Reflecting on 2024 and Looking Ahead at 2025: Social Housing  

Heading into 2025, Berwick’s Bonnie Amos-English reviews the key themes we saw in 2024 and makes some predictions for the New Year.  

2024 was a busy year… 

The cost of living crisis continued, the General Election saw a new government take power, and April saw the Social Housing (Regulation) Act come into force. And that was just the start of the year!  

Additionally, Angela Rayner set a target for Councils and Housing Providers to deliver 1.5million new homes by 2029. We had the start of the Planning Reform, and pledges of more planners for Local Councils.  

There was plenty of merger activity including: 

• Leazes became a subsidiary of Karbon Homes 

• Places for People took over Origin Housing 

• Bromford Housing and Flagship announced the intention to merge 

• Silva Homes merged into Abri 

• Octavia became an Abri subsidiary 

• Longhurst and Grand Union merged to form Amplius 

Berwick Partners supported Liverpool City Council with appointments including Head of Housing Solutions and Head of Estates Management, we worked with Home Group to appoint their Director of Customer Experience and with Westminster City Council to appoint a Chief of Repairs among other roles. Our colleagues in Odgers Berndtson made a number of CEO appointments including Metropolitan Thames Valley, Riverside and First Choice Homes Oldham.  

After reflecting on the past year, I turned my sights towards this year, and the main themes we expect to see. 

Social Housing Predictions for 2025 

I foresee an increase in focus on Customer and Compliance roles given the stricter regulations in both these areas, and more housing associations and local governments expecting their Consumer IDAs throughout 2025. With budgets tight and demands in housing higher than ever, we expect further work to be done by associations and councils around their target operating models. Implementing strategies that save money and add value to customers will be a key objective for many housing providers throughout the year. 

I also expect a focus on digital transformation to ensure housing and customer data is not only available, but accurate. I predict we will also see a rise in the number of internal improvement projects put together and run within associations and councils to ensure compliance with Ombudsman and Regulator expectations. 

The balancing act between building new homes and investing in existing stock looks to continue. I expect we will see further sales, stock rationalisation and strategic asset management –  particularly larger housing associations acquiring further stock. I predict that this will also lead to further acquisitions of smaller associations and merger discussions between neighbouring and mid-size organisations. 

Projects with decarbonisation and sustainability will be firmly planted on the agenda, as all new buildings will need to comply with the Future Homes Standard from this year.  

Finally, I anticipate further prioritisation of sustainable financing and use of funds. Exploring new funding models such as social impact bonds and partnerships with private investors to alleviate some financial pressures. This innovative work coupled with effective cost management strategies will be essential for maintain financial health while delivering high-quality housing services.