the Community Awards for Excellence Sustainable Housing Awards 2012 – winner, Social housing provider of the year – Innovative approach to green homes award Criticism In the 2010 Inside Housing survey of Chief Executive salaries, Keith Exford, CEO of Affinity Sutton, was highlighted as receiving the highest bonus in the Social housing sector. The Homes and Communities Agency, which regulates social housing in England and Wales, ruled in early 2015 that Circle had breached the 'serious detriment' threshold for harm to consumers for its home repairs, due to "chronic and long standing difficulties in the delivery of the repairs service". Islington Borough Council had served a number of statutory notices on Circle after they had failed to repair homes in the Borough. The problems followed after Circle reduced its pool of contractors from 180 to six, in an attempt to save £100m over ten years. In April 2015, the regulator concluded that the failures stemmed from poor management of the risks, and ultimately, governance: this exceptionally poor provision of repairs and maintenance has been made possible or contributed to by serious and enduring failures in, or in the operation of, Circle’s strategic planning and control framework such that Circle did not adequately manage or mitigate the strategic and operational risks inherent in the delivery of that service In 2021, Kwajo Tweneboa, a 22 year old tenant of the Eastfields Estate in south London started a social media campaign to force the group to do repairs after waiting 18 months in a flat with no ceiling in the main room, mouldy walls, an infestation of vermin, water streaming through light fittings, and asbestos. David Orr, who chaired the Good Home Inquiry, also chairs Clarion Housing Association said "We have been publicly shamed by the quality of some of our homes. We took our eye off the ball. The homes are part of a major regeneration project, and because we've been focusing on the regeneration, we've been less concerned about the quality of the homes on a day-to-day basis." In May 2022 the Housing Ombudsman found the group guilty of "severe maladministration" in two separate cases, finding "serious problems with leaks, damp, mould and pest control" as well as complaints handling. In November 2022, Clarion received a regulatory downgrade from the Regulator of Social Housing. Clarion has had its Viability grading reduced from V1 to V2. See also Social housing Affordable housing