Newsletters

Government Publishes New Homelessness Strategy

In December 2025 the government published its long-awaited Homelessness strategy A National Plan to End Homelessness. This cross-departmental strategy aims to move from a system providing emergency relief to one that focusses on prevention through earlier and more effective interventions before the crisis point is reached.

However, given the scale of the current crisis, the immediate priority is to tackle existing backlogs, eliminating the use of unlawful Bed and Breakfast (B&B) for families, tackling poor quality temporary accommodation and reducing the number of long-term rough sleepers.

Longer term the plan has ambitious aims to move resources to focus on prevention, with earlier interventions and support to prevent homelessness before it happens. By tackling the underlying drivers of homelessness, the strategy aims to ensure that where homelessness occurs, it is a brief experience and not part of a repeating cycle.

The government’s plan to end homelessness has been developed around 5 Key Policy Pillars:

Pillar 1: Universal Prevention

This part of the strategy aims to tackle structural and systemic root causes of homelessness, in particular housing affordability and poverty. By improving housing supply and economic resilience the strategy will reduce the risk of homelessness for everyone.

Policy Measures include:

• Investment in social and affordable housing to increase supply and address current shortages
• A commitment to review social housing allocation policies to ensure available social housing reaches the people who need it most.
• Reform of the Private Rented Sector.
• Employment, training and earnings initiatives to build greater financial resilience.
• A full review of homelessness and supported housing funding including £124m new funding investment in supported housing services.

However, the strategy has been criticised as it does not  address barriers to accessing the private rented sector caused by the ongoing freeze on LHA rates.

Pillar 2: Targeted Prevention

Here the strategy addresses the issue of support for people at higher risk of homelessness because of difficult life experiences or crises, for example care leavers, prison leavers, people being discharged from hospital, refugees and migrants. Targeted prevention involves tailored support to people who are more likely to face homelessness.

Policy Measures include:

• Cross- government targets to reduce the numbers of people leaving institutions into homelessness, for example prisons, hospitals, care settings and asylum accommodation
• A new ‘duty to collaborate’ compelling public services to work together to prevent homelessness for those at crisis point.

Pillar 3: Preventing Crisis

Moving funding away from crisis responses is central to the strategy, in particular helping people stay in their homes through early personalised interventions to prevent homelessness. A key issue for councils will be the resources required to deliver these new expectations and responsibilities.

Policy Measures include:

• A direction to local authority homelessness services to prioritise encouraging people to seek help as early as possible. There is recognition that this will require a culture change away from discouraging people from making homelessness applications.
• A new national target to increase the proportion of households who are supported to stay in their own home or helped to find alternative accommodation.

Pillar 4: Improving Emergency Responses

Here the focus is on improving temporary accommodation and making people’s experience better if they do become homeless. In the longer-term, the aspiration to shift from crisis response to prevention should reduce pressure in this area.

Policy Measures include:

• A target to end the use of B&Bs for families within this parliament, except for very short-term emergency use.
• Commitment spend £950million on a fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) enabling local authorities to purchase properties for Temporary Accommodation (TA) use.
• A Temporary Accommodation Toolkit to improve council sourcing and procurement of TA, and ensuring nightly paid TA is used appropriately.
• Applying the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law to TA (where possible).
• A new £30m Emergency Accommodation Reduction Programme to tackle poor practice including use of B&B and unsuitable out-of-area placements.

Pillar 5: Recovery and Preventing Repeat Homelessness

Here the focus is on ensuring people receive the right support, so don’t experience homelessness more than once. There is a new target to halve long-term rough sleeping within this Parliament.

Policy Measures include:

• A new £15m Long-Term Rough Sleeping Innovation Programme to enable councils with the greatest pressures to deliver more personalised and comprehensive support for people with complex needs.
• Introduction of Long-term Rough Sleeping Partnership Plans for areas with high long-term levels of rough sleeping.
• £37m funding for the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund.
• Improving health access for people experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping, ensuring full alignment with the 10-Year Health Plan for England and the Men’s Health Strategy.

Planning Consultation – Overview of Proposed Reforms

The government has launched a consultation on a broad set of planning reforms including significant changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The changes are intended to support the government commitment to delivering 1.5million new homes in this Parliament alongside achieving economic growth and progressing plans to accelerate the shift to net zero. The main areas impacting housing providers are:

A permanent presumption in favour of suitably located development.

As part of a more rules-based approach to development, the presumption in favour of development would be applied to a much wider range of circumstances. The aim is to provide clarity on what developments are acceptable in principle in different locations, for example, making development of suitable land in urban areas acceptable by default.

Building homes around stations.

Default in principle support for suitable proposals that develop land around rail stations within existing settlements, and around ‘well-connected’ train stations outside settlements, including on Green Belt land. Minimum dwelling densities proposed around ‘well-connected’ stations to maximising opportunities for sustainable development and make the most of high levels of connectivity.

Driving urban and suburban densification.

A number of changes aim to support higher density development in sustainable locations, with good access to services. For example, support for redevelopment of low-density plots in urban and suburban areas, upward extensions and infill development – including within residential curtilages. Other measures support an overall increase in density within settlements.

Securing a diverse mix of homes.

Using the planning system to provide stronger support for rural, social and affordable housing, and setting clearer expectations for accessible housing to meet the needs of older and disabled people

Supporting small and medium sites.

A new category of ‘medium development’ is to be introduced linked to a range of policy and regulatory changes, to support a more streamlined and proportionate planning approach. The government is also considering the potential benefits and drawbacks of enabling developers to discharge social and affordable housing requirements through cash contributions in lieu of direct delivery.

Streamlining local standards.

To promote certainty for applicants and speed up local plan production quantitative standards in development plans will be limited to specific issues where local variation is justified. It is also proposed to limit duplication where issues are covered by the Building Regulations.

The consultation closes on 10^th March 2026.

Tackling ‘No Access’ Challenges and Awaab’s Law

Recent Publications

Moving the deckchairs? Social housing allocations in England – December 2025

This report from Crisis, Heriot-Watt University, and the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence investigated how social housing is allocated by housing associations. The findings highlight that affordability issues are preventing access to social housing for some low-income groups in England.

Recommendations include increasing housing supply for social rent; removing barriers to accessing social housing for households on low incomes and for people experiencing homelessness; addressing unmet support needs; and improving communication flows between local authorities and housing associations.

‘You can’t bid because you’re in the red’ – December 2025

This report published by CIH, King’s College London and Oxford Brookes University sets out how housing related debt rules included in allocations policies act to limit the ability of domestic abuse survivors to find a safe home. The report provides guidance for social housing providers looking to improve support for domestic abuse survivors at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

Homelessness in England 2025 – Shelter – December 2025

This report sets out the scale of recorded homelessness in England on a given night in 2025 and includes a breakdown by region and local authority area.

Learning From Repairs – Housing Ombudsman – December 2025

This report urges housing providers to ‘see the person behind the repair’, emphasising the need for a more person-focused repairs service connecting the household’s circumstances to the condition of the property.

Meetings and Events

• CWAG Inspection Feedback Meeting  – Wednesday 14^th January 2026 (10.00 – 11.30)  Teams

The meeting will be a panel type discussion with representatives from councils that have recently been subject to an RSH inspection. The event is an opportunity to hear first hand from CWAG members on the inspection  experience as well as key learning around the process.

