Professional standards in housing

Information on the Competence and Conduct Standard, the professional standards we uphold for the delivery of housing services.

The Competence and Conduct Standard (CCS) is a new national standard for social housing landlords, which came into effect on 1 October 2026.

It aims to make sure people delivering housing services have the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours they need to do their jobs well. It is also about how we put this into practice to improve residents experiences.

Responses from residents

Residents have helped shape our approach. Our Residents’ Charter (PDF, 140KB) was developed with residents, and residents also contributed to our Housing Competency Model (PDF, 1MB).

In May 2026, we asked our Customer Influence and Assurance Panel (CIAP) what professionalism in housing means from a resident’s perspective. They told us that professionalism is not just about qualifications or technical knowledge, it is about how services are delivered and how residents are treated.

Residents said what matters to them is:

  • clear communication
  • listening
  • taking ownership
  • following things through
  • reliability
  • honesty and transparency
  • respect and fairness
  • accountability when things go wrong

What we are doing

We have developed housing professional standards which bring together the standards and behaviours we expect from people working across housing.

We are putting these into practice through:

  • professional standards workshops for staff and managers
  • customer first training
  • staff induction and development
  • learning from complaints 
  • resident feedback

Our Housing Professional Standards Policy (PDF, 509KB) explains our approach and how we will make sure colleagues have and maintain the skills, knowledge and behaviours they need.

How we assess making a difference

Ultimately, what matters is what residents experience.

We will continue to listen to residents, and use feedback, complaints and resident scrutiny to understand whether our standards are making a difference to the way services are delivered. We want residents to experience the things they have told us that matter. Where residents tell us this is not happening consistently, we will use that feedback to help improve our services and support staff development.

More information