Introduction
The Social Housing Regulation Act also made provision for introducing a new, regulatory standard on the competence and conduct of staff, including requiring senior managers and executives to have, or be working towards, a relevant qualification and ensuring that staff have up-to-date skills, knowledge and experience, and exhibit the right behaviours to deliver a high quality, professional service and treat residents with respect.
The consultation on the standard ended in April 2024. On 30 September 2025 the government published their directions to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). They advised that the Competence and Conduct Standard will come into force in October 2026.
There is likely to be a transition period to enable staff to start qualifications.
Implications for Providers
- Registered Providers will need to have suitably qualified senior staff and ensure a range of conduct and staff development policies, procedures and training are in place for all staff.
- The consultation also outlined a requirement that Registered Providers ensure that anyone delivering housing management on their behalf has suitably qualified staff. So, if a supported accommodation provider has a management agreement with a Registered Provider, that organisation will also have to prove it meets the standards and presumably, the Registered Provider's policy on workforce skills for housing management roles.
- Whether a provider is Registered or not, there are potential cost and time implications. For medium/larger organisations, the Apprenticeship Levy could be able to be used to fund these qualifications, but smaller providers (those with a pay bill of less than £3m per year) may have to bear the cost.
- It could impact on staffing models where housing management and support are carried out by the same role, but, depending on what your RP partner’s policy requires, that might mean you need all of your team to have certain levels of experience or training in housing management.
Homeless Link will be sharing information on the outcome of the consultation and implementation of the standard as soon as it is available.
Useful links
Competence and Conduct Standard for social housing: consultation - GOV.UK
Further support
Homeless Link offers extensive training and support for the homelessness workforce including training for managers and leaders.
See in particular our accredited qualification in Homelessness management. Undertaking this qualification ensures compliance with the Competence and Conduct standard.
Also see the approved national skills framework for homelessness staff. You can view our programmes here.
