Reform continues at pace, but will it get the results the country (and government) wants?

Our final sector stocktake for 2024/25 shows there is no slowing in the pace of change that the social housing sector (and the wider world) is facing.

Since the start of the year, Labour has made their Spring Statement, tabled some weighty new bills, and announced reforms through green (welfare reform) and white (commonhold) papers. There have also been significant announcements that will affect the operation of social housing, including the phasing of Awaab’s Law.

Key policy, regulation and operational updates include:

• Widespread reform to welfare and employment support including scrapping the Work Capability Assessment, reforming Universal Credit rates, tightened eligibility for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and personalised employment, health and skills support. Changes are being consulted on through the green paper, ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits to Get Britain Working’. These reforms, if enacted, would likely have a significant impact on social rented tenants, with the latest data from the English Housing Survey showing that 59% of households in social housing contain someone with a long-term illness or disability.
• Introduction of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which includes reforms to streamline the planning process and Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO). The OBR forecasts supporting the Spring Statement suggest that planning reform will account for 0.2% of growth by 2029/30, worth around £6.8 billion in today’s prices. These planning reforms could see annual net additions to the UK housing stock reach a forty-year high of 305,000 per year. While this could result in 1.3 million additional homes for the UK from 2025-26 to 2029-30 (a 16% increase), it would miss Labour’s manifesto target of 1.5 million homes.
• The day before the Spring Statement, the Chancellor announced an additional £2 billion investment in social and affordable housing for the current Affordable Homes Programme. This was described as a downpayment, with announcements at the Spending Review in June on further money for 2026/27 and grant funding for the next programme. This follows an additional £300m funding announced in February and a £500m boost announced in October 2024. This funding shows that, despite the need to increase spending on defence and the challenging economic outlook, the government is committed to boosting funding for affordable housing where possible.
• From October, registered providers will be required to address damp and mould hazards and emergency repairs within specific timescales as part of Awaab’s Law, with a phased approach to non-emergency hazards from 2026 onwards

The Scottish Government also confirmed it intends to introduce amendments to the Housing (Scotland) Bill to introduce Awaab’s Law into Scotland.

• The government published its response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry findings, accepting all the findings and proceeding immediately with reforms from the majority of recommendations and consulting on the remaining.

In the weeks that followed, the Public Accounts Committee published their report on the cladding crisis, saying the government still lacks knowledge on the number of buildings with dangerous cladding, the cost to address it, and the time required for remediation. The latest government survey data on fire safety remediation in social housing shows that, as at 31 December 2024, 24.8% (477) of affected buildings reported have no or unclear plans in place for remediation.

• Leasehold reform has seen changes to the Right to Manage and the removal of the two-year ownership rule for leaseholds. Other changes proposed in the Commonhold White Paper include amending legislation to allow shared ownership homes within a commonhold.
• The Crime and Policing Bill has also been introduced, containing new powers for registered providers around addressing anti-social behaviour, new offences for cuckooing and child exploitation, and new reporting requirements around anti-social behaviour for registered landlords.

Other legislative change (yes, there’s more!) includes the latest amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill, which is expected to pass into law this summer, and the Procurement Act 2023, which came into effect on 24th February 2025. The new debarment powers in this Act will be used by the Cabinet Office to launch an investigation into organisations criticised by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry to establish whether professional misconduct has taken place.

Also recently published, the Regulator of Social Housing’s latest Value for Money metrics indicate that the median headline cost per property increased by 12% to £5,136, reaching a record high. In this tough financial environment, with increasing costs and a drive for higher quality, Jonathan Walters, the Deputy CEO of the Regulator commented in Social Housing magazine that social landlords must have “a good grip of their cost base, a thorough understanding of their risks, a clear articulation of their risk appetite and a robust approach to risk monitoring and mitigation”. Separately, the Housing Ombudsman’s consultation on their 2025/26 Business Plan notes that they are forecast to handle 43,000 complaints in 2025/26, up from 15,914 in 2020/21, an increase of 170%.

We also highlight the latest consumer and economic judgements from the regulator, mergers and sector insights (including our research on the impact of the wait for social housing in Scotland, for the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Wheatley Group).

Understand the operational and governance opportunities

There’s a lot to take in within housing and politics right now, and much uncertainty. While we don’t have all the answers to what lies ahead, we can help you stay informed and understand the operational and governance opportunities and risks. If you are interested in receiving our stocktake or would like to explore how else we can help get the insight you need, please click here, and we will be in touch.

 

Written by Bekah Ryder, Research and Insights Manager.