance and its non-compliance.
In March 2023 Blochairn decided that in order to address its failures, it was in the best interests of its tenants and other service users to transfer to another Registered Social Landlord (RSL). Blochairn commissioned a stock condition survey (SCS) in July 2023 to inform the transfer process. The SCS identified the need for increased investment in Blochairn’s homes.
In December 2023 Blochairn submitted a notifiable event about a potentially serious tenant and resident safety issue. Blochairn had established that an independent investigation in December 2019 had identified potentially serious fire safety risks affecting four blocks of properties at Blochairn Place. The rented properties in the blocks comprise just over a quarter of Blochairn’s homes.
Blochairn commissioned a review of the investigation which completed in January 2024 and recommended that a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) should be carried out to establish the risk presented in the blocks. In January 2024 Blochairn decided to proceed with a FRAEW on one of the four blocks.
Blochairn was unable to progress its transfer plans until it completed the Blochairn Place FRAEW and established the fire safety risks and associated liabilities. Following delays in progressing the FRAEW, we sought assurance about Blochairn’s capacity to deal with an increasingly complex range of issues at the required pace. In April 2024 Blochairn confirmed that it assessed it had sufficient capacity.
We continued to engage with Blochairn about progress with the FRAEW which reported in October 2024. It concluded that the overall risk presented in the block was a ‘high medium/significant risk’ and set out two interim and two further remedial measures. The updated Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) gave the block a ‘substantial’ risk rating and set out 19 recommendations (15 ‘high’ and four ‘medium’ priority) which included the FRAEW measures. Blochairn told us that the remedial actions required to resolve the fire safety risks would have a material impact on its financial position.
In November 2024 Blochairn engaged with the Scottish Government about the fire safety risks and the impact on its financial position. The Scottish Government asked Blochairn to commission Single Building Assessments (SBA) to establish the risk presented in all four blocks in Blochairn Place.
We asked Blochairn to provide us with assurance that it had plans to address the immediate fire safety and financial risks it faced. Blochairn was unable to provide us with sufficient assurance about its capacity to address its financial position including the anticipated liquidity challenges, managing its obligations to lenders, including ensuring covenant compliance, and engaging with other stakeholders, such as Scottish Government, regarding potential funding for cladding remediation.
Blochairn was slow to identify financial risks, had made errors in its financial assumptions and was reviewing its medium/long term financial models. These issues had heightened Blochairn’s overall financial risk exposure. Despite repeated requests from October 2024, Blochairn only submitted rolling 12 month cashflow forecasts in March 2025.
In December 2024 Blochairn asked SHR to direct a transfer of its assets under section 67 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010 (the Act) to another RSL on the grounds that Blochairn’s viability was in jeopardy for financial reasons and to protect the interests of tenants and service users.
We considered Blochairn’s request. We assessed that Blochairn was unable to deliver its voluntary transfer strategy because it had not yet established the fire safety risks and resulting liabilities for any RSL transfer partner. We also assessed that whilst Blochairn had taken some steps to address the serious and urgent risks to tenant and resident safety and its financial viability, it had not dealt with this in a sufficiently comprehensive way and with the required pace, to minimise the risk to the safety of its tenants and residents. Blochairn was also unable to provide sufficient clarity around its financial position.
In January 2025 we set out our serious concerns to Blochairn. We noted that we were considering using our statutory powers of intervention to provide Blochairn with additional capacity to address its serious and urgent tenant and resident safety and financial viability issues at the required pace.
In response, Blochairn told us that it would take steps to ensure it had capacity to address its failures at pace. In February 2025 Blochairn appointed a transfer lead officer. Blochairn’s interim senior officer left the organisation in February 2025 and the transfer lead officer’s remit was extended to include the role of interim senior officer. Blochairn appointed two individuals with appropriate skills and experience to the governing body in March 2025. Blochairn currently has ten governing body members, an interim senior officer and five temporary members of staff.
In March 2025 Blochairn commissioned SBAs for all four blocks in Blochairn Place and started to develop and implement fire safety and pre-transfer plans. Its plans incorporated engagement with key stakeholders including tenants and residents. We continued to engage intensively with Blochairn about the delivery of its plans, including progress with completing the Blochairn Place FRA recommendations.
Blochairn reviewed its governance arrangements in March 2025, identified further longstanding areas of non-compliance with the Standards and put in place a plan to address these.
Blochairn commissioned an updated SCS in April 2025. The SCS identified the need for increased investment in Blochairn’s homes, a lower level of Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) compliance than previously reported and significant outstanding repairs, including health and safety repairs. Blochairn confirmed that it was addressing the repairs as a priority and that historic underinvestment in its stock, alongside the suspension of its maintenance programme (excluding health and safety repairs) in 2023 (as a result of its financial position), had caused its current asset issues. Blochairn appointed additional asset support in June 2025 to help address these issues and deliver a full reactive repairs service.
In May 2025 Blochairn told us that it had over a number of years provided inaccurate information in its Annual Return on the Charter. This included information about its rents. Blochairn corrected this information in its 2024/25 ARC.
In May 2025 the SBA assessor advised that whilst the Blochairn Place SBA investigations had been completed to planned timescales, they had identified potential structural issues in Blochairn Place. These issues required to be investigated and the findings incorporated within the SBAs. As a result, the SBAs were placed on hold until the investigations were complete. Blochairn continued to progress fire safety works and other transfer plans where they were not impacted by the emerging structural issues.
Blochairn commissioned a structural survey of the Blochairn Place flatted blocks in June 2025. The structural survey reported in July 2025 and found significant longstanding defects in all three blocks and that these defects posed critical health and safety risks, particularly from balcony fixings. The investigation made a range of recommendations including remedial works, the implementation of quarterly monitoring of aspects of the buildings’ structure and some further intrusive investigations. Blochairn put in place measures to mitigate balcony safety risks.
