North Belfast Housing Association Limited Annual report and Financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024
Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of North Belfast Housing Association Limited
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of North Belfast Housing Association Limited for the year ended 31 March 2024, which comprise the Statement of Comprehensive Income, Statement of Financial Position, Statement of Changes in Reserves, Statement of Cashflows and Notes to the Financial Statements including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 - 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) and the Statement of Recommended Practice for Social Housing Providers issued by the National Housing Federation.
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In our opinion the financial statements:
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give a true and fair view of the state of the company's affairs as at 31 March 2024 and of its surplus for the year then ended;
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have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
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have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the requirements of the Co-operative and Community Benefits Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 (formerly the Industrial and Provident Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969), the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008, The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 and the Registered Housing Associations (Accounting Requirements) Order (Northern Ireland) 1993.
Basis of Opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Conclusions relating to going concern
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where:
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the Board of Management's use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is not appropriate; or
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the Board of Management have not disclosed in the financial statements any identified material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the Association’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from the date when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Other information
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
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North Belfast Housing Association Limited Annual report and Financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024
Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of North Belfast Housing Association Limited
In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Responsibilities of the Board of Management
As explained more fully in the Board of Management responsibilities statement the Board of Management are is responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Board of Management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the Board of Management is responsible for assessing the Association's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting, unless the Board of Management either intend to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
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We identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected have a material effect on the financial statements from our sector experiences through discussion the Board of Management and other management (as required by auditing standards).
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We had regard to laws and regulations in areas that directly affect the financial statements including financial reporting and taxation legislation. We considered the extent of compliance with those laws and regulations as apart of our procedures on the related financial statement items.
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With the exception of any known or possible non-compliance, and as required by auditing standards, our work in respect was limited to enquiry of the Board of Management.
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We communicated applicable laws and regulations throughout our audit team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit.
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We addressed the risk of fraud through management override of controls, by testing the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.
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North Belfast Housing Association Limited Annual report and Financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024
Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of North Belfast Housing Association Limited
- Our audit procedures were designed to respond to risks of material misstatement in the financial statements, recognising that the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery, misrepresentations or through collusion. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures performed and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we are to become aware of it.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
Other required reporting
Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 exception reporting
Under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969, we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:
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A satisfactory system of control over transactions has not been maintained; or
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We have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
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Proper accounting records have not been kept by the association; or
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The financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records.
We have no exceptions to report arising from this responsibility.
Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 exception reporting
Under the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:
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Sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or
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The financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records; or
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We have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
We have no exceptions to report arising from this responsibility.
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North Belfast Housing Association Limited Annual report and Financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024
Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of North Belfast Housing Association Limited
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the Board of Management, in accordance with Article 38 of the Co-Operative and Community Benefit Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 (formerly the Industrial and Provident Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969). Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Board of Management those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Board of Management and the Association as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
...................................... Ross Boyd Ross Boyd (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of RBCA Limited, Statutory Auditor
Linenhall Exchange 26 Linenhall Street Belfast BT2 8BG
27 Aug 2024 Date:.............................
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