CHIC Team Reflections

By Joanne Heyes, Head of Member Services Housing is a complex and complicated sector. Many of you reading will have heard of the “housing crisis” that the country is facing, but what exactly is this? Is it a lack of homes? Is it about the quality of our homes? Have we got a damp and […]

By Emma Baskeyfield, Technical Manager What’s Changing in the EPC System The UK’s Energy Performance Certificate system is entering a major period of reform, designed to give the housing sector clearer, more accurate and more practical insight into how homes really perform. EPCs have historically provided only a limited picture of energy performance, often failing

By Luke Hurd, Chief Operating Officer The Procurement Act 2023 (PA23) fundamentally changes procurement from being a predominately cost driven process under the old principle of Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) to one that has a much broader evaluation, and therefore greater focus on quality, performance, transparency, social value and competency under the UK centric

By Liam Gratty, Director of Strategic Services The UK Government has now released the long anticipated revised Decent Homes Standard (DHS). A modernised set of quality criteria that social and private rented homes must meet by 2035. The updated DHS drives a step change in expectations for housing condition, safety, energy performance, ventilation, and overall

By John Fisher, Chief Executive “Spend on repairs and maintenance costs reaches £10bn in another record year” was the recent front cover headline in Inside Housing. This referred to the 200 largest Housing Associations, which together own and manage 3.5m homes (17,500 each on average). If you have read the housing press over recent years,

By Liam Gratty, Director of Strategic Services Market LandscapeThe UK construction sector remains one of the most dynamic yet financially vulnerable parts of the economy. While overall output has nudged ahead modestly, underlying distress continues to surface in company failures, especially among suppliers serving the housing development and maintenance sector. The construction market still records

By Stephen Sharman, Director of Member Services The new Social and Affordable Homes Programme for 2026 to 2036 is a major milestone for the sector, delivering 300,000 new homes. As a procurement consortium that provides development solutions, we are already thinking about what it means for our members. So  how can CHIC support housing providers

Chris Brockwell, Head of Member Services (South) Housing is a complex sector. It operates within an ever changing regulatory environment, has a wide and diverse range of stakeholders and needs to deliver safe, affordable and healthy homes in a changing world. Governments have numerous changing policies as part of their agendas and manifestos, so the

By Liam Gratty, Director of Strategic Services The government’s decision to phase out ECO4 is creating uncertainty across the housing and retrofit sector. ECO4 funding has been primarily aimed at private homeowners and privately rented properties, focusing on households meeting certain eligibility criteria, such as being on specific benefits, having a low income, or living

By Joanne Heyes, Head of Member Services (North) “Strategic asset management” (SAM) is not just about spreadsheets, stock data, or investment programmes. Rather, it is about how to make smart, sustainable decisions to protect homes, strengthen landlords’ operations and, most importantly, improve residents’ lives. In social housing, SAM is about managing homes as long term