A housing body which receives annual funding of some €10.5 million from the Government and local authorities has been found by regulators to be “non-compliant” with official rules.
The conclusions about Circle Voluntary Housing Association were handed down by the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA), the supervisor of groups such as Circle that receive public funds to provide affordable housing to tenants.
Circle, whose assets had a €376.6 million book valuation in 2024, owns or manages more than 2,600 homes in 16 local authority areas. The organisation provides housing for almost 5,400 people and had debts of €329.8 million at the end of 2024, the last year for which figures are publicly available.
In a short report on Friday, the AHBRA said a statutory assessment of Circle between November 2023 and September 2025 found it be “non-compliant working towards compliance” with regulatory guidelines for approved housing bodies (AHBs).
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Such conclusions mean Circle is not meeting one or more regulatory standards “but has demonstrated or provided evidence that there are satisfactory measures in hand or proposed to be taken to reach compliance”.
“AHBRA will engage with the AHB at agreed intervals to ensure areas of non-compliance are being addressed and a reassessment will follow,” said the regulator’s findings on Circle.
The result reflects slippage in Circle regulatory standards over two years. In a similar AHBRA report in May 2024, Circle was found to be “compliant with improvements” with the same guidelines.
The new AHBRA assessment found Circle was “non-compliant working towards compliance” on three grounds: standards of governance, financial standards and standards of property and asset management.
The regulator declined to elaborate on such findings, which were set out in a same bullet-point format it uses for the results of all statutory assessments it carries out.
“Progress meetings will take place in advance of a formal reassessment,” the regulator said, adding that Circle’s tenancy management standards were “compliant with improvements”.
The housing body acknowledged the findings, saying it was committed to “comprehensively addressing the issues raised” and was engaging constructively with stakeholders.
“Circle has already commenced a number of actions focused on strengthening governance, financial oversight, reporting, assurance and organisational effectiveness. We expect to complete this plan within six months,” Circle said.
“Importantly, we would like to confirm that there is no impact on our tenants, tenancy security, homes or day-to-day housing services. All tenancy and housing services continue to operate as normal and supporting tenants and communities remains Circle’s highest priority.”
It added: “We are working with focus and discipline to ensure the organisation completes this process stronger, more resilient and fully compliant with regulatory standards.”
The new conclusions in relation to Circle are one level better than a more serious finding that the AHBRA can hand down to non-compliant AHBs.
The regulator’s office can issue a “non-compliant statutory action required” finding in cases where standards are not met “and there is no evidence or insufficient evidence” that the housing body is working towards compliance. However, that was not the case in relation to Circle.
