Members Forum – Have your say: Government Consultations
In order to formulate our responses to the current raft of consultations being undertaken by the government we want to learn what you, our members, think. Gathering your views will enable us to submit a collective response on behalf of the tenant management sector. We will therefore be holding an online meeting on Tuesday 12th August 2025 (2-4pm). If you would like to receive an invite to the meeting please email us on [email protected] to reserve a place.
The current consultations are:
Rent Convergence
As part of the recent spending review the government announced their intention to introduce (from April 2026) a 10-year rent settlement for social housing which will see rents increase by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) + 1% every year. However, in response to previous consultation, achieving the proposed level of investment into new and existing socially rented homes, will require the rent levels for all social homes to increase to a level known as ‘formula rent’. Rent convergence is the term used to ensure that those rents being charged which are less than the ‘formula rent’ levels are increased by more than those already at that level. The idea being that there’s more fairness and predictability on rent levels—regardless of your landlord or how long you’ve lived in your home. This follows the consultation on future social housing rent policy that the government carried out between October and December 2024.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is asking for opinions on how rent convergence should be implemented, the rate of convergence, and timings. Closing date for the consultation is Wednesday 27 August 2025.
Decent Homes Standard
You may remember that in 2006 the then government introduced a requirement that all socially rented homes should meet a basic standard of repair and modernisation. Housing providers were given until 2010 to achieve this standard and were expected to maintain them at that level in the future. As we all know the achievement of this standard was variable with not all social landlords achieving it. The government is now proposing reforms to the Decent Homes Standard and intends to set new minimum quality standards for housing. These will apply to both Housing Associations and Councils. Amongst other things the new standard will seek to address issues such as damp and mould, security and thermal comfort. Opinions are sought on the implementation and enforcement of the new standards, the impact on leaseholders and the introduction timeframe
Closing date for the consultation is Wednesday 10 September 2025.
Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard
This consultation seeks views on government’s proposal to set a minimum energy efficiency standard for socially rented homes. It covers setting a minimum energy efficiency standard, addressing implementation issues, and longer-term decarbonisation and net zero.
Closing date for the consultation is Wednesday 10 September 2025.
