Housing association
A housing association is a not-for-profit organisation that provides social housing, rented homes, shared-ownership properties, and in some cases market-rent housing, on a cost-covering rather than profit-maximising basis. Housing associations are formally classified as registered providers of social housing under the Housing Act 1996 and are regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). They are independent organisations, not part of central or local government, and take a variety of constitutional forms including industrial and provident societies, charities, and companies limited by guarantee. Many are members of the National Housing Federation, the sector's representative body.
There are approximately 1,500 registered providers of social housing in England, managing around 2.9 million homes. The largest, such as Clarion Housing Group and Peabody, manage portfolios of tens of thousands of properties. Most are what the RSH calls "private registered providers", privately constituted but regulated in their use of public subsidy and in the standards they must maintain.
How housing associations are regulated
Housing associations are subject to dual regulation. The Regulator of Social Housing sets and enforces economic standards, covering governance, financial viability, and value for money, and consumer standards covering safety, repairs, tenant involvement, and transparency. The RSH's proactive consumer regulation powers were substantially strengthened from April 2024, including the ability to conduct inspections and to require remediation where a housing association is found to have caused serious detriment to tenants.
The Housing Ombudsman handles individual complaints from social housing tenants against their landlord. Where a housing association is found to have caused maladministration, including on issues such as damp and mould, repairs, or antisocial behaviour, the Ombudsman can require compensation, service changes, and in serious cases can refer the matter to the RSH for regulatory action.
This dual oversight regime, RSH for systemic standards, Housing Ombudsman for individual disputes, is distinct from the private rented sector framework, where regulation is primarily through local housing authority enforcement and, from 1 May 2026, the Private Rented Sector Ombudsman for individual complaints.
What tenancies housing associations offer
Most housing association lettings are on social rent, typically around 50–60% of the local market rate, set by reference to a national formula, or affordable rent, capped at up to 80% of the local market rate. Both offer strong security of tenure: social tenants typically have an assured tenancy with very limited grounds for possession available to the landlord, and most are protected from eviction for as long as they meet their tenancy obligations.
Housing associations also offer shared ownership, a part-buy, part-rent arrangement where the occupier purchases a share of the property and pays rent on the remainder, and some larger associations own a proportion of market-rent properties within the private rented sector. For those market-rent properties, the same legal framework applies as to any other private landlord, including the Renters' Rights Act 2025 provisions on assured periodic tenancies, Section 8 possession grounds, and Section 13 rent increases.
How housing associations differ from private landlords
The defining difference is regulatory status and purpose. A housing association is a registered provider of social housing operating under RSH oversight, funded partly by public subsidy, and constrained in what it can do with any surplus it generates. A private landlord is an individual or company letting property at market rate without RSH regulation, funded privately, and free to use rental income and profits as they choose.
From the perspective of a private landlord, housing associations are most relevant as context. They provide the social housing alternative that a prospective tenant may be on a waiting list for, they compete in some local markets for the same type of tenant, and their regulatory framework, particularly the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab's Law, sets the benchmarks that the government is now extending to the private rented sector through the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
For a full guide to what housing associations are, how they operate, and how their regulatory framework interacts with private renting, see the August guide to housing associations.
Frequently asked questions
What is a housing association?
A housing association is a not-for-profit registered provider of social housing, regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing under the Housing Act 1996. Housing associations provide rented homes at social or affordable rents, shared-ownership properties, and in some cases market-rent housing. They are independent of local and central government and take various constitutional forms, for example charities, industrial and provident societies, or companies limited by guarantee.
What is the difference between a housing association and a council?
A council (local authority) owns and manages social housing directly as a public body, funded through council budgets and governed by elected councillors. A housing association is an independent not-for-profit organisation that provides social housing with public subsidy but is privately constituted and regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing rather than being part of local government. In practice, councils and housing associations both provide social rented housing and are subject to the Housing Ombudsman for complaints, but they are governed and financed differently.
Are housing association tenants protected by the Renters' Rights Act 2025?
Housing association tenants in social or affordable rent properties are not primarily governed by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, which focuses on the private rented sector. Social tenants have their own security of tenure framework under the Housing Act 1988 and the Housing Act 1985, with different possession grounds and rent-setting rules. However, housing associations that own market-rent properties within the private rented sector are subject to the Renters' Rights Act in the same way as any other private landlord.
