Welcoming Artificial Intelligence (AI) through the door of social housing: How we can use AI to improve delivery

Cara Green, 16 October 2025

Sometimes AI arrives quietly without announcement through the digital tools we use every day, other times it’s intentionally invited in to help us solve particular challenges. Either way, AI is no longer a distant concept. It’s already entered our professional lives.

At the National Housing Federation (NHF), we’re increasingly receiving questions from members about where to start with AI and what good looks like. Our priority now is to support members to ensure that AI is a useful and trusted colleague that helps the sector to be even more resident focused and human in its approach.

Unlocking opportunities

We believe AI offers opportunities for members to do more to serve their residents, but AI adoption across the sector is a mixed picture.

A new report, The State of AI in Housing 2025 by IT services provider, and NHF partner, Phoenix. reveals 47% of members who responded to their survey are using AI in day-to-day operations, with 30% not using AI and 23% not using AI currently but planning to.

The survey also states that 87% reported having low knowledge of AI and 44% of respondents have no AI policy in place. This shows there’s opportunity for learning and improvement within the sector.

It is crucial that AI is used with clear oversight and governance. We believe in a balanced approach to adoption: an approach that prioritises governance, ethics and human judgement.

AI should support our mission, not distract from it. It’s about opening the door with intention, not rushing through it.

The value of AI

AI isn’t just about efficiencies, it’s about unlocking new capabilities, with broader benefits for housing providers, including predictive insights, personalised engagement and the ability to tailor services to meet individual resident needs more effectively.

AI can support data-driven decision making, strategic planning and evidence-based insights to deliver on building safety.

These are practical, achievable outcomes, especially with the right support and frameworks in place.

Building strong foundations

The conversations we have with members prove that housing providers recognise the potential of AI but face barriers. Limited capacity, lack of knowledge and concerns about risks all affect their ability to move forward effectively.

We’re committed to helping members navigate AI adoption with confidence. That includes sharing best practice and convening expert voices from within and outside the sector and supporting housing associations at all levels of readiness by promoting ethical use, strong governance, and human-centred design.

Our goal is to help members build strong foundations for AI that are secure, inclusive, and aligned with sector values.

Shaping AI’s role in housing

AI is already a key driver in our delivery landscape, the question is how we are proactive in shaping its role in housing, thoughtfully, strategically, and with purpose.

The NHF is developing a new programme of work to help you shape AI’s role in your organisation. We’ll be in touch soon with opportunities for you to get involved in this work, whether you’re a member in the early stages of fact-finding and exploring, looking to deepen your approach, or more advanced with AI innovation and keen to share what you do.

There will be opportunities to get involved in this work. If you have any questions at this stage, please get in touch.