The Competence and Conduct Standard

On this page, you'll find more information about the government's consultation work on the Competence and Conduct Standard. 

Compentence and Coduct Standard consultation

In February 2024, the then Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), now Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) launched a consultation on the Competence and Conduct Standard and the NHF submitted a full sector response, following engagement with our members.

Summary of our response

Housing associations are committed to delivering a high-quality service to residents and investing in staff development. However, we want to ensure the measures introduced in the Competence and Conduct Standard do not negatively impact costs, retention and recruitment for the sector.

We know the operating environment for housing associations is challenging and housing associations are already difficulties around staff recruitment and retention.

We want to make sure the proposals are deliverable for housing associations, including smaller and supported housing providers, so residents get the best outcomes. The changes proposed are substantial, and need enough time for a transition period that allows the sector to adapt.

In our response to the consultation, we asked the government to consider:

• A transition period of at least five years, enabling the sector to adapt to the standard and reduce disruption to existing services. This will allow costs to be spread over a longer period of time, give the labour market time to adapt to the changes and allow training providers time to adapt.
• More consideration about how the standard will affect supported and smaller housing associations, which may have more staff who would require training under the changes. We’re asking the department to use the Regulator of Social Housing’s definition, which is those with fewer than 1,000 homes.
• Measures to reduce disruption to service delivery, including clarity on which existing qualifications can be passported and whether staff with significant experience can be fast-tracked. For staff in the final years of their careers, an option for exemption should be considered.

You can find out more about the consultation on the government website. You can learn more about our work on the Social Housing Regulation Act and stay informed about the latest developments on our dedicated webpages.

Government’s response

On Tuesday 30 September 2025 the government published their directions to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). They advised that the Competence and Conduct Standard will come into force in October 2026.

Offering more flexibility around course content, it will give registered social housing providers greater flexibility to tailor qualifications for different job roles and seniority levels.

From October 2026, senior housing association staff will be required to hold, or be working towards, a recognised housing management qualification. Senior housing managers or executives, with partially compliant qualifications, can complete additional training modules to cover any missing course content. This will be a permanent arrangement beyond the transition period.

All new staff, including temporary and interim staff, must enrol in qualifications within 12 months of starting a new role. There are exceptions for volunteer staff.

Contractors too are mostly exempt from the qualification requirements, except when delivering the bulk, or all of, housing management services.

Larger housing associations will have three years to transition to the new standards, and smaller housing associations will have four years. This gives housing associations more time to adapt to the changes.

Read the government’s full response here.

Next steps

Following the government’s direction to the Regulator of Social Housing, the Regulator will need to consult on the Standard before it can come into effect. We will be coming to our members with guidance and opportunities to feed into our response when that consultation is published.

We’ll also be updating this page with the latest information.

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