• CWAG Finance and Business Planning Meeting – Thursday 29th January 2026 (10.00 – 13.00)

Steve Partridge – Savills Director of Housing Consultancy will be leading this event for finance officers and others with an interest in HRA strategy and business planning.

To book places to attend either of the above events, please contact the CWAG Policy Officer.

Renters Rights Act – Implementation and Timescales

The Renter’s Rights Act 2025 has now completed its passage through Parliament and received Royal Assent. This legislation aims to deliver a series of important reforms to the Private Rented Sector (PRS) in England. The Government has published a roadmap setting out the timeline and arrangements for implementing the measures set out in the legislation. There are different implementation phases as follows:

Phase 1 –  will come into effect on 1 May 2026:

• Abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions – landlords in the PRS will no longer be able to use Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to evict their tenants.

• Introduction of Assured Periodic Tenancies for new and existing tenancies in the PRS. This will effectively bring an end to fixed term tenancies, and allow tenants to remain in a rented property for as long as they want, or until the landlord serves a valid Section 8 Notice. Tenants will be able to give two months’ notice to end a tenancy.

• Reformed possession grounds come into effect to make it easier for landlords to evict tenants who commit anti-social behaviour, or who are in serious persistent rent arrears.

• Stronger protections against unfair rent increases. Rent increases will be limited to once per year in the PRS, with a requirement to give at least two months’ notice before the increase is due to take effect.

• Ban on rental bidding and payment of more than one month’s rent in advance.

• It will be illegal to discriminate against renters who have children or are in receipt of benefits. This includes withholding information about a property (including its availability), stopping someone from viewing it, or refusing to grant a tenancy.

• Landlords in the PRS will be required to consider tenant requests to rent with a pet, with a requirement to respond to requests within 28 days, including a valid reason for refusal.

• Strengthened local council enforcement & rent repayment orders

Phase 2 – will apply from late 2026:

• Introduction of a Database for PRS landlords including mandatory landlord registration and payment of an annual fee.
• A PRS Landlord Ombudsman will be set up following the introduction of the Database. This will be funded by landlords and membership will be mandatory. The Ombudsman rollout will take place in stages:
  •   Stage 1: Scheme administrator appointed (12–18 months before implementation)
  •  Stage 2: Landlords required to join (expected by 2028)
• Abolition of section 21 for the social rented sector.

Phase 3 – will apply from 2027 and subject to further consultations:

• Introduction of the Decent Homes Standard (DHS) in PRS.

• Further powers for local authorities to take enforcement action if DHS not met.

• Requirements for PRS properties to meet EPC C or equivalent by 2030 (subject to exemptions).

• Implementation of the review of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

• Extension of Awaab’s Law to PRS.

Funding for councils

Local housing authorities will receive an additional £18.2 million in 2025/26, to fund familiarisation and preparation costs and staff recruitment. Funding allocations will be based on the number of private rented sector properties in each local authority area using 2021 census data. New burdens funding allocation for 2026/27 will be confirmed in early 2026.

Enforcement

New investigatory powers will come into effect giving local councils a stronger ability to inspect properties, demand documents, access third-party data and enforce housing standards more effectively. These new powers will  come into effect on 27 December 2025.

Support

MHCLG is signposting support via ‘Operation Jigsaw’ a cross-local council initiative funded by MHCLG to deliver a programme of training, webinars and resources to help local council officers understand their new responsibilities and be ready to enforce them.

MHCLG has also written to all local authority chief executive regarding implementation arrangements.

Links to guidance documents:

Launch of Social and Affordable Homes Programme

Homes England has published a policy statement and guidance setting out changes to their approach in the new Social and Affordable Homes programme (SAHP) 2026 -2036. This includes several new features and flexibilities designed to support the delivery of the Government’s 1.5 million homes target.

Headlines

• A key priority is to maximise the supply of Social Rent homes, with a target to deliver at least 60% of the homes under the programme as Social Rent. The remainder will be available for other tenures including Shared Ownership and Affordable Rent (and Intermediate Rent in London).

• Numerical targets and standard grant rates for different programmes and types of housing will be replaced by a more flexible approach to ensure that the properties built reflect priority need, including property types and locations where it is more expensive to build.

• Standard grant rates are to be replaced by a value for money assessment of bids based on their particular circumstances and the minimum grant necessary to meet the gap between the cost of building and the funds that can be raised by providers.

• SAHP funding will be available for estate regeneration projects, providing a funding route for older housing reaching the end of its life.

• The programme will allow for a limited number of acquisitions, specifically allowing councils to quickly increase stock in response to local pressures, for example, high levels of homelessness and temporary accommodation usage.

• £5.5 million in revenue funding is available through the Council Housebuilding Support Fund to build capacity in councils and increase their rate of housing delivery.

• Changes to the funding rules will enable the combination of different income streams into new housing investments. For example, from 2026 to 2027, councils will be able to combine Right to Buy receipts with grant from the Social and Affordable Homes Programme. No limit will be placed on the level of Right to Buy receipts that can be used and the option to mix receipts with grant aims to increase the viability of councils’ bids.

• £2.5 billion of low-interest loans will be available to private registered providers over four years (2026-2030) to support the delivery of new social and affordable housing. Loans will be administered by the National Housing Bank and the GLA and awarded through a bidding process closely aligned with the SAHP.

• The Government is strengthening expectations on providers to work with local authorities to ensure homes built under the SAHP are allocated to those most in need. For homes funded under the programme there is an expectation that 100% of first lettings will subject to local authority nomination rights.

Bidding Arrangements

The programme is expected to open for bidding in February 2026 with several bidding route options available:

Strategic Partnerships (SP)

Multi-year funding agreements available to some larger providers to support pipeline of affordable homes at scale.

Continuous Market Engagement (CME)

A flexible route for providers to bid for funding on a scheme-by-scheme basis, assessed on value for money, deliverability, and local need – ideal for smaller or one-off developments.

Continuous Market Engagement ‘portfolio’ approach

An alternative approach to bidding that combines some features of Strategic Partnership working with a smaller portfolio of schemes. This option allows bidding across several sites at once with value for money assessed across a portfolio of schemes. This route is expected to be particularly suitable for council build programmes.

Devolution Opportunities

• Mayors outside of London will be given greater influence over the SAHP with Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities (EMSAs) able to prioritise a proportion of the programme in their areas. The total indicative level of spend in EMSA areas is £7 billion, to be split across 6 regions.

Recent Publications

RSH Sector Risk Profile – November 2025

The RSH Risk Profile is produced annually to highlight the main risks currently facing the social rented sector and how these can be mitigated. This year the risk profile highlights ongoing challenges around the quality of existing homes including damp and mould, fire safety, and preparing for the outcome of the revised Decent Homes Standard review. There are also wider economic and financial challenges facing organisations. The RSH highlights the importance of good governance to navigate these challenges along with data integrity and proactive compliance with regulatory requirements.

Housing Ombudsman Reports (November 2025)

The latest report in the learning from severe maladministration series focusses on complex cases involving leaks where landlords ineffective oversight of works hindered resolution. It also examines how gaining access to other properties, whether leaseholder or tenant, can complicate resolution of this type of complaint. The Housing Ombudsman has also published the outcomes of three wider orders relating to casework where decants and temporary moves have been poorly handled.

The Homelessness Monitor: England 2025 – Crisis (November 2025)

This report undertaken by researchers at Heriot-Watt University on behalf of Crisis is a longitudinal study providing an independent analysis of the homelessness impacts of recent economic and policy developments in the UK.

