3 things we learned from the Repairs Tracker 2025
This week, Inside Housing published our annual breakdown of how much housing providers are spending on repairs and maintenance. Jenny Messenger looks at some of the key takeaways. Illustration by Tom Jay
Repairs is now one of the most important issues for social landlords, and one way to understand this is to track how much they are spending. Each year, Inside Housing delves into the Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) Global Accounts data for 200 registered providers in England to answer just this question.
Our full write-up was published earlier this week, with a breakdown by housing provider and multiple detailed tables. But what are the main findings?
1. No end in sight for rising costs
Repairs and maintenance spending continues to soar, reaching £8.8bn in 2023-24 and is set to total £50bn over the next five years.
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A key reason for the increased spending has been the regulator’s consumer standards and tenant satisfaction measures, which have shown just how important repairs and maintenance services are for residents.
Tom Paul, director of strategy and change at Southern Housing, says its repairs service is “the single biggest driver of complaints. It’s also our single biggest area of cost”. The landlord spent £307.3m, the fourth-largest amount overall, and saw its costs rise 50.4% year on year.
2. Tackling damp and mould is top priority
The problem of damp and mould continues to be a major focus for all providers, many of whom are expecting an even bigger uptick in spending as Awaab’s Law comes into force.
After months of uncertainty, the government recently announced that the legislation, named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died from prolonged exposure to mould in a housing association flat, will be introduced from October this year.
But landlords had already started getting ready in 2023-24, with some of the spending reflecting preparation for the tight turnaround times they will face under the new legislation.
One example from our main story – South East housing association Local Space saw its spending rise 50.3% year on year as a result of a bigger focus on damp and mould.
3. In-house services are on the up
Landlords are looking for ways to improve services and make savings. One answer many are reaching for is to bring repairs services in-house. Across the sector, John Wickenden, research manager at Housemark, told us that in-house teams are now “performing better than those delivering repairs through a contracted-out service”.
They are also concerned with making their existing in-house repairs services as streamlined as possible, hoping that better, faster services for tenants will translate into cost savings as well.
At LiveWest, the fourth-biggest spender on major repairs in 2023-24, a review of its in-house repairs systems has resulted in more than 100 extra repairs completed per day.
Other recent data-driven articles from Inside Housing
Risk Register Survey 2025
Kate Youde examines the financial reports of 100 of the biggest housing associations in the UK, to identify the strategic risks they are most concerned about impacting their operations
Chief Executive Salary Survey 2024
Inside Housing’s annual survey reveals the salaries and other pay of the chief executives of more than 160 of the biggest housing associations in the UK, along with the current gender pay gap at the top of the sector. Jess McCabe reports
The first year of tenant satisfaction measures: the results
The government overhauled consumer regulation following the Grenfell Tower fire. Now, an Inside Housing survey of more than 200 councils and housing associations reveals the first results from the Regulator of Social Housing’s new tenant satisfaction measures regime. Grainne Cuffe investigates
Top 50 Biggest Builders 2024
Which are the 50 housing associations building the most homes? What tenures are they building? And, with warnings already sounded about starts by the G15, what is happening to the pipeline?
The housing crisis among the sector’s staff
An exclusive survey by Inside Housing has revealed that many social housing staff are battling housing insecurity and fearing homelessness themselves. Katharine Swindells digs into the findings
How many toddlers and babies are living in temporary accommodation in the UK?
This live data dashboard uses Freedom of Information requests to track the numbers of under-fives living in temporary accommodation and B&Bs. Katharine Swindells reports
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