Social Housing (Regulation) Act: Progress so far and how we’re supporting you

It’s been just over four months since the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill received Royal Assent in Parliament, becoming the Social Housing (Regulation) Act. The Act provides for a new proactive approach to regulating social housing and has been welcomed by CIH and the sector as a whole.

We are currently in the informal consultation period, with sector bodies and government asking for feedback on various aspects of the Act, to determine how it will work in practice;: the feasibility of the law; how much it will impact the sector; and what measures need to be in place to support everyone as we move forward.

One element of the Act that we’re still waiting for further detail on is the necessity for mandatory qualifications in the sector. The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will shortly release a policy statement to support this, and then we’re expecting a period of consultation around the detail, before the guidance is used by the Regulator of Social Housing to develop a competency and conduct standard.  Timescales for this aren’t yet known, but with it pressing nature, we’re expecting to find out more before the end of 2023. We will keep you informed as news comes through.

You will find a lot of member-exclusive information on the Social Housing (Regulation) Act so far on our dedicated webpage. Head there now to get a view of everything we have on offer

At CIH, as well as providing loads of useful member resources, we are also making sure we are ready to support you in completing the mandatory qualifications, in addition to providing training and CPD activities to ensure you are fully up to date with current working practices.  We have a network of around 30 approved study centres offering CIH qualifications, the CIH Housing Academy being one of these which has programmes scheduled for the next few months. 

The CIH Level 4 Certificate in Housing and the CIH Level 5 Diploma in Housing are available now for those who are ready to start their qualification and get ahead of the game.

We know that lots of organisations are currently carrying out qualifications and skills audits of staff to determine organisational requirements.  This is a brilliant starting point to identify who needs to do what and can be developed further as the detail within the DLUHC policy statement becomes available.

As we progress to the consultation stages for the policy statement and the Regulator’s competency and conduct standard, we will provide further updates and opportunities for webinar/round table discussions to share best practice and practical ways to tackle this challenge.

In addition, we are very happy to answer any questions, so please get in touch if this would be helpful.

Check out all of the resources we have available to help you discover more about the Social Housing (Regulation) Act progress so far