 Government  Publications

Local Government Re-organisation

MHCLG has published an updated collection of policy papers, correspondence and updates relating to the current position on local government re-organisation. This includes a written ministerial statement made to Parliament about launch of statutory consultations on proposals made by councils in 6 areas.

Round 4 of the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF)

An additional £950 million LAHF allocation has been announced for local authorities. The funding will enable the procurement of better quality temporary accommodation, including for the hardest to house on the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP).

Fair Funding Review

The Government has published its response to its Fair Funding consultation, which will see a redistribution of local government funding. Changes in the funding formula aim to ensure that by 2028 funding will be aligned with need and deprivation, and properly account for areas’ ability to raise resources locally. As a result of these changes, the 10% most deprived authorities will see a significant increase in their Core Spending Power per head compared to the least deprived. Changes will be phases through a multi-year settlement and transitional arrangements to allow time to adjust.

Housing Supply Statistics

MHCLG has published the annual housing supply statistics 2024/25 for England. There were 208,600 net additional dwellings in 2024-25, a 6% decrease on 2023-24. This resulted from 190,600 new build homes, 17,710 gains from change of use between non-domestic and residential, 3,850 from conversions between houses and flats and 1,080 other gains (caravans, house boats, etc), offset by 4,630 demolitions.

The dataset also includes an estimate of 275,600 net additional homes have been delivered in England between the start of Parliament, on 9 July 2024, and 9 November 2025.

Meetings and Events

CWAG Inspection Feedback Meeting  – Wednesday 14^th January 2026 (10.00 – 11.30)  Teams

Several CWAG members that have recently been through an RSH Inspection and have kindly agreed to give feedback to other CWAG members on their experience and share their views and learning around the process.

The meeting will be a panel type discussion with representatives from councils that have been inspected recently. The event will be restricted to CWAG members and cover key questions and issues for those yet to go through the experience of inspection. It will be particularly useful to discuss inspection issues where the council has an ALMO.

To book places please contact the CWAG Policy Officer.

LGA & NFA Webinar – Competence and Conduct Standard for Social Housing  – Tuesday 2 December 2025 (2.30pm – 3.45pm)

The LGA and NFA are hosting a joint webinar on the new Competence and Conduct Standard for social housing. This engagement session will explore the practicalities of the requirements set out in the new standard. It will include a presentation from MHCLG on the direction for the standard, a spotlight presentation from Derby Homes on how they are preparing, and a Q&A session. Feedback and questions for the Regulator of Social Housing will be collected and shared with them.

Register for this webinar here.

Following last month’s cabinet reshuffle – a recap on ‘Who’s Who’ at MHCLG:

Steve Reed MP: Secretary of State
Moving from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed MP has been quick to reinforce the government’s housebuilding ambitions pledging to ‘build baby build’ and “do whatever it takes to get Britain building”. He used the Labour Party Conference to announce that work on three new towns in Bedfordshire, Leeds and North London will begin before the next general election.

The new Secretary of State has a strong background in local government as a former leader of Lambeth Council and deputy chairman of the Local Government Association.

Alison McGovern MP: Minister of State (Local Government and Homelessness)
Moving from the Department of Work and Pensions to a newly configured ministerial brief that combines local government finance with homelessness and rough sleeping: supported housing and domestic abuse: resettlement and local government reorganisation.

Miatta Fahnbulleh MP: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
(Minister for Devolution, Faith, and Communities):
Miatta Fahnbulleh MP is part of the 2024 Parliamentary intake, she is moving from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Her background is in policy and research including as Head of Cities in the policy unit at the Cabinet Office. As Minister for Devolution, Faith, and Communities her role includes English Devolution, Mayoral Combined Authorities and pan-regional bodies, local and regional investment, and growth as well as communities and social cohesion.

Samantha Dixon MBE MP: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
(Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Democracy)
Previously a Government Whip, Samantha Dixon MP has moved to MHCLG with a brief that combines building safety regulations, fire policy, and operations, overseeing the Grenfell Enquiry, Building Safety Regulator, and remediation programmes. Also within her remit are elections policy, net zero and energy efficiency policy, resilience, recovery, and emergencies.

Matthew Pennycook MP: Minister of State (Minister for Housing and Planning)
Offering an element of stability, Matthew Pennycook MP emerged unscathed from the reshuffle and remains in his existing role role as housing minister, focusing on housing delivery, social housing quality and planning reform.

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
(Lords Minister for Housing and Local Government)
Appointed in July 2024 and also surviving the reshuffle, Baroness Taylor of Stevenage is the government spokesperson on housing, planning and local government in the House of Lords.

Research Findings – No Access / Preparations for Awaab’s Law – 19th November (10.00 – 11.30) – Teams

The NFA is hosting a webinar on 19 November (10-11.30) to share the findings from the HQN-authored research into No Access and preparations for Awaab’s Law in the local authority sector. This research has been jointly commissioned by the NFA, CWAG, CIH, LGA and ARCH and covers the whole local authority housing sector. Please save the date – further information and how to book places will be circulated shortly.

ADoH Bitesize Webinars

The newly formed Association of Directors’ of Housing Group is hosting a series of one hour webinars on a range of topics. ADoH has confirmed that CWAG members are welcome to attend the webinars listed below. Follow the links to register. Please note you will need to register using your council email address.

• 13 November 2025: Supporting Local Authority Readiness for Renters’ Rights Reforms. Alison Farrar from the  government funded Jigsaw team will tell delegates about the team, how they plan to help local authorities prepare for Renters’ Rights implementation and provide an update on upcoming training events and ongoing support for authorities.
• 9 December 2025: State of the nation: HRA finance and business planning. Join Steve Partridge from Savills as he explores the current landscape for council landlords navigating the complexities of Housing Revenue Account (HRA) finance and long-term business planning. This bite-size session will unpack the key challenges and opportunities facing local authorities as they update their HRA business plans.

Homelessness Funding Announcement
On 9th October the government announced that an additional £84million will be available this winter to help prevent homelessness with a particular focus on on providing help for families with children and those in temporary accommodation.  £84 million injection to tackle homelessness

Awaab’s Law and Electrical Safety Regulations
The regulations for both Awaab’s Law and Electrical Safety have now passed both houses of Parliament and been through the required sign off process. The regulations will therefore come into force as planned on the specified dates.

New Towns Taskforce Report
On  28th September MHCLG published the New Towns Taskforce: Report to government  which includes recommendations for 12 potential new town locations. The government also announced plans to fast track three named new towns before the end of this Parliament.

Awaab’s Law Casework
The Housing Ombudsman now has a dedicated page on its website sharing latest casework and learning on complaints about housing hazards related to Awaab’s Law. View webpage

Learning from Severe Maladministration Report – September 2025
The Housing Ombudsman has published its latest report in the learning from severe maladministration series. This report features seven landlords and focuses on complaints about subsidence, adaptations, and rent accounts.  These complaints are often overlooked but can have significant impacts on residents’ lives. The report emphasizes the need for landlords to have effective policies and procedures in place to manage these issues. It also stresses the need for clear communication and regular updates to residents to prevent misunderstandings and ensure satisfaction. Download Report

Special Investigation Report Lewisham Council October 2025
The report focuses on the handling of complaints, repairs and serious hazards. Download Report

Regulatory Casework Review 2025
In September the RSH published its latest Regulatory Casework Review which examines key themes from regulatory activities over the past year covering governance, financial viability and consumer standards. Areas highlighted this year tenant safety, maintenance of accurate and comprehensive data on both homes and tenants to inform decision making, ensuring effective tenant engagement is incorporated into decision making. Download Report

Latest Regulatory Judgements
Inspection outcomes have been published for 4 councils, Eastbourne Borough Council (C2), Cambridge City Council (C2), Lewes District Council (C2), Canterbury City Council (C3).

