The Week in Housing: Global Accounts show record maintenance spend, and sector responds to rent settlement consultation

Good afternoon.

Just before Christmas, the government published the responses to its consultation on the rent settlement and the sector revealed a long wishlist.?Top of the pile is a 10-year rent settlement that should be enshrined in law. This means any changes to the policy would require approval via a vote in parliament.

The need for a vote would provide an opportunity for scrutiny and debate from MPs and peers over the “questions and trade-offs related to social housing rent policy, affordability and stock investment requirements”, rather than relying on “unilateral executive action” as is currently the case.

It was also put to the government that rent convergence and mitigating the recent National Insurance hikes were needed, alongside a significant increase in grant funding.

Meanwhile, the London Tenants Federation called for a freeze on social rents as the rises proposed will “further impoverish” tenants. A decision is not expected until the multi-year Spending Review in March.

With the government mulling over the best way to finance the sector’s spending on new and existing stock, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) revealed that housing associations spent ￡8.8bn on repairs and maintenance between April 2023 and March 2024, a 14.3% increase on the previous year.

The sum was published in the RSH’s Global Accounts, which covered 200 private registered providers.

Landlords’ spending on development also increased by 10% to ￡15bn year on year. However, the English regulator underlined the “difficult trade-offs” providers are having to make “between maintaining financial resilience and investing in new and existing homes”.

A busy start to the year for the RSH included?opening an investigation into potential “serious failings” at a small landlord, and revealing that it is looking to expand its frontline regulatory teams to meet the demands of its new powers.

In other recruitment news this week, a housing provider?started by a confectionary giant welcomed four new board members.

A large association appointed two customers to its board as it looks to ensure residents are at the heart of strategic decision-making.

Rob Perrins, chief executive of Berkeley Group, joined the board of Grosvenor’s UK property arm as a non-executive director.

The Housing Ombudsman started 2025 with news that it will release its?first good practice guidance later this year, which will focus on restoring landlord-tenant relationships that have broken down.

Residents living in high-flood-risk areas have been hammered by heavy sleet and rain since the new year, causing a number of rivers to burst their banks.?This has left flood warnings and alerts remaining in force across the country after a number of major incidents led to residents being?evacuated from hundreds of homes.

Tenants not at risk of flooding raised concerns that the?potential relocation of the Chinese embassy near their homes would risk their safety and privacy. Housing association?residents in London are campaigning against the move.

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