On 7 October the regulator gave Heylo Housing Registered Provider its lowest grades for governance and financial viability, G4* and V4*. It cited "material risks around" the landlord’s ability to continue to operate. Jonathan Walters, the regulator’s chief executive, said Heylo’s failure to make the required changes "is unacceptable" and had "placed public funds, investor funds and the reputation of the sector at risk."
The landlord itself is not in administration. The homes are held in separate investment companies, known as pods, which own the properties, borrow from investors and receive government grant. The landlord holds long leases from the pods, a managing agent passes all the rent through to them, and the landlord’s own funding depends on contracts with its unregistered parent, Heylo Housing Group Limited.
The regulator warned about this structure in December 2022. It found that a deterioration in a group company "could trigger a requirement" for the landlord to surrender its leases, and that the landlord "has effectively ceded control of its social housing assets to the investment pods." It also found weak arrangements for the landlord to be consulted on investment decisions, inadequate oversight of its managing agent, and no clear framework of roles and delegation for its board. It graded Heylo non compliant, at G3* and V3*.
Heylo argued that the regulator should have counted "the £1bn of assets held by the wider Heylo Housing Group", which it said would have made it "compliant on viability." Andrew Geczy, then its chief executive, said "governance issues have all been addressed since."
In April 2024 the regulator accepted a voluntary undertaking from Heylo covering governance, financial viability and value for money. It was still running when investors in two pods called an event of default and demanded full repayment. The companies could not pay. PwC was appointed administrator of three Pod 1 companies and the Pod 5 company on 12 March 2026, and of a fourth Pod 1 company on 18 March.
The October judgement found that an independent review had identified "a lack of adequate controls in place between entities within the group." The landlord’s board knew the gap remained and had not adequately dealt with it. The board was not told of the default in a timely way. The regulator concluded that the undertaking had not been delivered and could not be delivered in its current form.
Because the homes, debt and grant sit outside the registered landlord, the homes do not have the statutory insolvency protections that apply when a registered provider holds them directly. The regulator says recovery of Homes England grant may be affected. According to the administrators’ proposals, as reported by Inside Housing, the two pods owe £584.8 million: £528.5 million to secured creditors, including BlackRock, and £56.3 million unsecured. Homes England is owed £52.7 million.
PwC says shared owners keep their ownership shares and their leases "remain legally valid." It intends to stabilise the portfolios and then "maximise value" through "an orderly sales process", acting "in the interests of all creditors." The regulator says it has no formal role in the administration. The administrators now make decisions about the homes, including whether to require the landlord to surrender its leases.
Heylo’s route into the regulated sector meant its arrangements were never tested at the door. It bought an existing registered provider, Three Conditions Ltd, in January 2017, so it did not go through registration as a new provider, and its business plan and governance were not assessed.
Companies House records show who sat on the landlord’s board over the period. Nick Raynsford, the former Labour minister for local and regional government, was a director from April 2017 to 15 July 2022, the month the regulator placed Heylo’s gradings under review. Lord Adonis, the Labour peer, was a director from January 2022 to January 2025, covering the 2022 judgement and the undertaking. Andrew Geczy was a director from October 2021 until 19 March 2026. He was one of three directors who left within a week of the first administrations, with Tim Willcocks on 14 March and Thomas Nicholson on 16 March. Willcocks was reappointed on 8 July and left again on 30 September with Ommasalma Shah, a week before the downgrade.
The two remaining directors are Jason Green, appointed in June 2024, and Wendy Colgrave, appointed in July 2026. Heylo names Green as chair and Colgrave as chair of its Audit and Risk Committee. Green was also a director of the parent company, Heylo Housing Group Limited, from February 2025 to April 2026. Heylo says its board is responsible for "significant operational matters" and ensures "an adequate system of internal control is in place." The regulator’s findings concern the board collectively and make no finding against any individual director.
Heylo Housing Secured Bond said on 7 October that the landlord accepts the judgement.
The regulator says grades this low would normally lead to immediate enforcement. It is holding back because the landlord has so little control over its own homes. Heylo’s plans to keep services running if the current arrangements fail are progressing slowly, with no date for when they will be in place. Any change needs the consent of the parent company and the pods, so the landlord’s board cannot make it alone.