The group, England's largest registered social landlord, has suffered weeks of controversy surrounding a major rift in its board (HT 26 September, page 7).
The supervision was announced even though several board members publicly defended the RSL this week. Group chairman Sebert Cox hit back at critics, saying the board members at the centre of the row had been voted off because the board did not have the right mix of skills – not because, as they claimed, they had criticised Cox's leadership.
The Housing Corporation took action after meeting with representatives from the RSL last week and giving approval to the group's plans to carry out an independent review of its governance. The corporation will make two, as yet unnamed, statutory appointments to the board of Places for People, which owns over 50,000 homes.
A spokesperson for the RSL said: "We acknowledge that governance is a challenge to the housing and wider sector and as the largest RSL it is crucial we get it right. We have been and are still in a process of modernisation and we welcome the opportunity to work with the Housing Corporation over the next few months. The day-to-day work of the group continues to receive excellent financial appraisals from our auditors and this intervention will not affect any of our current or proposed developments."
A statement from the corporation said it had not been influenced by group's "financial or development performance".
The boardroom rift between five non-executive directors and Cox emerged earlier this summer.
The five directors complained that the relationship between Cox and the group's chief executive, David Cowans, was too close and that decisions were taken over the heads of other board members.
Two of the five rebels – Alec Burford and Judith Harris-Jones – were subsequently voted off the board at Places for People's annual general meeting last month. Two further non-executive board members – journalist David Walker and restaurateur Prue Leith – resigned in protest.
Walker said: "I'm pleased at the robustness of the corporation's response on an issue that affects all RSLs. The corporation has shown its willingness to be even-handed, that it's prepared to mix it with the big boys as well as the smaller associations."
The corporation's move is expected to cause soul-searching within the sector. Roger Humber, chair of Anglia Housing Group, warned that the sector had to decide what kind of relationship it expected chief executives to have with their boards.
He said: "The NHF needs to take the lead on setting out what we think is the right kind of relationship. Most RSLs would say that they have got the right balance, but Places for People probably thought that, and it seems that they didn't. If associations don't decide they may find the Housing Corporation does if for them."
Source
Housing Today
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