Charitable housing association Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) has overcharged its tenants by at least £479,000, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has revealed.
The regulatory finding stated that JRHT is currently not compliant with the rent standard and was not compliant with the legislative requirements of the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 between 1st April 2016 and 31st March 2020 — before the introduction of the rent standard.
According to the report, JRHT incorrectly assumed 89 of its units were specialised supported housing (SSH) excepted from the rent standard, leading to incorrect rents being charged to tenants — this was confirmed and evidenced by the housing association following investigations instigated by its board.
JRHT has also failed to review its registration of its fair rent tenancies since 2008.
The maximum fair rent has been exceeded for at least 183 tenancies.
JRHT’s board became aware of these issues during its own investigations and has accepted the regulatory findings while engaging positively with the government to resolve the issues.
A detailed review to assess the scale and nature of any other potential errors in rent setting across JRHT’s portfolio of social housing assets is underway, but not completed.
