The strategic value of high-quality asset and liability data

In September, the Regulator of Social Housing published their first Regulatory Casework Review, examining the key themes from their regulation of social landlords over the past year. The findings underline how data quality underpins effective governance and tenant safety.  

The review identified the need for comprehensive, up-to-date data covering all assets and liabilities, including the safety and quality of tenants’ homes, the need for risk awareness to be embedded into every decision and for effective internal controls and assurance frameworks to be in place. It concluded that reliable data across all aspects of operations is essential for maintaining safe homes. 

“Providers can strengthen their approach by capturing complete information on ownership, title, property type, tenure, occupancy, restrictions, covenants, valuation methods, and all liabilities”

The review encouraged proactive engagement and early issue reporting rather than reactive compliance, and suggested elevating tenant insights from simple feedback to genuine operational influence.

Taken together, these themes in the review send a clear message that good governance and tenant safety both depend on accurate, accessible and up-to-date information.

Social housing providers are operating in one of the most challenging environments the sector has ever seen. Reliable data is a vital tool for managing risk and driving operational efficiency.

Providers can strengthen their approach by capturing complete information on ownership, title, property type, tenure, occupancy, restrictions, covenants, valuation methods and all liabilities (financial, operational and contractual).

They then need to adopt recognised standards to ensure seamless integration of all systems, linking the asset register to property management and accounting systems to capture real-time changes and reduce manual errors.

It is important for the responsibility for data quality to be allocated to a cross-functional team, backed by senior leadership to ensure organisational commitment. Regular internal audits and spot checks then need to be conducted, and training given to maintain ongoing data accuracy. 

By following these steps, providers not only reduce regulatory risk but also lay the foundation for strategic decision-making. 

Accurate data enhances risk management by identifying assets that pose financial or safety risks and supports contingency planning through faster recovery actions. It also enables better financial forecasting: with reliable information, providers can assess property values, maintenance needs and future investment priorities. 

“It is important for the responsibility for data quality to be allocated to a cross-functional team, backed by senior leadership”

Integrating asset registers with property management tools also helps providers identify underperforming properties, target homes for regeneration and leverage discounts for energy efficiency upgrades or net zero initiatives. In short, good data helps transform operational insight into strategic advantage. 

While asset registers underpin daily management, a living will safeguards long-term resilience. A living will is a contingency plan that outlines how a social housing provider will continue to function in the event of economic crisis, leadership change or organisational failure.

Developing a living will encourages providers to think proactively about succession planning, emergency response and orderly wind-down procedures. Knowing the full value and condition of housing assets is critical especially for identifying which parts of the business are genuinely saleable if restructuring ever becomes necessary. Living wills should be reviewed regularly, ideally every three years, or when significant organisational or asset changes occur. 

High-quality asset and liability registers deliver three fundamental benefits. They protect against regulatory and financial risk, unlock hundreds of millions of pounds in sector value currently lost to poor data and enable informed decisions. When data is treated not as a compliance burden but as a commercial asset embedded into governance, planning and recovery processes, providers can shift from reactive compliance to proactive growth. 

The Regulatory Casework Review makes it clear that the cost of inaction far outweighs the investment required to build a robust asset and liability register. For providers across England and Wales, now is the time to invest in data as a foundation for resilience, accountability and long-term success. 

Sharon Kirkham, partner, Devonshires