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Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C2 Our judgement is that there are some weaknesses in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed.	First grading	July 2026
Governance	G2 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements but needs to improve some aspects of its governance arrangements to support continued compliance.	Downgrade	July 2026
Viability	V1 Our judgement is that the landlord meets our viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios.	Assessed and unchanged	July 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Durham Aged Mineworkers’ Homes Association (DAMHA) following an inspection completed in July 2026.

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C2, a governance downgrade to G2 and a financial viability grade of V1.

Prior to this regulatory judgement, the governance and financial viability grades for DAMHA were last updated in December 2025 following a stability check to confirm a G1 grade for governance and a V1 grade for financial viability. This is the first time we have issued a consumer grade in relation to this landlord.

In this regulatory judgement, we use ‘tenant’ to mean ‘tenants and other occupiers of social housing which includes licensees and shared owners’, as set out in Regulating the Standards.

Summary of the decision

From the assurance gained during the inspection, based on the evidence provided by DAMHA, it is our judgement that there are some weaknesses in how DAMHA is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed, specifically in relation to outcomes in our Safety and Quality Standard and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C2 grade for DAMHA.

Our judgement is that DAMHA meets our governance requirements but needs to improve some aspects of its governance arrangements to support continued compliance, specifically in relation to the quality of board reporting to enable effective oversight, succession planning, and board effectiveness. Based on this assessment we have concluded a downgrade to G2 for DAMHA.

Our judgement is that DAMHA meets our financial viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios. DAMHA has a strong financial profile, and its financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. It has an adequately funded business plan, sufficient security in place, is effectively managing its treasury arrangements to deliver its strategy and is forecast to continue to meet its financial covenants under a wide range of adverse scenarios. We saw evidence that DAMHA’s board has effective oversight of loan covenant compliance and forecast financial performance is strong.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of DAMHA to assess how well it is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and meeting our governance and financial viability requirements, as part of our planned regulatory inspection programme. During the inspection, we considered all four of the consumer standards: Neighbourhood and Community Standard, Safety and Quality Standard, Tenancy Standard, and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.

During the inspection we observed a board meeting and a tenant scrutiny panel, spoke with tenants, held meetings with DAMHA including its non-executive directors, and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by DAMHA.

Our regulatory judgement is based on a review of all the relevant information we obtained during the inspection as well as analysis of information supplied by DAMHA in its regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C2 – July 2026

In relation to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard there are weaknesses in relation to tenant engagement, service and performance information and diverse needs. DAMHA is unable to evidence that it clearly and consistently considers tenants’ views in decision making about how landlord services are delivered. A new resident engagement strategy had recently been to board however, we saw little evidence that tenants were meaningfully involved in the development of the strategy. There is limited evidence of tenants being able to influence and scrutinise at a strategic level or of outcomes for tenants being delivered in an effective, transparent and accountable way.

We saw evidence that DAMHA treats its tenants with fairness and respect, though there are weaknesses in its approach to diverse needs and ensuring its services are fair and equitable to tenants. We saw limited evidence of DAMHA providing accessible information about performance and landlord services to its tenants. DAMHA needs to improve how it uses the information it holds about its tenants to tailor services to meet individual needs.

We have identified weaknesses in DAMHA’s approach to complaints handling. We lack assurance that DAMHA records all complaints, and we have seen limited evidence of learning from complaints.

We gained assurance that DAMHA is delivering the outcomes required in relation to the Safety and Quality Standard, although there are some improvements required. DAMHA has evidenced that it has a good understanding of the condition of its homes through physical surveys of almost all its homes over the last two years, with plans in place to keep this information up to date. DAMHA has demonstrated compliance with the Decent Homes Standard and that it meets legal requirements relating to the health and safety of tenants in their homes, although improvements are needed around the management and reporting of asbestos.

We gained assurance that DAMHA delivers an effective, efficient and timely repairs service for its tenants, though reporting to board needs improvement to ensure the board has clear oversight of performance. DAMHA’s damp mould and condensation performance is reasonable, although as with repairs, reporting to the board needs improvement. We gained assurance that DAMHA assists tenants seeking housing adaptations to access appropriate services, although the information to tenants could be clearer.

In relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, DAMHA has evidenced that it works in partnership with appropriate organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents. However, DAMHA needs to improve the information available to tenants on its approach to anti-social behaviour and to hate incidents and provide clarity to tenants on how to report issues.  

We will continue to actively engage with DAMHA to monitor its progress in improving its delivery of the outcomes of our consumer standard.