Other Publications

There have been a significant number of recent reports analysing the prospects for achieving the governments objective of building 1.5 million new homes within this Parliament including:

• The Housing Forum published its annual review of the Roadmap to 1.5 million homes 1.5M New Homes: The Local Government Challenge. This highlights the 10 obstacles councils face in delivering new homes and the potential solutions being tried on the ground.
• The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) published Capacity Constraints in construction: rethinking the business environment , a report which explores the construction industry’s capacity to meet demand for new homes and infrastructure in the UK.
• The Home Builders Federation (HBF) published Planning for Small Sites  which highlights the challenges faced by SME builders in the UK.
• Zoopla has published a short report The viability Gap which highlights that building homes is not currently financially viable across 48% of the country.
• The Housing Forum has published a report Breaking Barriers: Collaborative Solutions to Housing Delivery highlighting practical steps to unlocking housing delivery.
• The Resolution Foundation Quarter 3 Housing Outlook Report discusses the prospects of achieving 1.5 million homes over the Parliament.
• The Home Builders Federation has also compiled a report on Section 106 agreements and unspent developer contributions in England and Wales

CWAG consultation response – How to implement social rent convergence

CWAG and the NFA have submitted a joint response to the government’s consultation on how to achieve rental convergence. Our response supports the proposal for a £2 per week additional rent increase that will achieve convergence for most landlords within the 10-year timeframe of the current rental settlement. The consultation response was supported by analysis from Savills which modelled the impact of different convergence scenarios on HRAs at a national level.

The response highlights that although extremely welcome, the long-term rent settlement and convergence will not fund everything that the government wants to see the sector deliver and additional resources will be required for new development and any new requirements arising from the proposals in respect of changes to the Decent Homes Standards, energy efficiency requirements and the long-term decarbonisation of homes.

Research Project – ‘No Access’ and Preparing for Awaab’s Law 

CWAG has linked up with the National Federation of ALMOs, Local Government Association, Chartered Institute of Housing, Association of Retained Council Housing and Councils with ALMOs Group to commission research project which is in two distinct parts:

i) No Access Research

Levels of ‘no access’ have become a growing issue for social landlords in recent years and are under increasing focus due to the new regulatory and legislative environment (particularly requirements around knowing your homes, building safety requirements, and Awaab’s Law). There has been limited work done on best practice and innovation in this area, which this research seeks to address.

This element of the research will explore the challenges and best practice around ‘no access’ to help inform guidance to improve service delivery and identify what works (and what doesn’t work).

ii) Preparations for Awaab’s Law

The researchers will also undertake a review preparations for Awaab’s Law across the local authority sector to better understand the nature and scale of outstanding challenges as well as to identify and share good practice.

Progress and Methodology

Following a procurement exercise, the Housing Quality Network (HQN) have been selected to undertake the research.

To provide background and context material for the research, all council landlords have been asked to complete two surveys by 19^th September 2025. Details of these have been sent directly to lead contacts in both the council and the ALMO. A single return has been requested from each landlord.

HQN is also arranging a number of focus groups to explore both no access and preparations for Awaab’s Law from different perspectives, both tenants and housing practitioners. A timetable showing the different focus groups and how to book places is available here.

Wolverhampton Council to pilot new scheme to accelerate council house building

Homes England has chosen City of Wolverhampton Council as the first local authority in the country to pilot the delivery of a new Affordable Homes Programme.

Aimed at accelerating the delivery of new council homes, the scheme will provide access to a dedicated Government funding portfolio of around £19.7 million, enabling the council to start works over the next 2 years on delivering 200 homes across 11 sites in the city.

The homes will see a mixture of 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom houses, flats and bungalows for affordable and social rent. The proposal also includes 67 bungalows – all adaptable, and some wheelchair adapted in response to identified local need from residents.

The scheme will see council housing developed on new sites and existing homes that have poor thermal efficiency and are of poor quality or non-traditional construction will be replaced. Replacing these homes will have a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of local communities.

City of Wolverhampton Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for City Housing, Councillor Steve Evans, said: “This additional financial certainty will allow us to accelerate the future delivery of affordable housing provision in the city. This pilot will deliver new homes that will mean residents and the wider community benefit from improved health outcomes, lifestyle and sustainability.”

Shahi Islam, Director of Affordable Housing Grants at Homes England, said: “As the Government’s housing and regeneration agency, increasing the supply of quality affordable homes remains one of our key objectives. We’re committed to supporting Wolverhampton City Council to achieve their ambitions through this innovative pilot scheme ahead of the new Affordable Homes Programme.”

 Government  Publications

Right to Buy Sales and Replacements in England April 2024 – March 2025

MHCLG has published outturn information on the Right to Buy programme in 2024-25. In this period, local authorities reported 7,494 eligible sales, an increase of 7% compared to 2023-24. These sales generated receipts totalling £798 million, an average receipt per dwelling was £106,500. In 2024-25 there were 3,593 replacements funded through receipts from earlier eligible sales.

Latest Homelessness Statistics

MHCLG has published the latest quarterly statistics on statutory homelessness in England (January-March 2025). This shows an 11.8% increase in households in temporary accommodation. The number of households with children in B&B style temporary accommodation has seen a 30.1% decrease.

Also published are the latest quarterly Dashboards on Homelessness. For example, the H-CLIC Performance Dashboard is a high level summary of homelessness figures for each local authority in England showing performance across a handful of key measures allowing for comparison between authorities. Current data relates to January to March 2025.

 Delivering a data standard to support Awaab’s Law in social housing

MHCLG Digital has published a blog post with information about a new data product designed to help social landlords develop new systems to capture tenant specific vulnerabilities and other data requirements linked to the implementation of Awaab’s Law.

An in-person workshop introducing the system will take place in London on 12 September for housing associations and councils. Details on how to book workshop places are included in the blog post.

Round 10 of DESNZ Heat Networks Efficiency Scheme (HNES)

On 5 August DESNZ launched round 10 of the Heat Networks Efficiency Scheme which aims to support performance improvements to existing district heating or communal heating projects reducing carbon emissions and costs to consumers. Up to £2m of revenue grants are available across FY 23/24 and FY 25/25 for up to 100% of eligible project costs of Optimisation Studies. £75m of capital grants are also available covering up to 50% of eligible costs.

Application submission date – 19 September 2025.

 Other Publications

Housing Ombudsman – Complaints about Windows  (August 2025)

The Housing Ombudsman has published its latest ‘learning from ‘severe maladministration’ report which focuses on complaints about windows. This is a long report detailing 38 individual case examples, including multiple cases relating to some landlords.

The report highlights three key areas where landlords are failing:

• Not taking account of the composition and circumstances of the household. Failure to undertake risk assessments that make the connection between household circumstances and the condition of the property. The impact on children and occupants with health conditions in the household are often not factored into the landlord’s response.
• Landlords are routinely deferring window repairs as these are often more suited to major works programmes. Whilst recognising that replacing windows can be complex and costly for landlords, this is not a justification for leaving tenants for long periods with unsafe and defective windows, with potentially serious hazards left unmitigated. Landlords should assess the risks to residents’ safety before deciding not to replace windows outside of long-term major works schedules.
• The report highlights landlord obligations under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to actively address potential hazards, including interim mitigations where these are needed if works are delayed. Landlords should ensure timely and appropriate responsive repairs are carried out.

