Havebury Housing Partnership - Compliance Health Check

Havebury Housing Partnership (Havebury) is a not-for-profit affordable and social housing association that manages 7500 properties across Suffolk.

Project Overview

We were appointed to conduct a compliance health check to ensure adherence to relevant legislation, approved codes of practice, and best industry practices. 

Upon completion of the initial health check, Havebury sought a follow-up assessment to assess the work they had completed following the recommendations from the original health check. This follow-up aimed to assure their boards and executives that the measures taken post-initial assessment were efficient and compliant. This work has contributed to Havebury achieving a C1 grading in their regulatory judgement from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). 

Covering Havebury’s entire property portfolio of homes, including both houses and flats, our health check focused on the ‘big six’ key compliance areas: gas, electric, fire, asbestos, water hygiene, and lifts. We assigned a lead consultant and supporting consultant to undertake the initial health check and one lead consultant for the follow-up.

Our Approach

Compliance Health Check

We conducted an initiation meeting with the client, maintained regular communication throughout, and provided a feedback session following the completion of the project. In conducting both the health check and follow-up, we followed a structured approach involving four stages to acquire all the information necessary:

 •    Asset data and document review – we reviewed documents and data to gain an understanding of the client’s current approach to the management of property compliance and assess how they were performing.

 •    Information gathering sessions with team members involved in compliance management – we held robust and informative interview sessions in a collaborative and friendly manner with the key people involved in the management and delivery of the compliance activity to gather information on how the client was delivering and managing compliance for each area.

 •    Headline feedback – we provided key summarised feedback to the project sponsor and any relevant members of the Executive or Senior Management Team following the information-gathering sessions. This helped highlight our key initial conclusions and recommendations.

 •    Reporting – we produced a robust report which outlined our findings and recommendations. We also set out an overall assurance rating for the client.

 •    Our extensive practical experience (having conducted over 150 Health Checks to date) was crucial in enabling us to navigate technical aspects and identify potential gaps in Havebury’s approach effectively.

Compliance Health Check Follow-Up

The follow-up was undertaken over one year after the compliance health check to assess Havebury’s progress in implementing the recommendations made as part of the initial health check.

To undertake the follow-up, we conducted the same steps with a focus on gathering evidence confirming the client had met the requirements of each recommendation and how this had helped to improve overall compliance. As part of this, we challenged Havebury to demonstrate they had met the recommendations with auditable trails and evidence-based assessments. The follow-up was also completed with feedback and a report summarising our findings to ensure Havebury had a clear record of its compliance journey.

We conducted both health checks using the organisational cloud-based software, SharePoint, to exchange documents and create a secure work area for everything to be stored and located in one convenient place.

Our Achievements

Following the successful completion of the health checks, Havebury achieved the highest grade (C1) in their regulatory judgement by the RSH. This accomplishment highlights the positive impact of our collaborative commitment to compliance and continuous improvement.

Returning to Havebury for the follow-up allowed us to become their critical friend, offering support and expert insight into our recommendations and actions they had taken following the original health check. This provided them with the assurance and confidence that the actions taken were effective.

We set out a timeline in the initial documentation sent to the client, outlining timeframes for them to submit documentation, information gathering sessions, and final report submission. Both parties adhered to the timelines throughout the project, ensuring key dates were hit and the process was straightforward.

Havebury has since been in touch to appoint us for additional projects, such as developing policies, procedures, and process maps; addressing damp and mould issues; and providing HHSRS training. This ongoing collaboration underscores the strength of our working relationship and the trust Havebury places in our ability to deliver efficient and effective solutions. We eagerly anticipate further opportunities for collaboration in the future.

Client testimonial

“Collaborating with Pennington Choices was invaluable in ensuring compliance in our journey of continuous improvement. They worked with us to develop an improvement plan and assisted in its implementation with a Follow-up Health Check. The Health Check helped us to implement new policies, procedures, and processes for all the big six compliance areas. It also allowed us to provide a more robust service offering with assurance across all areas that we are compliant and can evidence this. Throughout this process, Pennington Choices provided collaborative support, acting as a friendly and responsive sounding board for our queries.”
– Assistant Director of Asset Management at Havebury Housing Association