Asset Registers – An important tool for social housing providers

Brendan Sarsfield explored the role of a data management strategy for Inside Housing on 2 August 2023. “The data you need today isn’t always the data you needed five years ago and isn’t the data you will need in five years’ time”. One important tool to assist this is a well-maintained asset and liabilities register.

Current market conditions

Social housing providers are operating in the toughest conditions the sector has seen and therefore need to have a good grasp on their assets and liabilities. By making the best use of their assets and understanding the risks of any liabilities, this will ensure social housing providers are able to respond quickly to changing market pressures.  

In the current climate there are various reasons to ensure that the asset register is up-to-date and accurate:

Mergers – prospective merger partners will want to know about the social housing provider and the stock they own and manage.

ESG Funding – green covenants to improve energy performance are likely to cover not only the housing stock being charged but all the properties the social housing provider own.

Adopting the SRS – any social housing provider considering adopting the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS) will need to demonstrate they understand all their assets.

Unsecured funding – whilst the properties used for unsecured funding are not charged or covered by a certificate of title, the social housing provider will still need to know about their properties and if there are any restrictions which impact their value. Any unsecured funding may also have requirements to charge the security upon the occurrence of certain events and so the social housing provider must ensure that all relevant data is held for the properties.

Building Safety – an asset register which has been integrated with other property management tools would allow a social housing provider to identify any properties that require work and to plan accordingly.

Net zero carbon – an asset register will allow a social housing provider to see which assets are capable of being improved. By fully understanding the stock, social housing providers could benefit from bulk order discounts where properties need the same type of upgrade or improvement works. Where there are assets that cannot be improved and do not qualify for an exemption, having the data may aid decisions on disposal.

New funding – where the social housing provider is looking to charge leasehold titles it will need to check what the remaining term of the lease is, as requirements are different depending on whether a leasehold title is charged for traditional debt finance, Bond or EMTN programmes for instance.

An asset register acts as a valuable tool for decision making, risk assessment and strategic planning. 
By having an up-to-date asset register in place, social housing providers will remain agile and able to deal with new opportunities and challenges that may occur.

For further information, do contact Sharon Kirkham or Scott Turner.