Cheshire West and Chester Council said it is ‘seeking assurances’ from the housing firm which manages thousands of its properties, after a government watchdog raised ‘serious concerns' about the way it is governed.

The Regulator of Social Housing has downgraded ForHousing’s governance score from G2 to G3, which means it feels there are ‘issues of serious regulatory concern’.

ForHousing manages 5,500 homes on behalf of Cheshire West and Chester Council in Ellesmere Port, Neston and Winsford, but looks after a total of 23,200 social housing properties across seven councils.

In its judgement, the Regulator of Social Housing - an executive non-departmental body sponsored by the  Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities - said: “Decision-making within the group has and continues to result in challenging circumstances, giving rise to a number of potential and ongoing financial, reputational and organisational risks to crystallise and for the current ForHousing board to manage.

“Therefore, the regulator does not consider ForHousing to have effective governance to deliver its aims, objectives and intended outcomes for tenants in an effective, transparent and accountable manner. Nor has it managed its affairs with an appropriate degree of skill, independence, diligence effectiveness, prudence and foresight.”

A Cheshire West and Chester Council spokesman, said: “We are committed to providing an excellent service to our tenants. We are aware of the outcome of Regulator of Social Housing’s assessment of ForHousing’s governance.

“We are seeking assurances that the change in governance grading will have no impact on Cheshire West and Chester tenants.”

Paul Kennedy, chairman of the ForHousing Board, said: “We fully accept and understand the outcome of the regulatory assessment, which has concluded that the group structure and legacy decisions have impacted on some outcomes for ForHousing.

“The current board and executive team remain committed to work with the regulator to learn from the judgement and continue to make improvements, building on positive changes that have already been made.

“The regulator’s assessment of ForHousing’s compliance with financial viability remains at V1. We are financially secure and able to deliver our business plan.

“The change in our governance rating does not impact on our ability to provide quality services. We will continue to work in partnership to positively impact the lives of social housing tenants”.