The editor’s rundown: how do you insure a problem like… insurance?

Complaints and stock quality

The figure is one of a number of alarming statistics that emerged during the month. That included news from the Housing Ombudsman that the number of severe maladministration findings has skyrocketed 323 per cent in the last year, as complaints spiked off the back of wider media attention on conditions.

Speaking at a recent conference, ombudsman Richard Blakeway criticised the “very striking” complacency around missed appointments for repairs. 

The latest Statistical Data Returns (SDR) publication by the Regulator of Social Housing also showed that the number of homes failing the Decent Homes Standard in England rose by 130 per cent in 2023.

The large increase, the RSH suggested, was a result of the focus on stock quality in the SDR survey, as well as recent regulatory work “leading providers to assess data quality and reporting”. 

Having a handle on the number of homes requiring investment is an essential start, but it doesn’t make finding the funds to pay for the works themselves any easier.

New valuation approach

To that end, with the high costs of decarbonisation works in mind, some of the sector’s major valuers are calling on funders to enable housing providers to realise more value during the loan securitisation process through a lotting approach. 

Intended to better reflect the way stock actually trades, a “considerable body of evidence” has been built up, according to JLL’s Richard Petty. However, funding lawyers are as yet unconvinced. Michael Lloyd explores the proposals – and the reaction – here.

Policy change

Meanwhile, providers in Wales now have more stretching targets, still, to focus on. Local housing authorities and registered social landlords regulated by the Welsh government now have until 2034 to comply with a new standard focused on quality, affordable warmth and decarbonisation. In the words of climate change minister Julie James, the new Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2023 is both “bold and achievable”. 

Those might not have been the words that immediately sprang to mind on 12 October at organisations involved in the funding and delivery of shared ownership homes, as a somewhat unheralded (although by no means unprecedented) intervention by government on rent levels emerged.

Designed to bring the tenure into line with other affordable housing products, the rule change sees the upper limit for rises now pegged to the Consumer Prices Index, as opposed to the Retail Prices Index. 

Outlining the decision, housing minister Rachel Maclean said: “We recognise the financial pressures people are facing and we must do all we can to protect shared owners from higher costs.” 

That sentiment is to be welcomed, but another sudden policy change further dilutes certainty in the operating environment and will do little to support efforts to deliver long-term supply. 

To hear how the latest policy and economic conditions are impacting business plans and financial resilience, and to contribute to the discussion, join me and a host of sector experts at the Social Housing Annual Conference on 30 November.

Co-located with Inside Housing’s Development and Regeneration Summit, the event is your chance to explore pathways to maintaining financial resilience and how to continue developing new homes. I look forward to seeing you there.

Sarah Williams, editor, Social Housing