From 1 October 2026, the new Competence and Conduct Standard comes into force for registered providers of social housing in England, alongside revisions to the Regulator of Social Housing’s Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.
For social landlords, the changes strengthen expectations around professional standards, service delivery and accountability to residents.
For repairs and maintenance teams, the implications are particularly relevant. Repairs are one of the most frequent points of contact between residents and their landlord. Delivering them well depends on competent people, clear responsibilities, effective contractor management and accurate information.
The new standards place greater emphasis on landlords being able to demonstrate that those elements are working in practice.
What is changing from 1 October 2026?
The Competence and Conduct Standard requires registered providers to make sure relevant staff have the skills, knowledge and experience needed to deliver good-quality landlord services.
Importantly, this does not stop with directly employed teams. Landlords must also take appropriate steps to ensure relevant staff working for service providers meet the required standards.
Providers will need a written approach to managing and developing competence, covering areas such as learning, development and performance reviews. They must also develop or adopt an appropriate code of conduct and embed it across their organisation.
Qualification requirements will apply to certain senior housing managers and executives, although these are being introduced through a transition period rather than taking full effect on 1 October.
The Government’s Competence and Conduct Standard policy statement provides further detail on the qualification requirements and transition arrangements.
Why repairs and maintenance should be a priority
For many residents, repairs are where the quality of their landlord’s service becomes most visible.
A single job can involve a helpdesk, housing team, contractor, surveyor and compliance team. If responsibilities are unclear or information does not move effectively between them, the result can be missed appointments, repeat visits and complaints.
The new standard makes it increasingly important for landlords to understand not only who is delivering a service, but also whether they have the right knowledge and support to deliver it properly.
In practical terms, repairs teams need:
-
clear roles and responsibilities
-
access to accurate property and repair information
-
appropriate processes for escalating problems
-
effective oversight of contractors and suppliers
-
visibility of repair progress and performance
-
consistent communication with residents
Competence therefore needs to be visible in day-to-day service delivery, not simply recorded in policies or training logs.
Contractor oversight matters too
Many social landlords rely heavily on external contractors and specialist suppliers to deliver repairs and maintenance.
The Competence and Conduct Standard makes the relationship between landlord and service provider particularly important. While work may be outsourced, responsibility for understanding how the service is being delivered remains with the landlord.
Providers need appropriate arrangements for managing contractor standards, responsibilities and performance.
That could include monitoring areas such as:
-
first time fix rates
-
completion times
-
repeat visits
-
quality issues
-
complaints
-
resident satisfaction
Good contractor management also depends on having reliable information. Without clear data across repairs and suppliers, it becomes much harder to identify where performance is falling short or where intervention is required.
Residents need clearer information
Alongside the Competence and Conduct Standard, revisions to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard place greater emphasis on the information landlords provide to tenants.
For repairs, residents should be able to understand what is happening with their job such as:
-
when a job report has been received and acknowledged
-
when somebody is attending
-
what the next step is
-
whether there has been a delay
-
when they can expect the repair to be completed
Landlords also need the information required to understand the service as a whole.
This could include visibility of:
-
first time fix rate performance
-
open and overdue repairs
-
response and completion times
-
repeat visits and recurring issues
-
contractor performance
-
resident communications
-
complaints and satisfaction
-
repair histories and outcomes
Transparency is not simply about producing more reports. It is about making sure the right people have access to accurate information when they need it.
Can you evidence what is happening across your repairs service?
One of the practical questions arising from the new regulatory environment is whether landlords can clearly demonstrate how their services are performing.
For repairs and maintenance, that means being able to follow a repair from the initial report through to completion and understand what happened along the way.
A clear audit trail can show when the repair was reported, who was responsible, what actions were taken, how the resident was kept informed and whether agreed timescales were met.
Digital systems can make this significantly easier by bringing repair histories, communications, contractor activity and performance information together. Dashboards can also give teams a clearer view of key KPIs, helping them monitor service performance, identify trends and understand where action may be needed.
They can also help teams identify recurring problems, monitor agreed timescales and intervene earlier when jobs begin to fall outside expected service levels.
Technology does not replace competent teams. Used effectively, it gives those teams better information and gives landlords greater visibility of the service they are responsible for.
What should social landlords review now?
With the new standard taking effect on 1 October 2026, repairs and maintenance teams should consider whether their current arrangements provide sufficient visibility and control across their services.
Areas worth reviewing include:
-
whether internal teams have clearly defined responsibilities
-
how contractor competence and performance are managed
-
whether repair information is accessible and up to date
-
how overdue or complex repairs are identified and escalated
-
how residents are kept informed throughout a repair
-
whether there is a clear record of decisions, actions and communications
-
how repair performance is monitored and reviewed
-
whether resident feedback is being used to improve the service
-
how complaints are being monitored and managed
The key question is whether the way the service operates in practice reflects the standards and policies the organisation has put in place.
The Regulator published its final decision and revised consumer standards in July 2026. The full consultation outcome and supporting documents provide further detail.
Supporting better repairs and maintenance services
At EVO, we combine technology with hands-on service management to give social landlords clearer oversight of repairs and maintenance. Repair information, contractor activity, resident communication and performance data are brought together in one place. This helps teams monitor the service and maintain a clear record of delivery.
For residents, that means simpler reporting and clearer updates. For landlords, it means better visibility of what is happening across their repairs service and the information needed to manage performance effectively.
As regulatory expectations continue to increase, the combination of people, process and technology will become increasingly important in delivering repairs services that are transparent, accountable and focused on residents.
