Muirhouse Housing Association moved out of high engagement

Muirhouse Housing Association The Scottish Housing Regulator has moved Muirhouse Housing Association (MHA) out of high engagement following a sustained period of improvement at the Association.

An updated regulation plan published by the Regulator acknowledges the efforts made by MHA in tackling problems within the organisation.

The Regulator has been engaging intensively with Muirhouse since December 2014 after it identified serious weaknesses in the Association’s governance and financial management as well as a failure to comply with Regulatory Standards of Governance and Financial Management.

A statutory manager and three additional members were then appointed to its governing body.

Since then Muirhouse has been working to address the risks and a detailed improvement action plan was agreed with the Regulator to ensure it fully complies with Regulatory Standards.

The managerial appointment was ended in December 2015 after Muirhouse recruited a new chair and began the process of recruiting new Board members.

Further governance and financial management improvements, and the appointment of a new chief executive, led to the Regulator deciding to end its statutory intervention in June 2016.

The Regulator maintained its engagement with Muirhouse as the Association managed the intensive period of change and improvement, though the level has now been switched to medium.

The Scottish Housing Regulator said: “We have reviewed Muirhouse’s progress with its action plan and found it has further improved its governance and financial management. Muirhouse has given us additional evidence that shows it now complies with Regulatory Standards.”

In a statement, Muirhouse said the upgrading comes as a timely boost for the Association: “Everybody at Muirhouse Housing Association is delighted that our engagement status with the Scottish Housing Regulator is now reduced to ‘medium’.

“This reflects the huge effort made by both Board and staff to bring the necessary improvement to our organisation.

“We will continue to work with the Regulator, to ensure that the improvement achieved remains embedded in our organisation, and is the foundation of our future success.

“MHA is about to enter its 25th anniversary year, this we believe is a fitting start to this milestone year.

“Our objectives remain the same as they were 25 years ago – a commitment to quality homes and excellent services.”

The Regulator added: “Muirhouse continues to work to bed in the improvement actions it has taken. We will engage with Muirhouse to monitor the implementation of its of change programme and as part of this we will review Muirhouse’s new approach to internal audit.”

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