TC Young Solictors

What we do

Governance and Regulation

In recent years the nature of organisations within the social housing sector has changed significantly.  Housing associations in particular have:

• Grown in size
• Extended their remits in the communities they serve
• Merged to form larger organisations
• Developed legal binding partnerships with a diverse range of public and private bodies.

We have worked with the sector on all aspects of these changes and have advised a large number of organisations on the review and evolution of their structures and constitution.  Our focus is to provide the best possible strategic advice.  It is clear that for Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) structure review must be an ongoing process as they seek to adjust to meet the changing environment in which they operate.

TC Young is recognised as leading the field in terms of rules and group structures for housing associations and we worked with SFHA on the development of detailed guidance on the implications of the 2003 model rules and are currently involved in the work to develop an updated model.
Charitable status has become a requirement for most RSLs.  We benefit from having within our team Mark Ewing who is recognised by the Law Society of Scotland as a charity law specialist.  Our considerable experience of working with the charity sector, gained over many years, can benefit our RSL clients as they seek to ensure that they undertake their various activities in a way which does not conflict with their charitable status.  We have a strong working relationship with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and have been involved in their internal staff training scheme.

The push towards diversification within the social housing sector inevitably involves the creation of subsidiary companies.  These may be required because of the nature of the business that is to be undertaken by the subsidiary:  it may be inherently risky, does not fit with charitable status or may be a joint venture.  Our experience of these vehicles, particularly in the housing sector, is significant. In the social housing context the role and nature of RSL committees has changed significantly. Many committees have a wider commercial remit and committees consequently have to make tough strategic, financial and commercial decisions.  Effective governance is often at the heart of effective management.

Our approach is to work closely with our clients to consider a range of the challenges associated with effective governance.  We recognise that there are no standard solutions but we do know that there are recurrent themes associated with governance.  Our role is to bring our wealth of experience and our understanding of the dynamics of each individual committee and board to steer clients towards effective workable solutions.

Our work on governance issues is often closely aligned with structure review.

The firm currently:

• Provides training and advice on governance issues
• Works with clients to find practical solutions when they face challenges associated with working with committees
• Advises clients on the implications of their rules in terms of committee governance
• Assists committees to understand their roles and responsibilities and the impact that their strategic decisions have on the future of the organisation