Chris Mansfield has thirty years of experience in the housing association sector, with more than twenty years as a consultant focussing on risk management and financial planning.  He has a strong background in research in the sector, having produced regular updates on developments affecting the sector throughout his consultancy career, together with guidance on how to respond to changes in the sector environment.  He also has considerable experience in working with boards and executive teams on various aspects of risk management.

His work has included:

• Supporting boards to produce comprehensive risk appetite statements, including developing an appropriate questionnaire, analysing the results, producing a draft document, and engaging with board members to resolve areas where there is a difference of opinion
• Reviewing the risk registers of housing associations to identify gaps, opportunities for simplification, and to verify that the risk assessments are reasonable
• Reviewing draft financial plans to assess the balance between risk capacity and risk exposure, and working with associations to refine those plans to maximise the social benefit delivered while maintaining a reasonable level of financial headroom
• Assessing various aspects of the risk management framework of housing associations to ensure quality, coverage and consistency – this includes risk management policies, risk appetite statements, risk reporting, stress testing, development appraisal processes and correspondence between the CEO’s report and the strategic risk register
• Maintaining and developing the credit assessment model for a major lender to the sector
• Developing software systems for housing associations to hold their risk management data and to provide reports with different levels of detail and coverage to meet the needs of different audiences
• Drafting and maintaining the Sector Risk Overview document for the social housing regulator in Wales.

 Key areas of work:

Risk management / Risk reporting / Financial planning