	recent quotes
	"Moody's decision to downgrade the ratings of 29 of the English housing associations by one notch is driven by [...] challenges in the ability of the regulator, the Homes and Communities Agency, to step in and protect these entities and their creditors in extreme situations. The eventual conclusion of the Cosmopolitan Housing Group's merger with Sanctuary Group illustrated the difficulties the regulator faces in ensuring a satisfactory outcome when a HA encounters financial distress. Additionally, a recent discussion document issued by the regulator on proposals to adjust the regulatory framework leads Moody's to be more cautious in its assessment of the likelihood of timely government action. Moody's, downgrade of the credit ratings of 29 English housing associations, 17th May 2013 The bedroom tax will cause huge personal distress. It will cost the nation money and will undermine our view of ourselves as a caring society. It is mean spirited and malign. It attacks family life and is the enemy of aspiration. It will fail to improve the use of our housing and it may not even save money. It is incompetent and unfair and should be repealed. David Orr, National Housing Federation Blog on the "Bedroom Tax", 28th March 2013 "The Government will introduce an expectation on councils to introduce a local residency test in determining who should qualify for social housing. This would mean someone would have to live in an area for say 2 or 5 years before they could even go on the waiting list." David Cameron, Prime Minister Speech on immigration , 25th March 2013

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Welcome to the website of Hargreaves Risk and Strategy.

We are a specialist consultancy and research organisation, working with housing associations, funders and regulators on risk management, strategic planning and control.

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Demographic change: can we keep up?

Between now and 2035, the number of people in the UK aged 85 or over is predicted to increase from 1.4 million to 3.5 million. The increasing number of older people in the population produces both opportunities and threats for social landlords. There are opportunities in terms of new services to support older people to continue living in their own homes but there are threats in terms of the suitability of the stock for people with mobility problems etc. The stock portfolio can be changed only slowly to deal with this, while there are also issues for housing providers in terms of the cost of meeting the pension payments of their retired staff, with these liabilities increasing consistently over time. These demographic changes have profound implications for the future financial strength and business strategy of housing associations.

For more information, see the latest HRS Review.

HRS Review 43 - Strategy, Governance and Regulation

Our publications covering the changes in the sector risk environment, with advice as to how to respond to them, are published monthly. The latest edition was sent to members on 30th May. If you require any additional copies of any of the HRS Reviews, please contact us on 0208 245 0737 or you can download a PDF from the members' area.

2013 Members Conference

Our eighth Members' Conference took place on 28th February at the Institute of Directors in London. In the members' area, you can find the slides and summaries of the presentations from the 2013 Conference.

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