Housing Association
A housing association is a not-for-profit social landlord that provides low-cost rented and shared-ownership homes, regulated as a registered provider of social housing by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). As a housing association landlord you must meet RSH consumer and economic standards on safety, repairs, tenant involvement, governance and financial viability, with strengthened, proactive inspection powers from April 2024.
Most housing association lettings are social or affordable rent with strong security of tenure and regulated rent-setting rules. You are also accountable to the Housing Ombudsman for individual complaints, and failures on issues like damp and mould or anti-social behaviour can result in findings of maladministration, compensation orders and regulatory downgrades.
Many housing associations also own market-rent and intermediate rent homes within the Private Rented Sector. Here, the Renters’ Rights Act changes how you increase rents (a single annual process for PRS tenancies) and tightens possession grounds for redevelopment and management reasons, while sitting alongside existing RSH and Ombudsman oversight.
From a landlord’s perspective, running a housing association portfolio means operating under dual regulation: RSH and Housing Ombudsman for social homes, and the Renters’ Rights Act and PRS regime for market-rented stock, all against rising expectations of professionalism, transparency and prompt resolution of hazards.
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