Better Social Housing Review

All social homes and housing management should be of good quality, and excellence is the only acceptable level of performance.

The Better Social Housing Review, an independent examination of issues in the housing association sector, published its findings and an action plan in 2022. Council-owned homes face broadly similar issues, though within in a slightly different community, legislative and funding framework.

The NFA welcomes the BSHR report and we have urged members to review all seven of its recommendations. They may want to discuss them with tenants and parent councils to agree which ones are relevant to the local context. Current performance can be assessed against each relevant recommendation, and a plan of action put in place so that councils and their ALMOs can work towards improvement where necessary.

The NFA has also published its own action plan. The ALMO management model already keeps NFA members focused on their core purpose (BSHR recommendation 1) and on hearing and acting on the tenant voice (BSHR recommendation 5). The model also encourages a culture of continuous learning and improvement, and we are supporting members to review and report on their own performance against the BSHR recommendations with particular focus on stock audit and repairs.

The NFA is directly involved in two strands of work that have emerged from the BSHR: the Knowing our Homes  project led by the National Housing Federation; and Rethinking Repairs, led by the Chartered Institute of Housing, which responds to BSHR recommendation 3.

Here readers can access the full NFA Action Plan; our full response to the Better Social Housing Review; and a four-page summary of the response (reading time 10 mins).

December 2023: The NFA, which represents council-owned housing management organisations, has updated its action plan developed in response to the Better Social Housing Review.

NFA BSHR Action Plan Read More »