Lewisham (Parliament Politics Magazine) – The Regulator of Social Housing has downgraded Lewisham housing association after inspectors found hundreds of overdue fire‑safety remedial actions.
Phoenix Community Housing Association has received a C2 consumer rating and a G3 governance rating. The organization primarily oversees 7,700 houses in the London Borough of Lewisham.
In August 2024, Phoenix received its most recent financial viability ratings of C1, G2, and V2. In July 2025, it was added to the “gradings under review list.”
The V2 grading is the only one of the three that hasn’t altered since the most recent inspection was published on October 29, 2025.
In addition to failing to guarantee that payment methods and controls were “sufficiently robust,” RSH said that the resident-led housing association did not adhere to governance criteria and that flaws were discovered in the way the Safety and Quality Standard results were delivered.
Phoenix CEO Denise Fowler and Phoenix Chair Gavin Wallen acknowledged that more work needed to be done, but they were determined to continue working with RSH to make sure the housing association thrived “as a resident led Community Gateway.”
Phoenix promised inspectors during the inspection that it will take care of the 230 medium risk FRA remedial measures that were past due by March 2025. Nevertheless, there were 862 past-due actions as of June 2025.
There were 427 past-due actions in Phoenix as of September 16, 2025. According to reports, Phoenix intends to take care of all past-due tasks by May 2026.
When delivering the C2 grading, RSH said:
“While Phoenix takes reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of its tenants and has demonstrated it understands the condition of its homes, improvements are needed to ensure remedial actions from fire risk assessments (FRA) are dealt with in a timely manner.”
They added:
“A combination of vacant board positions, gaps in resourcing and oversight have resulted in Phoenix not providing adequate assurance of the effectiveness of its governance arrangements.
While steps have now been taken to recruit new, suitably skilled and experienced board members and a permanent chair, we will need further assurance to demonstrate that governance changes are effective particularly in relation to board oversight, challenge and scrutiny to ensure Phoenix’s affairs are managed appropriately.”
When issuing the V2 grading, inspectors said Phoenix’s financial plans were consistent, and supported its financial strategy. They went on to say Phoenix has “an adequately funded business plan”, with access to sufficient liquidity and security.
Following the recent gradings, Mr Wallen and Ms Fowler said:
“With a new Chair, strengthened Board, our excellent staff team and our exceptionally high resident satisfaction and engagement, we can address the issues identified in this judgement. Our financial position also remains strong.
We are committed to working with the regulator to ensure that Phoenix continues to thrive as a resident led Community Gateway, delivering on our vision that ‘Together, we are building a better future for our Phoenix Community’.”
How does this downgrade affect tenants’ rights and complaint routes?
The downgrade signifies that the casing provider isn’t meeting the needed norms for safety, repairs, and tenant communication, leading to stricter oversight, obligatory enhancement plans, and implicit warrants if norms aren’t met.
The controller’s findings emphasize that tenants should anticipate fair, timely, and effective response mechanisms. A downgrade generally signifies former poor performance, which may mean that tenants find it more delicate to secure resolution and protections unless the provider demonstrates significant enhancement.
As part of oversight, tenants might have strengthened protections, similar as the right to escalate undetermined complaints directly to the casing Ombudsman or involve the controller more directly if their safety and living conditions aren’t addressed adequately.
