Guiding principles for placing residents at the centre of improving repairs and maintenance services

Recommendation three of the Better Social Housing Review (BSHR):

Housing associations should partner with tenants, contractors and frontline staff to develop and apply new standards defining what an excellent maintenance and repairs process looks like.

An important area of focus in the Better Social Housing Review (BSHR) was the adequacy of repairs and maintenance services in the social housing sector. While the review highlighted some examples of good practice, it pointed to wider issues with government policy, and noted that social residents from black and minority ethnic backgrounds were sometimes afraid to discuss issues with their provider, for fear of losing their home. Overall, the review concluded that social landlords needed to work more effectively with their residents, staff and contractors to review and improve their services.

Since then, new consumer standards have come into force. As part of the new Safety and Quality Standard, landlords must provide an effective, efficient, and timely repairs and maintenance service to residents. They must also ensure that their service is informed by the diverse needs of residents, and that residents are appropriately informed about works being carried out in their homes. The collection and publication of Tenant Satisfaction Measures, in which repairs is a key focus, will be a first litmus test for if this is improving.

CIH established the rethinking repairs and maintenance project in summer 2023 to support the sector in responding to the BSHR action plan and incorporating the newly emerging consumer standards. Aided by a steering group featuring wide representation from the sector, we carried out research with residents, social landlords, contractors and wider stakeholders to collect examples of good practice and develop guidance that could be adopted by all landlords, regardless of size, type or location.

Last month, we published the findings of this work. First and foremost, the guidance recognises and accepts the important fact that social landlords are not homogenous. Housing associations, arms length management organisations (ALMOs), and stock retaining councils all have different approaches to repairs and maintenance, which are in turn shaped by the characteristics of the homes they manage, the communities they serve, and where they are located.

This is why we focused on principles, not prescriptive standards.

From our work we developed twelve guiding principles for how social landlords should work with their residents and colleagues to improve their repairs and maintenance services. They cover how we can improve cultures and tackle stigma, effectively carry out engagement activities with residents, staff and contractors, and how to accurately measure and make visible improvements to performance. They also cover practical guidance for tackling discrimination and racial inequalities in repairs outcomes, including how to improve the diversity of scrutiny panels. 

The principles are intended to be approached in two ways. Firstly, landlords looking to undertake a review of their repairs and maintenance services – or, putting it differently, looking to fully implement the BSHR’s recommendation – can follow the principles from beginning to end, using it as a map to guide their journey.

Alternatively, we know that many landlords have begun their journeys already, and will be midway through reviews or looking to improve certain existing processes. Landlords in this position can self-assess what they are currently doing against the principles, to help them understand which parts of the guidance are most relevant to bring into their work.

Alongside the principles, we have documented several examples of good practice uncovered through our work and put together suggestions for how landlords can approach adopting the principles. Our accompanying library of case studies is a potential source of inspiration - geared towards helping landlords understand how their peers are working with their residents and their supply chains to improve their repairs and maintenance services. We will continue to add to this library over the coming months.

Our call to the sector is simple: embrace and adopt the guiding principles, engage with them, and use them to enhance the work you are doing.

At the same time, we know the difficulties associated with delivering excellent repairs and maintenance services extend beyond our engagement with residents. Latest statistics from the Regulator of Social Housing show that the sector made unprecedented investment in repairs and maintenance in 2023, spending £7.7 billion over the year, a fifth more than in 2022. Over the next five years, providers are projecting they will spend £9 billion each year on repairs and maintenance. These costs are just one source of what the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities committee has termed “serious financial pressure” on the sector, alongside “massive bills for decarbonisation, fire safety and regenerating old homes”.

Navigating this landscape is a persistent challenge, but it is clear from our working group findings that working more collaboratively with our residents, our colleagues, and our wider supply chains is essential to drive meaningful changes to repairs and maintenance services. We hope that the guiding principles and examples produced can be an important piece of the broader puzzle that we all aspire to solve – ensuring that everyone has a safe and secure home that provides a foundation for a good, healthy life.

Read more on the Better Social Housing Review