On 2 July 2019, there was published on legislation.gov.uk, The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Order 2019. This Order inserts a new Article 36FA in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (RAO).

This introduces a new exclusion from the ambit of Article 36A, which specifies credit broking as a regulated activity, for introductions by registered social landlords and housing associations (RSLs) of individuals who seek to enter into a credit agreement to social and community lenders, in particular: credit unions; community benefit societies; community interest companies limited by guarantee; registered charities; subsidiaries of registered charities, and subsidiaries of registered social landlords which are made on a fee free basis. The Order enables RSLs to effect fee-free referrals to tenants, or potential tenants, to these social and community lenders without requiring authorisation from the FCA. This amendment was announced at Autumn Budget 2018 and aims to facilitate increased access to alternatives to high cost lenders.

The Order comes into force on 23 July 2019