Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to help ensure that almshouse charities are regulated on a basis appropriate to small charities.

Both the Charity Commission and the Regulator of Social Housing have regulatory roles in relation to almshouse charities that are also registered providers of social housing.

Under charity law, the regulatory requirements that apply to charities are proportionate, with smaller charities subject to fewer or less detailed regulatory and transparency requirements. This includes almshouse charities.

Registration with the Regulator of Social Housing is voluntary for almshouse charities, and a number of almshouses do choose to register. Where almshouses are registered with the Regulator of Social Housing, they are required to meet the Regulator’s standards.