Building Beautiful Council Houses – Policy Exchange (August 2025)

The Policy Exchange has published a 35-Point Blueprint for a New Generation of council housing which calls for a return to the traditional social and design ideals that characterised earlier public housing programmes whilst also learning from the mistakes of the past.

 Diary Date – CWAG Annual General Meeting

This year the CWAG Annual General Meeting will be on Thursday 9^th October 2025 (10.00 -12.00). The meeting will take place over Teams. Please note the date in your diary.

At the AGM there will be a discussion around the future direction of the group. Our speakers are:

Jo Allchurch – the newly appointed Director of the Association of Directors of Housing (ADoH). Jo will give an overview of the plans being developed for ADoH and the potential for ADoH to provide representation for councils with ALMOs going forward.

Racheal Williamson, Director of Policy at the Chartered Institute of Housing. Jo will discuss planning for the implementation of the Competence and Conduct Standard.

The formal business of the AGM involves the election of representatives to the Executive as well as reviewing the operating arrangements, work-plan, and financial affairs of the group.

Comprehensive Spending Review

Social Housing is regarded as one of the winners from the Spending Review. Key issues for social housing were initially summarised in the Letter from Housing Minister to registered providers of social housing: Spending Review 2025 – GOV.UK.

Housing Headlines

• £39 billion for a 10-year successor programme to the Affordable Homes Programme to run from 2026/27 – 2035/36. The programme renames Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) will prioritise homes for social rent but will also include affordable rent and shared ownership. Reference to 2.5 billion for low interest loans to support new development with details yet to be announced.
• A 10-year rental settlement based on CPI + 1% each year from April 2026.
• The government has confirmed it will consult on a convergence mechanism to be confirmed at Autumn Budget. A consultation on implementation options will be published shortly.
• Social Landlords will be given equal access to the Building Safety Fund and Cladding Safety Scheme making it easier to fund building safety remediation through government schemes. This change is in response to concerns that building safety liabilities are holding back involvement in new supply projects.
• £100 million for early interventions to prevent homelessness through the Transformation Fund
• £950 million for a 4^th round Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) enabling councils to acquire and refurbish properties to increase the supply of better-quality temporary accommodation.

See MHCLG Announcements below for further details.

Latest MHCLG Announcements

Delivering a Decade of renewal for social and affordable Housing

The government has set out its longer term plan for social and affordable housing, including five key steps which will underpin ‘the biggest increase in supply in a generation alongside a transformational and lasting change in the safety and quality of homes’.

The five steps are:

1. Deliver the biggest boost to grant funding in a generation
2. Rebuild the sector’s capacity to borrow and invest in new and existing supply
3. Establish an effective and stable regulatory regime
4. Reinvigorate housebuilding
5. Forge a new relationship with the sector to build at scale

The plan links into a series of further announcements including:

• A 10-year £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) to deliver around 300,000, at least 60% of which will be for social rent.
• A rental settlement based on CPI+1% for 10 years with the potential to include a convergence mechanism.
• £2.5 billion of low-interest loans over the Spending Review period to support the delivery of new social and affordable housing.

Electrical safety:

Following a consultation undertaken by the previous government, regulations have now been laid before Parliament requiring social landlords to carry out checks on electrical installations at least every 5 years as well as testing of all electrical appliances that are provided as part of a tenancy. These regulations will come into force in November 2025 for new lets, and 6 months later for existing tenancies.

In addition, the original consultation also included a call for evidence regarding a new requirement to check electrical safety installations in owner-occupier leasehold properties within social housing blocks every five years. The government has stated it will provide a separate response on this issue in due course.

Changes to RTB

Following the consultation earlier this year, the government has announced that it will bring forward legislation to implement the following changes:

• Exempt newly built social and affordable housing from the Right to Buy for 35 years.
• Increase the eligibility requirement (currently 3 years as a public secure tenant) to 10 years.
• Prevent existing property owners, or those that have previously benefitted from the scheme, from exercising the Right to Buy unless there are exceptional circumstances, e.g. victims of domestic abuse.
• Amend discount rules so that discounts start at 5% of the property value and increase by 1% for every extra year an individual is a secure tenant up to the maximum discount of 15% of the property value or the cash cap (whichever is lower).
• Increase the period from 5 years to 10 years that the council has the right to ask for repayment of all or part of the discount on the sale of property.
• Extend the period in which a local authority has the right of first refusal when a property previously bought under the Right to Buy is sold so that it applies in perpetuity.

In addition, the receipts regime will be reformed and existing flexibilities on spending Right to Buy receipts will now apply indefinitely allowing councils to combine Right to Buy receipts with grant funding for affordable housing.

Further policy work is also proposed in the following areas:

• Preventing fraud
• Cost floor reforms to better protect investment in existing homes
• Timelines for processing RTB applications
• RTB in rural areas

Competence and Conduct Standard

In a Parliamentary Statement on 2^nd July Housing Minister, Matthew Pennycook confirmed that the new Competence and Conduct Standard for social housing  will be implemented from October 2026.

There will be a transition period after this date giving providers additional time to comply with qualification requirements which will apply to senior housing managers and executives. Larger registered providers that own 1,000 or more units of social housing will have three years, and smaller providers that own less than 1,000 units will have four years to achieve compliance.

Reform of the Building Safety Regulator (BSR)

The government has announced its intention to create a single construction regulator, detaching the BSR from its current position within the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The new separate BSR will have a Board appointed by MHCLG. The change is intended to support government house building plans and allow for a new Fast Track Process to speed up decision making on newbuild applications and remediation decisions.

New National Housing Bank to be set up

Housing Minister, Matthew Pennycook has announced the establishment of National Housing Bank to accelerate housebuilding. The new bank will operate as a subsidiary of Homes England with a remit to deliver a long-term financial return for the government.

The scheme will provide up to £16 billion of new financial capacity in the form of loan finance and funding guarantees to support housebuilding and leverage enhanced private sector investment. Likely beneficiaries include SMEs and developers of large complex sites.

Access to social housing

Changes have been announced that will remove local connection rules for young care leavers and victims of domestic abuse to improve access to social housing.

Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (Residential PEEPS)

The Government has published new regulations covering fire safety requirements in respect of disabled and vulnerable people in high rise and higher risk buildings. The regulations cover person-centred fire risk assessments specific to individual relevant residents.

Improving the Energy Efficiency of Socially Rented Homes

The proposals in this consultation would bring the social rented sector into line with changes proposed for the private rented sector using new metrics that are proposed following Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) reform. These proposals would require landlords to meet an updated EPC fabric metric at band C, including either a new heating system or smart readiness metric. The proposed MEES would be part of the reformed Decent Homes Standard and subject to Regulation by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).

The government recognises that the proposed standard is different to that which the sector has been working towards so proposes that social rented homes that meet the existing EPC C standard before April 2028 would be considered compliant until their EPC certificates expire.

The consultation also proposes a cost cap of £10,000 per home to avoid excessive spend on individual properties. This would allow landlords to classify a property as compliant even if the property still falls short of the standard. The exemption would last for 10 years from the MEES compliance deadline of April 2030, after which landlords would be expected to bring the property up to the required standard.

