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Out of 43 social landlords participating, four scored over 90% for satisfaction with the services provided, with all providers achieving at least 60%.  However, six associations achieved below 50% for tenant satisfaction with their landlord listening to their views and acting on them.  Commenting to Inside Housing, the Welsh Government said that they showed that “most tenants remain satisfied with their homes and neighbourhoods, which is encouraging and reflects the positive work being undertaken by social landlords across Wales”.  Their spokesperson continued: “While satisfaction levels have remained broadly positive over time, the survey also highlights areas where further improvement is needed, particularly in relation to communication with tenants and ensuring tenants feel listened to and able to influence decisions that affect their homes and communities.”

As at 30th June, 327 social housing blocks with life-critical fire safety (LCFS) defects had an expected works commencement date that was unclear or was at least ten years away, up from 315 three months earlier.  The RSH’s latest quarterly survey on fire safety in buildings taller than 11 metres, published on 25th June, revealed that a total of 2,078 high-rise blocks owned by social landlords had an LFCS defect relating to the external wall system.  This affected 11.4% of buildings over 11 metres and 15.5% of buildings over 18 metres. 

Involving residents can help to identify inappropriate incentives.  Speaking at the Inside Housing and Social Housing Tenant and Resident Engagement Conference in October, Theresa Lisk, resident board member at housing association SNG said that involving residents in procurement at another RP had identified that contractors were being paid on the basis of the number of properties attended, regardless of whether the repair had been successful.  Contracts were later changed to reward a first-time, good-quality fix, being delivered within a reasonable period of time.

Early data on tenant satisfaction measures shows that satisfaction with complaints was only 37% in 2025/26, although this was slightly higher than the 35% level achieved in 2024/25.  Speaking at the Tenant and Resident Engagement Conference on 23rd September, Justin Crittall of the Housing Ombudsman said that there was more to do to increase the level of trust that residents have in their landlords by being empathetic and honest, listening, acknowledging and responding.  In terms of culture, the immediate response to a complaint should be to seek to understand, rather than to seek to defend.

This includes providing safe spaces for people to report ASB and reassuring them that they will not be penalised by their landlord for reporting it. Speaking at the Inside Housing and Social Housing Tenant and Resident Engagement Conference in September, Manjit Sidhu of South Tyneside Council Housing Services, shared her experience of an estate with a high percentage of Muslim residents where the first reports of ASB were often heard by community leaders in the local mosque.  She told attendees that monthly community meetings can come with language and cultural barriers, and residents who were scared to report, or unsure how to report, anti-social behaviour.  She advised landlords to go to the residents' safe space to enable them to report ASB issues.

The company's reported loss for the period was £661million, net of £475million impairment of goodwill and a £73million building safety provision.  It reported “more challenging” open market conditions over the summer months due to lower customer confidence and broader economic uncertainty.  While the company remains committed to a mixed-tenure, partnerships model, it plans to transition to  a “smaller, more focused business", with planned completions down to 12,000 per year from 15,658 in 2025.  It also plans to consolidate its current 25 regions to 12 larger operating regions to “obtain cost efficiencies”.

The NHF and the CIH are working with the Home Builders Federation on a national survey that would allow RPs to rate the quality of Section 106 homes.  This will seek to build on work undertaken by the JV North consortium in this area.  Tanya Bass of the NHF said: “The national survey would form the basis of a public rating scheme, creating positive incentives for developers in the same way that HBF Star Ratings do in the private market.”

They have a “responsibility to rebuild trust” with residents and tackle misinformation around social housing allocations and new developments.  Speaking at the Inside Housing Communications Conference on 22nd September, Antonia Bance, the Labour MP for Tipton and Wednesbury, called on RPs to “set out the positive factual case” and “meet residents where they are” when responding to concerns about new homes being allocated to asylum seekers.  She also encouraged housing association communications teams to use politicians “as a source of possible allyship and championship”.

The programme sets out the Welsh Government’s broad priorities, which include bringing down NHS waiting lists, supporting families with the cost of living, and tackling child poverty.  On housing, the government committed to strengthening renters’ rights, including through measures for “fair rents”, and to work towards realising a right to adequate housing.  It is also targeting 20,000 new social homes by 2030, which will be supported by the establishment of Unnos, a new national housebuilding agency. Another priority is to expand access to retrofitting by adopting a tenure-neutral, area-based approach. There will also be a “focus on the pace of remediation of properties with fire safety defects”.

After Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council voted to pause its local plan, on the grounds that they did not have confidence in the capacity of South East Water’s infrastructure to support the significant additional housing numbers required, the government issued a Regulation 19 direction requiring them to put the draft plan out to consultation.  Council Leader Matt Boughton argued that it would be “costly and counterproductive to progress a plan” where the “majority of houses within it cannot actually be delivered”.  South East Water's current water resources management plan was prepared in 2024 and "does not reflect the significant uplift in the objectively assessed housing need that must now be delivered by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s draft local plan".  Without additional intervention, housing delivery to meet the assessed need would result in demand exceeding the available water supply.