Survey reveals biggest challenges social landlords face in managing assets

Respondents were asked to rank the importance of various factors in their asset strategies (see graph below). On average, repairs, building safety and capital works came out as the top-three priorities. Some way behind, decarbonisation, new build and regeneration took spots four, five and six, while climate resilience was rated as considerably less important.

These priorities are a response to changing legislation, says Sharon Jackson, head of product delivery for housing at NEC Software Solutions.

“Where organisations would probably normally choose to focus more on capital works, the focus on building safety has now massively increased,” she says.

When asked to rank the factors that influence asset investment decisions, respondents placed regulation as the most important, on average (see graph below). This was closely followed by financial constraints and robust asset data in second and third place respectively.

Overall, respondents feel that the regulation with the most impact on their asset management plans is the proposed reform of the Decent Homes Standard, which is likely to tighten the minimum standards for properties. A total of 34% of respondents said it would have the biggest influence on their asset investment decisions in 2026 and beyond.

After this came Awaab’s Law (24%), which came into force on 27 October this year and stipulates conditions under which landlords must investigate and respond to hazards – notably damp and mould.

While the survey responses indicate that landlords’ priorities are currently driven by the immediate demands of recent and upcoming legislation, is there any sense that the urgent focus on the ‘now’ may dissipate as new compliance structures become business as usual?

“Anecdotally, we’re hearing that providers are becoming more confident with regulation,” says Trevor Hampton, director of housing solutions at NEC Software Solutions.

“For the first time we’re seeing people starting to think more about how they can move forward and start to tackle the bigger issues. If we ask again in 12 to 18 months’ time, we might see a shift from that short-term view towards a longer-term one.”

Of course, money – and the lack of it – has a strong influence over what housing providers can do with their homes.

After regulation, respondents ranked financial constraints as the second most important factor influencing their decisions about asset investment.

And funding challenges were by far the greatest problem they face in actually executing their strategy (see graph below). A total of 77% cited it as a challenge, ahead of a shortage of skilled professionals to implement strategic objectives (41%) and an uncertain regulatory environment (36%).

Commenting on financial challenges, respondents cited the inability of rental income to keep pace with costs, the expense of achieving Energy Performance Certificate Band C ratings, and both the uncertainty and inflexibility of funding available to tackle providers’ many challenges – especially related to environmental performance.

One respondent noted: “Costs of virtually everything relating to managing and maintaining our assets are increasing, while income lags behind – the gap is too big to fill through efficiencies alone – particularly if we are still wanting to develop new homes.”

Several respondents called on the government to provide greater security of rental income and clarity on policy and funding initiatives. Some highlighted that poor decision-making in their own organisations has also exacerbated issues.

“[There] remains uncertainty on what the investment requirements will be due to changes in the way energy performance is calculated and changes to the Decent Homes Standard,” one participant said. “This is alongside existing known increased demands associated with building safety [and] Awaab’s Law. We are having to make assumptions with what we know currently. Ultimately there are significant demands on finite budgets.”

Responses to the survey suggest that the affordable housing sector recognises the importance of good data in managing assets, but that organisations have not quite reached their goals in this area.

For example, 61% do not feel that their organisation has the information technology in place to realise its asset strategy, versus 39% who do.

However, comments from the survey suggest that many are on the right track. As one respondent put it, their company is “still improving our data layering so we can correlate different aspects of asset data. We are on a journey to data maturity but not there yet.”

Respondents overwhelmingly recognised the potential for data to help their businesses.

A total of 88% said better data management and analysis would be in their top-three technologies to positively impact their asset strategy (see graph below). This was far ahead of more tangible improvements to assets via smart home technology such as remote monitoring and smart meters (66%), or energy-efficient technologies like solar panels and heat pumps (61%).

And providers are also using data to shape strategic decisions about their assets. After regulation and financial constraints, robust asset data was ranked, on average, as the third most important factor influencing asset investment decisions.

Speaking about the journey towards better use of data, Kay Aston, head of product for housing at NEC Software Solutions, believes that technology is just one part of the solution.

“You need to have the processes and the change management in place within your organisation,” she says. “This ensures that people are updating data in the right way, putting it in the right place, making it usable, and using the right classifications.”