Governance – G2 – July 2026

Based on the evidence gained from the inspection, we gained assurance that DAMHA’s governance arrangements are meeting the requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard. However, DAMHA needs to improve some aspects of its governance arrangements.

The inspection identified weaknesses in board reporting on delivery of the corporate strategy and evidence that the board and executive do not have sufficient oversight of some key risk areas. Performance reporting covers only a limited range of targets, restricting the ability of the board and other stakeholders to assess strategic performance. Board reporting is insufficient to enable effective scrutiny of landlord health and safety compliance, damp and mould, and repairs.

DAMHA’s board and executive are committed to delivering services to its tenants but there are limited ways for the board to hear feedback from tenants and utilise this to shape services.

The board has a reasonable range of skills and experience aligned to the services it delivers. However, DAMHA needs to strengthen board capacity and ensure that an effective and strategic board succession plan is in place in the context of potential challenges in board member recruitment. DAMHA has clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities within its leadership and governance structure. It has periodic governance effectiveness reviews, most recently in 2025, and we saw some evidence that the recommendations from this were being actioned. However, progress against these is taking longer than expected.

DAMHA has a risk management and control framework aligned to its strategic aims and sector risks. We saw evidence through our board observation and meetings with non-executive directors and the executive team, that there is an understanding of the risks facing the organisation and the controls in place to mitigate them.

However, DAMHA needs to strengthen its approach by giving risk more prominence at board level through improved reporting so that the board can provide sufficient challenge and oversight of the risks to delivering its strategic objectives.

Through the inspection we found that there is evidence of effective oversight of DAMHA’s financial position and effectiveness of governance in managing its viability risks. We saw evidence of board ownership and understanding of stress testing and mitigation strategies and gained assurance that stress testing is aligned with wider business planning and includes consideration of emerging risks.

We will continue to actively engage with DAMHA to monitor its progress in improving its delivery of the outcomes of our governance standard.

Viability – V1 – July 2026

Based on the evidence gained from the inspection, we have assurance that DAMHA meets the viability requirements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard.

DAMHA’s financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. DAMHA has evidenced that it has an adequately funded business plan, sufficient security in place to support its financial plans, and forecasts that it will continue to meet its financial covenants under a wide range of adverse scenarios. Since our previous assessment, DAMHA’s financial performance and resilience has strengthened.

We have assurance that DAMHA’s board has effective oversight of loan covenant compliance and there is evidence of strong levels of forecast headroom with no reliance on sales income. DAMHA forecasts strong loan covenant interest cover, while continuing to deliver its development programme and invest in existing homes. The board must continue to develop its understanding of costs and liabilities in relation to net zero carbon.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

DAMHA is an almshouse and charitable company operating across County Durham. DAMHA owns and manages around 1,800 homes.

DAMHA has no subsidiaries but acts as the Corporate Trustee for five smaller almshouses and endowments and manages three independent almshouse charities.

Based on audited accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025, DAMHA’s turnover was £10,173,000 and it employed 29 full-time equivalent staff. DAMHA intends to deliver 190 new homes over the next 10 years.

Our role and regulatory approach

We regulate for a viable, efficient, and well governed social housing sector able to deliver quality homes and services for current and future tenants.  

We regulate at the landlord level to drive improvement in how landlords operate. By landlord we mean a registered provider of social housing. These can either be local authorities, or private registered providers (other organisations registered with us such as non-profit housing associations, co-operatives, or profit-making organisations). 

We set standards which state outcomes that landlords must deliver. The outcomes of our standards include both the required outcomes and specific expectations we set. Where we find there are significant failures in landlords which we consider to be material to the landlord’s delivery of those outcomes, we hold them to account. Ultimately this provides protection for tenants’ homes and services and achieves better outcomes for current and future tenants. It also contributes to a sustainable sector which can attract strong investment. 

We have a different role for regulating local authorities than for other landlords. This is because we have a narrower role for local authorities and the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, and Value for Money Standard do not apply. Further detail on which standards apply to different landlords can be found on our standards page. 

We assess the performance of landlords through inspections and by reviewing data that landlords are required to submit to us. In Depth Assessments (IDAs) were one of our previous assessment processes, which are now replaced by our inspections programme from 1 April 2024. We also respond where there is an issue or a potential issue that may be material to a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our standards. We publish regulatory judgements that describe our view of landlords’ performance with our standards. We also publish grades for landlords with more than 1,000 social housing homes. 

The Housing Ombudsman deals with individual complaints. When individual complaints are referred to us, we investigate if we consider that the issue may be material to a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our standards.  

For more information about our approach to regulation, please see Regulating the Standards.

Further information

• Regulating the standards
• Regulatory standards for landlords

Related documents

• Decent Homes Standard