This is a 10 week consultation that closes on 10th September 2025.

Consultation on a Reformed Decent Homes Standard

This consultation seeks views on an updated Decent Homes Standard. The current DH standard has not been updated since 2006 and only applies to social landlords. Under these proposals the new DH standard would apply in both the social and private rented sectors. The new standard has an emphasis on tenant safety and keeping homes free from damp and mould. It includes an updated list of core facilities and updated Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES). The proposals aim to strike a balance between modernising and updating the Standard to meet higher expectations whilst remaining proportionate and affordable for providers. Views are sought on changes such as the provision of floor coverings at the start of a tenancy.

This is a 10 week consultation that closes on 10th September 2025.

Social Rent Convergence

The government announced at the Spending Review that it would be implementing a convergence mechanism as part of the new 10-year rental settlement.

This would allow rents on Social Rent properties that are currently ‘below formula’ (i.e lower than the maximum that may be charged when a property is let) to increase by an agreed additional amount to align with formula rents over time.

This consultation addresses is seeking views on how convergence will be implemented, with modelling of options .capped at £1 or £2 per week.

The consultation will inform how the measures are implemented and is seeking views on allowing rents that are currently ‘below formula’ to rise an additional £1 or £2 per week.  Decisions will be confirmed at the Autumn Budget taking into account the implications for rent payers, new supply and the cost to the public finances.

This is an 8 weeks consultation that closes on 27th August 2025.

In preparation for the implementation of the first phase of Awaab’s Law on 27^th October, MHCLG have published draft non-statutory guidance for social landlords. The guidance is not intended as an authoritative interpretation of the law but is a general guide that will be updated to reflect lessons learned in line with the stated ‘test and learn’ approach being adopted.

The guidance provides clarification around timescale requirements which are confirmed as ‘working days’ rather than calendar days. In addition, the relationship with the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is explained in more detail highlighting that Awaab’s Law offers a person-centred approach taking account of the tenant’s circumstances and vulnerabilities when assessing the risks presented by a hazard. As such, the assessment and categorisation of the hazard may differ from the HHSRS.

Awaab’s Law will be applicable to all social housing occupied under a tenancy that is let by a registered provider. It will not apply to accommodation occupied under licence, low-cost home ownership, shared ownership or long leasehold. To be in scope of Awaab’s Law, the hazard must relate to a building or land for which the social landlord is responsible.

Awaab’s Law: Draft guidance for social landlords – GOV.UK

The government has responded to sector concerns that Awaab’s Law may be used by some unscrupulous ‘claims farmers’ to exploit vulnerable tenants. The Minister for Housing and Planning and the Minister for Courts and Legal Services have therefore announced that they will be launching a Call for Evidence into the activities of Claims Management Companies and referrals to solicitors on a no win no fee basis. The Call for Evidence  will seek views on current practices and consider how to reduce unscrupulous ’claims farming’ activity in housing disrepair cases.

Social Housing Ombudsman Reports

Spotlight Report Repairing Trust

The Housing Ombudsman’s ‘Repairing Trust’ spotlight report indicates that negative experiences with repairs and maintenance is significantly undermining tenants’ trust in their landlords. Poor communication, inadequate complaint handling and lack of empathy all contribute to this distrust. Addressing these issues requires a cultural shift to a more empathetic and transparent approach to managing repairs services.

Building stronger partnerships between landlords, tenants and contractors is crucial to achieving improved outcomes. The report also identifies the current focus on reactive rather than planned maintenance as problematic both in terms of the tenant experience and the longer-term financial impact on landlords.

The report uses examples of good practice alongside instances of poor handling of tenant complaints drawn from the Ombudsman’s casework to signpost the benefits of effective resident focussed approaches based on respect, empathy, accurate information, safety, and mutual trust.

Learning from severe maladministration report – June 2025

The latest Housing Ombudsman report in the Learning from severe maladministration series focuses on poor handling of leaseholder complaints.

Learning from severe maladministration report – July 2025

covers the fundamentals of ASB: the role of the landlord, managing expectations, and where to work with others

Learning from Severe Maladministration

This Update includes the following

Responsibility for fire safety moves to MHCLG

From 1^st April 2025 responsibility for oversight of fire safety was transferred from the Home Office to MHCLG. The change delivers on a key recommendation from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 2 report, which criticised the fragmentation of responsibility for fire safety in the construction industry and advised that fire and building safety should be overseen by a single department.

The change means MHCLG, which already oversees building regulations and housing policy, will also be responsible for fire safety guidance and regulations. This integration is expected to strengthen safety coordination and policy implementation, providing greater clarity and accountability in managing fire risk in residential buildings.

Recent Publications

Securing the Future of Council Housing – Establishing a ‘Green and Decent’ Homes Programme – Southwark Council (May 2025)

This policy proposal document follows the 2024 Southwark report ‘Securing the future of council housing’ which set out proposals for delivering a sustainable HRA Agreement with Government and was endorsed by 112 councils with HRAs. This latest document sets out 10 core principles required for the sector to address current challenges and deliver the wider objectives of building new homes, addressing energy efficiency and net zero as well as building safety and a new decent homes standard. The document highlights both the scale of the challenges facing the sector along with the ambition to tackle them.

Triaging repair reports – key learning around emergencies ahead of Awaab’s Law – Housing Ombudsman (20 May 2025)

This report aims to address a lack of consistency around what social landlords consider to be an emergency repair. A number of severe maladministration cases are examined where the landlord did not identify a repair as an emergency.

Lessons highlighted include:

• Lack of consistency in the way landlords define and approach emergency repairs
• Reports of ‘no access’ leading to closure of cases based on limited evidence
• Failure to make a connection between the circumstances of the person living in the property and its condition
• A pattern of temporary fixes being made but the permanent resolution being severely delayed creating potentially hazardous conditions
• Service failures around poor record keeping and poor communication, including poor coordination and the wrong trades being sent to do works.

The Tackling Stigma Journey Planner – published by the Stop Housing Stigma Campaign (May 2025)

This is a new flexible tool designed to help tenants and landlords work together on plans to tackle social housing stigma. The journey planner will particularly assist tenants and landlords work together to define what it means to comply with the standard that requires landlords to treat tenants with fairness and respect.

Tackling-Stigma-Journey-Planner.pdf

England’s Homeless Children: The crisis in temporary accommodation – HCLG Committee House of Commons (April 2025)

This cross-party committee report focuses on the rising demand for temporary accommodation and the impact on the children affected. There are currently over 164,000 homeless children currently living in temporary accommodation which for many turns out to be very poor quality and far from temporary. The report makes a number of recommendations including:

• Mandatory inspection of housing by local authorities before it is used as temporary accommodation, and whenever new residents are placed in the property.
• New requirement for local authorities to notify the host authority before they make an out of area placement.
• A formalised system for notifying a child’s school and GP if they are moved into temporary accommodation. To
• A call for the government to ensure publication of its strategy on ending homelessness by July 2025 so meaningful progress towards tackling the crisis in temporary accommodation during this Parliament.

Simply about Supply? How Housing Issues vary by Region – Report by IPPR North (April 2025)

This report considers affordability, tenure, and quality issues by region to make the case for regionally responsive housing policy arguing that simply delivering more homes at current or 80% of the market rate (i.e. currently defined as affordable) will not resolve England’s housing issues. The author has summarised the research findings and produced a useful graphic identifying the different housing challenges facing each English Region.

