A housing association which had recently crossed the 1,000 home threshold had not previously adopted a governance code. The provider asked YDC to advise it on the adoption of a governance code and also to conduct self-assessments against that code, as well as the Regulator of Social Housing’s Governance and Financial Viability Standard.
As a small provider, the National Housing Federation (NHF) Code of Governance 2020 was the natural choice of governance code for our client. We delivered a presentation to the Board setting out the main elements of the Code and considering the things which would need to happen to achieve compliance with the Code, which enabled the Board to adopt it.
We then conducted a desktop review and gap analysis of compliance against both the Code and the Standard, which we refined in liaison with our client’s senior management team, before presenting the results of the self-assessments to the Audit Committee and subsequently to the Board.
We also helped the organisation to put together an action plan to address the gaps in compliance with the Code and the Standard. In addition, we advised on the relevant disclosures which our client was required to make in its financial statements. The organisation is now working its way through the action plan to ensure full compliance with the NHF Code of Governance 2020 and the Governance and Financial Viability Standard.