Independent survey shows In-depth assessments well received by providers

The Regulator of Social Housing has today (8 April 2021) published the results of an independent survey of registered providers about the In-Depth Assessment (IDA) process.

The survey shows that providers consider IDAs to be an important element of regulating the economic standards and praised the professionalism and conduct of RSH’s IDA teams. Providers also indicated in the survey that they made changes as a result of the IDA process, most commonly in the areas of stress testing and mitigation planning, risk management and board reporting.

The findings provide helpful feedback to RSH about providers’ experience of the IDA process, and in response to these and its own internal reviews, RSH will continue to evolve and adapt its approach to IDAs.

Maxine Loftus, Director of Regulatory Operations, said:

We welcome the results of this survey of providers which shows that providers value the IDA process and the way in which it is carried out. We are grateful to those who took part in the survey and we will take into account their feedback, as well as our own internal reviews, as we continue to develop our approach.

Further information

For press office contact details, see our Media enquiries page. For general queries, please email enquiries@rsh.gov.uk or call 0300 124 5225.

Notes to editors

• The IDA was introduced in 2015 and the completion of the first full cycle of IDAs for all RPs with over 1,000 social housing units marked an appropriate point at which to evaluate its effectiveness.

• In Autumn 2020 RSH commissioned an IDA evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the IDA process and identify areas for improvement in the IDA model and its delivery. The results of the research are published on Gov.uk

• The research, which was conducted by IFF’s specialist housing research team, involved a six week online survey distributed to the Chief Executives of all 218 large registered providers who are subject to IDAs. This was followed up with twelve depth interviews with Chief Executives of RPs who had an IDA in the past 24 months.

• RSH promotes a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver homes that meet a range of needs. It does this by undertaking robust economic regulation focusing on governance, financial viability and value for money that maintains lender confidence and protects the taxpayer. It also sets consumer standards and may take action if these standards are breached and there is a significant risk of serious detriment to tenants or potential tenants.