The requirement for mandatory qualifications in social housing management in the UK marks a significant shift in the sector, aiming to elevate standards and ensure competence. The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 (‘The Social Housing Act 2023’), which requires senior housing executives and managers to have specific qualifications, highlights wider commitments to professionalising the industry to ensure higher service delivery standards to tenants. From an employment law perspective, however, this raises critical issues about inclusivity and practical implementation.
‘Professionalism’ in social housing has become a widely debated topic with many welcoming the changes as a positive move, especially following the Grenfell Tower Inquiry where evidence highlighted the lack of skills and knowledge and concerns that previous tenants were not listened to. However, criticisms about the proposals were not absent with concerns that mandatory qualifications may not address the core issues of customer service failures, and instead tailored training would perhaps be more beneficial, allowing housing professionals to respond effectively to tenants' needs on a case-by-case basis (avoiding the failures seen in the Awaab Ishak case which concerned a young boy aged just 2 years old who died due to mould exposure).
The Social Housing Act 2023 received royal assent on 20 July 2023. Following this, the Regulator of Social Housing (the ‘RSH’) launched a consultation to obtain feedback on their draft consumer standards. These are standards that registered providers must meet so tenants live in safe, quality homes, have choice and protection, and can hold landlords to account. The consultation ended on 17 October 2023, with the agreed consumer standards coming into force on 1 April 2024. These new standards apply to social landlords, housing associations and councils. The Social Housing Act 2023 also introduced new enforcement powers for the RSH.
Employment law reforms
The Social Housing Act 2023 also provided the RSH with the power to set a new Competence and Conduct Standard, including qualification requirements for Registered Providers to follow.
At the beginning of this year, the government published draft proposals for the new Competence and Conduct Standard. This includes proposals that Registered Providers must:
- Have a written policy setting out their approach to managing and developing the skills, knowledge, experience and conduct of staff members engaged in the management of social housing services; and
- Adopt or develop an appropriate code of conduct; and
- Comply with the government’s policy statement on qualification requirements.
The draft policy statement referred to above (which was published alongside the draft proposals), includes the requirement for social housing executives and managers (those in relatively senior positions who have responsibility for the day-to-day management of the provision of services in social housing - for example, executive directors, chief officer, heads of services etc) to acquire appropriate housing management qualifications, equivalent to a level 4 or 5 Certificate or Diploma in Housing (or a foundation degree) within two years of the new Competence and Conduct Standard coming into force. This will be regulated by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) and applies to Registered Providers of social housing managing over fifty homes (e.g., local authorities and housing associations), while smaller landlords have four years to implement the changes.
The draft policy statement also includes detailed information on the time limits for staff working towards qualification and examples of flexibility and exemptions that will apply in limited circumstances.
Following a 2-month consultation period, feedback has been obtained on the proposals, specifically around:
- The broad Standard relating to the Competence and Conduct of social housing staff.
- Who is in the scope of the qualification element of the Standard.
- Criteria the qualifications must meet.
- What constitutes ‘working towards’ a qualification, and flexibilities to accommodate exceptional circumstances such as when individuals have extended leave.
- The relevant transition period, and transitional arrangements for partially compliant qualifications and apprenticeships.
- Requirements that Registered Providers must meet in relation to housing executives and managers.
The government estimates that over 25,000 managers across the housing sector will be affected by the changes and the outcome of the consultation is expected sometime this year, with the new Competence and Conduct Standard likely applying from April 2025 (possibly giving Registered Providers until at least 2027 to implement the changes).
Employment Law consideration for social housing providers
Although the Competence and Conduct Standard has not yet been finalised, below are employment law considerations for social housing providers to be thinking about:
- Ensuring compliance with the new Competence and Conduct Standard proposed. This includes a requirement to have up to date written policies. It is important to review the draft proposals and keep up to date with subsequent changes. Failure to comply with the new Standard could lead to fines or other penalties being issued. Registered Providers will have to establish clear policies and procedures to manage qualifications, this may include regular audits or reviews to address any compliance gaps.
- Ensuring qualifications are integrated into existing roles and promoting continuous professional development. Registered Providers will need to review current staffing levels and skills to ensure they have the right individuals in place to meet the new requirements. It is worth considering whether pathways to acquire qualifications can be developed to encourage existing staff to obtain the necessary qualifications – helping to retain talented individuals.
- Being alert to recruitment challenges, especially if there is a shortage of qualified candidates in the market. Registered Providers will need to think about how best to navigate this, whether it offers training programmes or financial support packages. It is worth bearing in mind that individuals can also be ‘working towards’ the relevant qualifications during employment.
- Factoring in the costs of qualifications requirements. This will include direct costs such as qualification fees, travel and staff shortages and retention. Registered Providers may want to consider implementing qualification plans over a phased period (in line with the transition period) to spread out any financial impact over time.
- Balancing potential staffing adjustments and training requirements whilst maintaining operational efficiency during the transition period. To mitigate this, Registered Providers will need to plan ahead and potentially redistribute responsibilities amongst staff where possible. They will also want to ensure staff members have appropriate support whilst pursuing qualifications, this may require flexible working arrangements such as study leave.
What steps should Registered Providers be taking?
In response to the consultation, The National Housing Federation and Chartered Institute of Housing have confirmed calls for longer transition periods for qualification (to relieve the financial burden) as well as having an option to exempt those who are in the final years of their careers.
We will have to see how this develops and although it is still early days, below are some steps Registered Providers might want to consider ahead of any changes:
- Keeping up to date with proposed or impending reforms.
- Review the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and identify what qualifications are currently held by those in relevant positions.
- Identifying gaps in qualification and initiating a plan on how these gaps can be covered by the end of the transition period.
- Encouraging open communication with employees to address any of their concerns and identifying areas of support.
- Review existing policies that may be affected by the new changes and ensure these are updated.
- What, if any, new policies need to be implemented and what these will look like.
If you would like more advice on the introduction of professionalism in the housing sector, please get in touch with our employment team who are best placed to advise you on employment law implications.
