A spokesperson for GSA said it is disappointed with the outcome but accepts the findings

Bosses at a landlord which has around 25,500 social housing properties in total and hundreds in Shropshire have been criticised by regulators.

Birmingham-based GreenSquareAccord (GSA) said it accepts the findings of an investigation by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) which says it has been responsible for a history of "weak financial performance”.

The RSH recorded that the social housing provider is "reliant on the disposal of social homes to maintain financial resilience and has limited capacity to absorb a reasonable range of adverse scenarios”.

The regulator added that while GSA remains compliant with lender covenants, its "continued compliance is dependent on the delivery of significant disposals, cost reductions and transformation programmes”.

GSA has shown "responsive engagement" with the regulator but the RSH said it is "not delivering" on its measurements of governance and financial viability to make sure that they are well-managed and able to provide homes and services for customers now and in the future.

A spokesperson for GSA said it is disappointed with the outcome but accepts the findings and is committed to addressing them.

They added that the judgement is not about safety and does not change its commitments to residents.

In recent years GSA has stepped up its presence in Telford where partnership working delivered 74 new affordable homes at Lightmoor Garden Village. In Lightmoor Road it transformed a disused concrete works into a community of 52 affordable rented homes.

And in Grove Road, Overdale, its development provides 81 homes, all available for affordable rent. It also has homes in nearly Broseley.

Ruth Cooke, GSA's chief executive, said: "While we are disappointed with this outcome, we fully accept the regulator's findings and recognise we still have work to do to deliver the ambitions set out in our Simpler, Stronger, Better strategy and, most importantly, to continue improving outcomes for our customers.

"We have already made progress in strengthening governance, financial oversight and decision-making across the organisation, and we have a clear plan in place to deliver further improvements. We remain committed to working closely with the regulator and demonstrating sustained progress over time.

"I want to reassure our customers that this judgement is not about the safety of their homes and does not change our commitment to providing safe, quality homes and services.

"We will continue to invest in our homes, meet our safety responsibilities and support our customers and communities."

GSA added that it "remains a stable organisation”.

GSA was formed in April 2021 following a merger between GreenSquare Group Limited and Accord Housing Association Limited.

The regulator added that challenges arising from the merger remain and the actions taken to address the underlying issues over the past five years have had "limited effectiveness".

It added that a weak financial performance in recent years deteriorated further during the year ending March 31.

"GSA continues to rely on multiple unintegrated systems, manual processes and labour-intensive workarounds.

"The board has not been provided with information that consistently supports effective, risk-based decision making.

"While GSA has taken action after issues have occurred, we have insufficient assurance that it has addressed the root causes of these failures or established an effective control environment.

"This has resulted in poor outcomes for GSA and its tenants."

The regulator criticised the company's leadership as it found "insufficient evidence of consistent and effective board challenge in relation to key strategic and financial risks”.

"We therefore conclude that GSA is not being managed with the degree of skill, diligence, effectiveness, prudence and foresight required by the Governance and Financial Viability Standard."

The regulator added that options for the board would mean disposals andreductions in repairs and maintenance expenditure.

"As a result, we have concluded that GSA is not currently managing its resources in a way that ensures its long-term viability and the protection of its social housing assets."

GSA operates in 36 local authority areas across the West Midlands, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire and owns and manages around 25,500 social homes. It also develops new homes and provides care and support services.