Learning From Severe Maladministration Report – Housing Ombudsman (April 2025)

This latest report from the Housing Ombudsman examines what makes good communication in complaint handling. The report identifies the 4 key elements required for confident and appropriate communication:

• Timely
• Transparent
• Tailored
• Tone

With the implementation of Awaab’s Law less than 6 months away, the need for organisations to review their communications performance, both internal and external, verbal and written, is more pressing than ever. The way an organisation handles communication, provides an insight into organisational culture and values.

The report draws examples from recent casework on damp and mould to highlight the importance of each communication element.

This Update includes the following

New Association of Directors of Housing (AdOH) receives start-up funding from MHCLG

Proposals to set up a new representative body for council housing directors moved a step closer with the announcement of startup funding from MHCLG. The announcement was made by Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook at a housing Summit hosted by Sheffield City Council on 6^th March 2025.

The new association aims to deliver a more unified sector-wide voice on housing policy issues as well as improved outcomes through enhanced collaboration and good practice sharing. The proposals have the backing of the LGA and over 100 councils.

MHCLG funding is intended to cover initial work on recruitment and setting up arrangements. A steering group led by Louise Wood, service director for planning and housing at Cornwall Council and Hakeem Osinaike, strategic director of housing at Southwark Council, is in place to progress the project and establish the new body in 2025/26.

CWAG is represented on the steering group by Geoff Beales who as Chair of CWAG is working to ensure the interests of Councils with ALMOs are reflected in the new arrangements for representation in the sector.

Once the AdOH group is fully established CWAG members will need to consider whether to merge with the new grouping or continue to operate as a separate entity.

Commonhold White Paper

Recent Publications

Learning from Severe Maladministration Cases – Housing Ombudsman (March 2025)

The Housing Ombudsman has released its latest 'learning from severe maladministration' report, focusing on the 'Big 6' building safety compliance areas.

The 23 complaints involve safety in asbestos, fire, water, gas, electrics and lifts, with issues sometimes interfacing with other disrepair concerns. The cases show the human impact of key obligations not being fulfilled to individuals. By grouping these cases together, it is possible to map reoccurring points of service failure and identify areas for learning.

Complaints can act as an early warning sign for landlords to test whether this is an isolated issue or further action is required to prevent repeated failings impacting other residents.

This Update includes the following

Local authorities need more resources to focus on preventing homelessness.

In 2023/24 local authorities spent around £3.1 billion on homelessness of which £2.1 billion was used to provide temporary accommodation. Homelessness Prevention Grant funding amounted to about £440 million. In practice, the high numbers of people already in the homelessness system mean that local authorities use a significant portion of available resources to fund the provision of temporary accommodation, particularly in areas of poor affordability, rather than spending on homelessness prevention activities.

Recommendation: MHCLG needs to set out plans to incentivise and work with local authorities to improve homelessness prevention.

It is unacceptable that B&B accommodation is being used routinely to house people rather than as a last resort

As at June 2024 almost 6,000 homeless families with children were being housed in B&Bs, and almost 4,000 of these families had been there for longer than the statutory maximum period of six weeks.

Recommendation: MHCLG should strengthen its use of HAST advisers in supporting local authorities to reduce their use of B&B accommodation and provide support to local authorities with high rates of temporary accommodation to plan how to reduce their reliance on it.

Too many people are being placed in temporary accommodation outside of their local area

The homelessness legislation and code of guidance state that local authorities should, as far as possible, avoid placing households out of area, however, over the period 2018–19 to 2023–24, the number of households placed out of area increased by 42%. There is a lack of data around how far away from their local areas people are being placed and the wider consequences resulting from this.

 Recommendation: MHCLG should improve its data on out of area placements as a matter of urgency and use the data to encourage better coordination between local authorities, to minimise the number of households placed out of area and incentivise councils to use local providers.

The government is not considering the impact on homelessness when setting Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates

 Capping and freezing LHA rates have reduced the income households can derive from benefits in real terms and 45% of households now face a shortfall between the LHA they receive and the rent they pay. Also, local authority temporary accommodation funding is essentially based on the 2011 LHA rate and has not kept up with rising temporary accommodation costs.

 Recommendation: DWP should set out  for the Committee its justification for the levels of LHA it has set, both for individuals and for local authorities 

The homelessness problem is being exacerbated by a severe shortage in housing supply, and especially affordable housing.

 A significant ramping up of the affordable housing supply is required to achieve a substantial impact on homelessness levels, particularly in areas where homelessness pressures are acute.

 Recommendation: MHCLG should provide the Committee with an update on how its proposed new housing strategy will achieve practical improvements in the delivery of new homes, including targets for new and affordable homes.

Despite legislation designed to tackle well-established problems and gaps in regulation, MHCLG has made no progress in improving the oversight of the supported housing sector.

 The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act came into force in August 2023. This brought forward national standards for support and looked to give local authorities power to tackle poor quality supported housing in their area, yet by the end of 2024 the Act had not been implemented. Ongoing gaps in regulation mean landlords can provide costly, sub-standard housing with little support, supervision or care.

Recommendation: MHCLG should implement the provisions of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act as quickly as possible. In addition, both MHCLG and Homes England should detail why Homes England fell short of its targets for new homes (including affordable homes) in 2023– 24,  and what steps they are taking to ensure targets for 2024–25 and beyond will be achieved.

Update on the Renters Rights Bill

The Renters’ Rights Bill continues to make legislative progress having passed it’s second reading in the House of Lords on 4^th February 2025. It has now passed most of its legislative hurdles and is expected to become law in Spring / Summer 2025.

The latest amendments include:

Landlords will only be permitted to charge one month’s rent in advance (alongside a security deposit of up to 5 or 6 weeks rent). This will prevent landlords demanding multiple months’ rent in advance as a condition of agreeing a tenancy.

A new rule to protect students aims to end the practice of pressuring students into commitments early into an academic year.  Students will no longer be locked into an agreement where a lease is signed more than 6 months in advance of moving in.

Closing potential loopholes in rent repayment orders (RROs), ensuring superior landlords can be liable for RROs if an offence has been committed even if the rent was not paid directly to them, but through an agent or intermediate landlord.

Fees paid by landlords will directly fund the creation and work of the private rented sector Ombudsman, providing renters and landlords with access to an effective and fair dispute resolution service.

Summary of Main Measures in The Bill :

• The abolition of Section 21 notices.
• Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) will be replaced by periodic tenancies enabling tenants to end their tenancy at any time on giving 2 months’ notice.
• Rent agreed cannot be higher than advertised.
• Rent increases will be restricted to once per year (twelve months from previous increase).
• Tenants will be able challenge rent increases deemed above market via the First Tier Tribunal.
• Tenants have the right to request to keep a pet and that request cannot be unreasonably refused. However, the tenant will be required to have appropriate pet insurance.
• Landlords will be prohibited from discriminating against tenants who receive benefits or have children residing with them or visiting their premises.
• Awaab’s Law will apply to the Private Rented Sector (PRS).
• Decent Homes Standard will also apply to the PRS.
• There will be a requirement for Landlords to sign up to a Landlord Redress Scheme as well as a PRS database.
• No exemptions are proposed in respect of student housing.
• Landlord penalties  – up to £7000 for the first offence and £40,000 for more serious and repeat non-compliance.

Other Proposals for Improving Standards in the Private Rented Sector

The government has issued a consultation with proposals to raise the minimum energy efficiency standard required of privately rented homes in England and Wales to the equivalent of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C by 2030.