In July 2025 Blochairn identified that works which had been completed earlier in the year to address the Blochairn Place FRA recommendation about fire doors/seals would now need to be redone to a different specification which could accommodate structural movement.
As a result of the additional asset issues, including the backlog of health and safety repairs, and the additional asset investigations and findings from these, Blochairn was unable to complete the SBAs for Blochairn Place to its planned timescale, and as a result unable to establish the fire safety risks and resulting liabilities Blochairn told us that due to these emerging, longstanding asset and safety issues, its financial position had materially worsened and it could not resolve the significant structural and safety concerns at Blochairn Place without urgent external support.
In August 2025 Blochairn therefore decided that it was in the best interests of its tenants and other service users to accelerate its transfer plans, prior to establishing the fire and structural safety risks and associated liabilities at Blochairn Place. Blochairn sought expressions of interest from Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) to develop a transfer partnership proposal and provide urgent asset support to address tenant and resident safety issues. Due to its deteriorating financial position, Blochairn also decided to revert to the provision of an emergency and urgent repairs only service and halt its ongoing SCS.
The draft Blochairn Place SBA (FRAEW element only) reported in August 2025 and Blochairn used this and the structural survey to estimate fire safety and structural remedial costs for Blochairn Place. Blochairn also submitted 30 year financial projections to us.
In August 2025 Blochairn’s external auditor submitted a report in compliance with Section 72 (2) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010, fulfilling their statutory duty to disclose information considered relevant to the exercise of our regulatory functions.
In September 2025 Blochairn completed the Blochairn Place FRA recommendations (October 2024) including remedial works and delivery of a draft SBA (including FRAEW and FRA elements). The SBA FRAEW gave the block a ‘high’ risk rating, identified seven urgent interim measures, further permanent remediation works and further intrusive investigations, linked to the findings of the structural survey. Blochairn has told us it has completed one UIM, is progressing three UIMs and is unable to progress the remaining three UIMs or permanent remediation works without support from a partner RSL. The SBA FRA gave the blocks a ‘moderate’ risk rating and identified 19 moderate risk recommendations. Blochairn told us that it has completed 12 recommendations and seven are in progress, four of which relate to the UIMs also in progress.
In September 2025 Blochairn identified a further structural safety issue affecting one lift in Blochairn Place. Blochairn is progressing remedial works, and the lift will remain out of service until works are complete.
In October 2025 Blochairn decided to work with Sanctuary Scotland to explore the potential for a transfer proposal and provision of additional support.
Blochairn will continue to engage with its key stakeholders, including its tenants and residents, its lenders and the Scottish Government as it explores the potential for a transfer partnership with Sanctuary Scotland.
Blochairn is working constructively and openly with us to address its non-compliance, remedy its safety failings, clarify its asset issues and deliver a transfer. we assess that Blochairn remains non-compliant with Standards one, two, three and six, and is non-compliant with Scottish Social Housing Charter outcomes two, three, four, five, 13, 14 and 15.
The Housing (Scotland) Act (2010) requires us to monitor and assess the financial well-being, governance and performance of each Registered Social Landlord (RSL).
Our current assessment is that Blochairn is non-compliant and is working towards compliance with the Standards. We set out below the information that Blochairn must provide in order to assure us that it can achieve a transfer to ensure its wide ranging and serious compliance issues are addressed and its tenants and residents are served by a compliant landlord.
What Blochairn must do
Blochairn must:
- provide us with weekly updates on progress with its plans to address its tenant and resident safety issues. This must include an update on progress with completing the Blochairn Place SBA and structural survey recommendations;
- provide us with weekly updates as it explores the development of a transfer partnership proposal with Sanctuary Scotland;
- provide us with weekly updates on progress with its communications plan, including details of engagement with tenants and residents affected by safety issues and with all tenants and other key stakeholders, including funders, as it develops its plans;
- send us its governing body papers when they are issued to the governing body;
- send us management accounts, which should include a year-end outturn projection, quarterly;
- send us monthly updates of cashflow projections for a rolling 12 month period;
- send us details of the actual cash balance held on a weekly basis with commentary provided where the weekly movement includes unbudgeted cash income or expenditure;
- send us any additional financial information as required;
- meet with us weekly to discuss progress with its plans to address its tenant and resident safety issues, the communications plan, the financial information, any other risks to the organisation and its capacity to deliver its plans and manage its risks; and
- notify us of any issues which have or may have a material adverse impact on the delivery of its plans.
What we will do:
We will:
- review the tenant and resident safety updates, communication plan updates and the financial information Blochairn provides and engage as necessary;
- engage with Blochairn as required as it explores the development of a transfer partnership proposal with Sanctuary Scotland;
- review the governing body papers and engage as necessary;
- meet with Blochairn weekly to discuss progress with its plans, its financial information, the risks facing the organisation and its capacity to deliver its plans and manage its risks;
- meet with Blochairn’s governing body to discuss progress by February 2026;
- review our engagement with Blochairn on an ongoing basis; and
- update our published engagement plan in the light of any material change to our planned engagement with Blochairn.
Regulatory returns
Blochairn must provide us with the following annual regulatory returns and alert us to notifiable events as appropriate:
- Annual Assurance Statement;
- audited financial statements and external auditor’s management letter;
- loan portfolio return;
- five year financial projections; and
- Annual Return on the Charter.
It should also notify us of any material changes to its Annual Assurance Statement, and any tenant and resident safety matter which has been reported to or is being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive or reports from regulatory or statutory authorities or insurance providers, relating to safety concerns.