The Housing Corporation Comments On The Collapse Of Ujima

The Housing Corporation has welcomed the publication today of the report of the independent Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the collapse of Ujima Housing Association.

Peter Dixon, Chairman of the Housing Corporation said: "The Housing Corporation Board is determined that we should properly understand the circumstances surrounding Ujima's insolvency. We - and the sector more widely - should learn lessons from what occurred. This report reinforces the importance of strong governance and effective financial management within housing associations. And it provides a firm basis for ensuring that the future regulation of the housing association sector is as robust and effective as possible.

"We note from the conclusion of the report that the primary responsibility for Ujima's collapse was its own bad management and ineffective Board, but that it is possible that Ujima might have been able to avoid insolvency, or at least have had more time in which to exercise choice and consult with its tenants and stakeholders in reaching a solution to its problems, had the Corporation intervened at an earlier stage.


"We welcome the report's recognition of the Corporation's success in acting swiftly to ensure that - when Ujima went into insolvency - no tenants lost their homes, no tax payers' money was lost and lenders were successfully protected."

The report highlights areas where the Housing Corporation could have acted differently in the way it dealt with Ujima, in particular in relation to the speed with which it took regulatory action in late 2006 and early 2007, and more generally in relation to the handling of allegations and the Corporation's approach to dealing with an unco-operative RSL. It also highlights the new, more graduated, regulatory powers that will be exercised by the Tenant Services Authority, which might have provided a wider range of possible interventions, had they been available to the Housing Corporation at the time.

Steven Douglas, Chief Executive of the Housing Corporation, who ordered the review, has already put in place a number of changes since Ujima to address these issues, which have been endorsed by the report.

"We are determined to learn the lessons from this independent Inquiry, and welcome the Inquiry report's endorsement of the changes we have made to our systems and processes in the light of our experience handling Ujima."

(CD/JM)