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Inside Housing’s year in review: 2025
From £39bn in funding to a new housing secretary, it has been a huge year for the sector. It has also been a big year for Inside Housing with the launch of new brands, campaigns and digital offers. Katharine Swindells runs through the biggest stories that defined 2025
Inside Housing’s year in review: 2025 #UKhousingIt has been a big year for both the housing sector and Inside Housing. Katharine Swindells runs through the biggest stories that defined 2025 #UKhousingJanuary
The year started with a bang, with Inside Housing’s Risk Register Survey, which examined the financial reports of 100 of the biggest housing associations in the UK.
Meanwhile, the sector dissected the details of the rent settlement consultation, published just before Christmas 2024.
We spoke to Priya Nair, chief executive of The Housing Finance Corporation, about how the sector is going to fund its building goals, and Welsh housing secretary Jayne Bryant on how she plans to deliver on some tough targets ahead of the Senedd election in 2026.
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February
Our Repairs Tracker found that landlords in England spent £8.8bn on repairs in 2023-24, up more than £1bn in one year.
Inside Housing joined forces with the i newspaper to investigate the economics of temporary accommodation. It dug into the 20 organisations bringing in the most revenue from the billions spent by local authorities to house people facing homelessness.
March
The launch of the Procurement Act at the end of February promised a “revolution” in how public sector cash is spent. We reported on what that really means for housing providers.
The sector reacted to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which aims to speed up planning decisions to boost housebuilding. And the chancellor’s Spring Statement bet big on these reforms, saying Labour was on track to build 1.3 million homes, while confirming welfare cuts for millions of people.
And the Scotland government announced that Awaab’s Law would be introduced as part of the Housing (Scotland) Bill.
April
April was a huge month for the Inside Housing brand, as we launched Inside Housing Management, our sister publication for professionals in housing management roles.
To kick off the new site, we looked into housing officers’ top priorities and biggest concerns.
Inside Housing also expanded our coverage of the for-profit sector with this widely read feature.
And we interviewed chief executive Greg Reed after Places for People became the first large housing association to receive a C1 grading under the English regulator’s consumer standards.
May
Building safety was in the headlines in May after the expulsion of Adam Kiziak, director of fire safety surveyor Tri Fire, from the Institution of Fire Engineers sparked worries for social landlords and leaseholders.
And as concerns were expressed over delays at the Building Safety Regulator, we interviewed deputy director Tim Galloway about how the sector could navigate the new system more smoothly.
Meanwhile, following Inside Housing’s ongoing data investigation into the number of toddlers and babies living in temporary accommodation – which saw the government change data reporting requirements – one London council shared the steps it was taking to eliminate the use of B&Bs for families.
June
There was “historic” turning point for the sector in June when the government’s Spending Review announced a 10-year rent settlement, a £39bn grant programme and a consultation on rent convergence (now expected in the new year).
The funding was good news for the sector, as Inside Housing’s annual Biggest Builders survey revealed that the top 50 builders delivered 40,929 homes in 2024-25 – a 2.8% annual decrease.
Inside Housing Management launched its Housing Management Matters campaign, seeking to spotlight the vital work that housing managers do.
July
As the sector digested the Spending Review announcements, the government’s five-step housing plan laid out its ambition to deliver at least 180,000 social rent homes through the upcoming and newly named Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
Further analysis of Inside Housing’s data revealed which housing associations were already making headway with the government’s goal as we analysed which organisations started the most homes.
And new data revealed that Northern Irish housing associations were planning to start 8,000 new social homes over the next three years.
August
In August, Inside Housing Management broached the vital topic of assaults against housing staff. Our research found that recorded numbers have almost tripled since 2020.
Building Safety Regulator concerns continued to plague the sector, which could spell a major new era for the building safety crisis.
Rushanara Ali resigned as minister for homelessness, following reports that she evicted tenants so she could increase the rent on her near-£1m town house.
September
It was all change again at Whitehall in September as Angela Rayner resigned from the deputy prime minister and housing secretary roles after she admitted to not paying enough stamp duty. She was replaced by Steve Reed.
A cabinet reshuffle saw Alison McGovern step into the local government and homelessness minister role and Samantha Dixon take over the building safety brief.
Just because the government was playing musical chairs, it did not mean policy stopped. The sector was divided as responses to the rent convergence consultation were revealed. And the New Towns Taskforce recommended 12 potential locations for new towns, with work on three sites due to start this parliament.
Inside Housing launched our Spotlight on Regeneration series to explore the current state of play for housing-led regeneration across the UK. We kicked off the series by looking at how to restart regeneration.
We interviewed Sally Thomas, outgoing chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, about the changes she saw in the decade she spent in the role.
October
In October, the Renters’ Rights Bill finally passed final stage in the Commons. The act will ban Section 21 no-fault evictions, as well as apply the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law to the private rented sector.
Affordable homes numbers were in the news once again, with the announcement of a cut to planning requirements in London. Inside Housing went deeper into the issue with an analysis of our exclusive data on Section 106 homes.
In Wales, housing providers welcomed the government’s 10-year rent settlement.
We published our much-read Chief Executive Salary Survey and looked at some highlights from housing associations’ financial accounts.
Speaking of chief executives, there was huge appetite for this interview with Elizabeth Froude. She spoke about leaving Platform Housing Group to move into the for-profit world to take up the top job at Sage Homes.
The Housing (Scotland) Bill was passed with new homelessness prevention duties for public bodies and powers for MSPs to bring in Awaab’s Law.
November
As Awaab’s Law came into force at the end of October, we spoke to social landlords during the first few days of the law being in effect to see if their preparations were enough.
The publication of the second year of tenant satisfaction measures showed that, overall, 71.8% of social housing tenants felt satisfied with their landlord. But with one in five tenants dissatisfied, there is plenty of work left to do.
Later in the month, the sector was less than overjoyed with the Autumn Budget and worked through the ramifications of the guidance for the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
In Wales, housing bodies welcomed additional funding for development in the Draft Budget for 2026-27.
We launched Inside Housing Living with a bumper feature on the sector’s fastest-growing for-profit providers. The new sister website covers institutionally-funded residential rental property, including for-profit providers, build-to-rent, student accommodation and later living.
Inside Housing rounded off the month with a bang: winning best media brand at the International Building Press Awards.
December
While much of the country winds down towards the end of the year, Inside Housing certainly did not. We published our annual Biggest Council House Builders, which revealed that the number of homes built by UK councils has risen 10.7% in one year.
We also dug deep into what housing providers can learn from tragic instances of domestic homicide and how they can take on a greater role in supporting victims of abuse.
The long-awaited publication of the government’s homelessness strategy was met with mixed reviews from the sector.
Finally, we interviewed Amy Rees, the new chief executive of Homes England, about the agency’s five-year strategy for helping developers and housing providers deliver affordable homes.
2025 has been a huge year for the sector. There’s no doubt 2026 will be, too – and Inside Housing will be covering it all. Thank you for reading.
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