Watchdog probes Birmingham exempt housing landlord over “serious concerns”
The Regulator of Social Housing has commissioned an independent inquiry into a social housing landlord that provides supported exempt accommodation in Birmingham.
The regulator said it had “serious concerns” about Ash-Shahada Housing Association (ASHA), a London-based not-for-profit landlord providing social housing in London and exempt accommodation in Birmingham.
Jonathan Walters, chief executive of the regulator, said: “A statutory inquiry is a serious regulatory tool that we only use very rarely. This reflects the severity of our concerns with ASHA and its longstanding failure to put things right. We will use the independent findings to inform our next steps.”
The inquiry will examine whether there have been any actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest within ASHA’s executive team or board, and whether its leadership has the skills and independence needed to manage its affairs.
It will also look at whether the landlord has entered into arrangements or made payments to advance the interests of third parties, and whether its social housing assets have been used in a way inconsistent with its policies, regulatory requirements or the law.
The regulator found ASHA non-compliant with the governance elements of its Governance and Financial Viability Standard in July 2021, and made statutory appointments to its board in 2025.
ASHA has fewer than 1,000 social homes and is classed as a small provider.
It comes a month after the regulator downgraded Birmingham-based GreenSquareAccord, which manages around 25,500 homes, over serious weaknesses in its governance and financial controls.
The regulator said it would publish the outcome once the inquiry concludes, and would then decide whether further regulatory action was needed.
