We retain our G1/V1 status following a recent in-depth assessment (IDA) undertaken by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).

The purpose of the IDA is for the RSH to test whether we are meeting the expectations of the RSH’s Economic Standards. These include the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, the Rent Standard, and the Value for Money Standard.

• G1 is the highest rating a housing provider can achieve, showing that we meet the RSH’s governance requirements.
• V1 is the highest rating for financial viability, indicating that we meet the RSH’s viability requirements and have the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios.

The IDA process took place between April and June 2022 and involved extensive document submission, roundtables with the Executive Team and Board members and observation of two Board meetings.

This top-ranking assessment from the regulator comes just fifteen months after Brighter Places was established following the merger of Solon and United Communities housing associations.  We currently manage 3,300 homes in Bristol and the surrounding areas and recently secured £40m of funding from Scottish Widows that will underpin our Corporate Strategy 2022-27 commitments to invest in our existing homes and deliver 1,000 new affordable homes over the next five years.

Our Chief Executive Officer, Anna Klimczak said,

“We are delighted with the G1/V1 governance and viability standards assessment from the Regulator of Social Housing just fifteen months after Brighter Places was established.

Although we are a relatively new organisation, we are building on a strong heritage of social housing in Bristol and the surrounding area and have big ambitions and clear commitments to invest in our existing homes to make them more energy efficient, improve customer service and deliver 1,000 much-needed homes over the next five years.

The G1/V1 rating is a big vote of confidence and recognition that we have strength, capacity and resilience in our governance and financial capability that will help us deliver on our promises to our residents, invest in our communities and deliver more affordable homes for people that need them.”