Currently private landlords are only required to meet EPC E in rental properties. The government claims that requiring landlords to meet the higher EPC C standard will save private renters £240 per year on average on their energy bills.

The consultation runs until 2^nd May 2025

Consultation on Right to Buy Reform

Recent Publications

Social housing sales and demolitions 2023-24 – Accredited Official Statistics (February 2025)

MHCLG has published a statistics bulletin setting out headline figures for changes in social and affordable rented stock in the year up to 31st March 2024. The bulletin also includes a figures for sales and demolitions compared with the output figures for new supply of social housing between 1997 and 2024.

Social Housing Rent Consultation

CWAG has submitted a joint response to the Social Housing Rent Consultation with the Association of Retained Council Housing (ARCH) and the National Federation of ALMOs (NFA).

The response focusses on the importance of achieving a ten-year settlement based on CPI +1% plus an annual allowance for convergence.

Drawing on analysis undertaken by Savills for the social housing sector in December 2024 the response makes the case that whilst the proposed longer term rent settlement based on CPI plus 1% would be helpful, it would be insufficient to bridge the immediate funding gap between income and expenditure requirements and will need to be bolstered by additional measures.

The Savills research demonstrates that CPI +1% over 10 years with a convergence policy to bring all local authority rents up to formula would make a material improvement both in the short and longer term, bringing the national HRA to a cumulative surplus within 10 years (based on a convergence amount of up to £3/week). In practice therefore additional funding will be required to deliver newbuild  in the short to medium term.

Consultation respons

Rent Consultation Analysis – Savills

• Section 21 evictions and periodic tenancies

Section 21 evictions will be abolished alongside the introduction of changes to tenancy arrangements. Assured tenancies and assured shorthold tenancies will be replaced by periodic tenancies providing more security and flexibility for tenants who will be able to remain in their home until they decide to end the tenancy by giving 2 months’ notice. There will be limited exceptions for example, houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and designated student accommodation.

• Grounds for possession

Landlords will be able to recover their property where they wish to sell or move-in close family, however tenants will benefit from a 12 month protected period at the beginning of a tenancy, during which a landlord cannot evict them to move-in or sell the property. There are also new safeguards for tenants who temporarily fall into arrears and the mandatory threshold for eviction is increased from 2 to 3 months and the notice period increased from 2 to 4 weeks.   There are also various specified grounds for use in limited circumstances where accommodation is intended for a particular purpose and where the tenant no longer meets the conditions under which the tenancy was granted (e.g. supported housing).

• Rent Increases

New arrangements will be introduced designed to empower tenants to challenge unreasonable rent increases (often used as a backdoor means of eviction). If a tenant believes the proposed rent exceeds the market rate, they can challenge this at the First-tier Tribunal which will determine what the rent should be, either confirming the proposed level or setting a lower figure.

• Private Rented Sector Ombudsman

Private landlords in England with assured or regulated tenancies will be legally required to join a new PRS Ombudsman. The service will be available free of charge to tenants and funded through a charge on landlords. Local councils will have the power to levy fines where landlords fail to join the Ombudsman.

• Renting with Pets

Tenants will gain the right to request a pet in the property. Landlords must consider these requests and cannot unreasonably refuse. However, landlords will be able to require pet insurance to cover any damage to their property.

• New Private Rented Sector Database

Landlords will be required by law to register with a new Private Rented Sector Database with penalties for those who fail to comply. The database will help landlords understand their legal obligations and provide information to tenants about landlord performance. It will also help local authorities to target enforcement activity. Landlords will need to be registered on the database to have access to certain possession grounds.

• Discriminatory Practices

New measures will address discrimination against prospective tenants in receipt of benefits or with children with financial penalties for those who fail to comply.

• Decent Homes Standard

The DH standard will be enforced within the PRS giving renters better value homes and removing the blight of poor property condition.

• Awaab’s Law

The Bill confirms that Awaab’s Law will be extended to the PRS, setting clear legal expectations about the timeframes within which landlords must take action to make homes safe where they contain serious hazards.

• Rental Bidding

Landlords and agents will be required to publish an asking rent for their property, and it will be illegal to accept offers made above this rate.

• Local authority enforcement

There will be a new requirement for local authorities to report on enforcement activity along with expanded civil penalties for non-compliance (including fines between £7,000 and £40,000)

• Rent repayment Orders

New measures will increase the deterrent effect of rent repayment orders making them easier for tenants and local authorities to access.

Review of Housing Policy Announcements

There have been a number of announcements relating to social housing policy in the first three months of the Labour Government:

Social Housing Quality and Professionalisation

The Secretary of State confirmed at the Labour Party Conference that Awaab’s Law will be introduced for the social rented sector this autumn, with plans to introduce it to the private rented sector at a later date, once the legislation is in place (see Renter’s Rights Bill above).

The government has also confirmed its intention to press ahead with the Competence and Conduct standard for the social rented sector to ensure tenants receive a professional service and are treated with respect and dignity. The timetable for implementation has yet to be confirmed.

The Secretary of State has also confirmed the government’s intention to consult on a new Decent Homes Standard for social and privately rented homes, however no specific timescales have been indicated to date.

Measures to ensure decent homes for all – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Building New Homes

Since the election there have been a number of announcements to promote newbuild development and wider economic growth, in line with the Labour Manifesto commitment to build 1.5 million new homes over the next 5 years.  These include:

• Consultation on a revised Planning Policy Framework to overhaul the planning system, opening up new areas for development as well as speeding up planning approvals and delivering wider economic growth. (for further details see August Newsletter)
• New Towns Taskforce to advise and support government aspirations to develop a programme of new towns.
• New Homes Accelerator programme to bring together key agencies, leveraging resources to unblock large development sites around the country where progress has stalled.
• Brownfield Land Release Fund will provide £68 million to 54 councils to fund demolition of empty buildings, site clearance and decontamination of industrial land.

The Autumn Budget on 30th October should provide more detail around funding for new social housing development.

Local Authority Housing Fund

The existing proposals for a third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund are going ahead as planned over two financial years (2024-25 and 2025-26). The £450 million programme announced by the previous government will be made available to councils to acquire better quality temporary accommodation for families at risk of homelessness as well as providing suitable housing for those on the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme.

Right to Buy

The government moved quickly to announce new flexibilities for RTB receipts which will be in place for an initial period of 2 years, subject to review at the end of 2025/26:

• Councils can use up to 100% retained receipts to fund replacement homes, a significant increase from the previous 50% cap.
• Right to Buy receipts may be combined with section 106 contributions.
• The cap on the percentage of replacements delivered as acquisitions has been lifted.

A wider review of the RTB scheme is underway within MHCLG with a consultation due later in the Autumn. This is likely to focus on the level of RTB discounts, particularly the increased levels in place since 2012. The Secretary of State has indicated that the intention is to restrict rather than abolish the scheme.

Retained Right to Buy receipts and their use for replacement supply: guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Local Connection or residency rules

The majority of stockholding councils have allocations schemes which include a local connection or residency test as part of the housing application process. However, in line with Labour’s election manifesto commitment that UK Armed Forces Veterans will be exempt from rules which require a local connection to access social housing, the government has recently written to councils setting out the policy position with formal regulations to follow in due course. The government has also clarified that a similar exemption will apply to other priority groups where demonstrating a local connection can be difficult, including care leavers and victims of domestic abuse.

UK Armed Forces Veterans given social housing exemption – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)