Building digital foundations for social housing

I think we all can agree that there is a housing shortage and that social housing landlords and local authorities have a big role to play in protecting, maintaining, and managing the existing housing stock, making effective use of it and prioritising vulnerable and domestic abuse tenants.So why do we then continue to insist on doing the same thing in the same disconnected way? Why do we deny landlords, local authorities, councillors, and elected officials the tools to help them deliver and do a better job? The Social Housing Bill has just passed through the House of Lords in Committee Stage. The Bill has three core objectives: to protect existing social housing stock; to better protect social tenants who are victims of domestic abuse; to clarify the statute book by repealing unimplemented legislation that would have worked against tenants and providers.All good and valid purposes, which makes it all the more surprising that the Bill makes no reference to the role that technology could play in assisting delivery of its objectives at scale. Social housing has an efficiency problem. Why not aim to make use of existing innovative technology for the greater public good – carefully thought-through, inclusive and accessible by design?The Bill as it stands contains no provisions relating to technology, digital services, waiting list transparency, stock condition, predictive maintenance, data infrastructure, or tenant-facing digital tools.Much is asked of social landlords and local authorities. Why shouldn't anything that can help them deliver to their objectives and needs, while also resulting in a better and safer experience to tenants and vulnerable groups, be used?I have therefore suggested a number of amendments to the Social Housing Bill that can assist social landlords and local authorities deliver more and better through better use of data and technology. Some examples include: - An effective repair schedule and managing an estate in real-time with AI-powered tools identifying properties at risk of disrepair before problems escalate; scheduling maintenance proactively; providing real-time visibility of waiting list position and estimated timescale; automated updates at key milestones and plain-language explanation criteria; supporting Decent Homes Standard compliance.- Being a good landlord to all tenants by careful and consistent deployment of sensitive data, automated tracking of case milestones to prevent procedural failures – and a cybersecurity requirement for personal data handling – all with human oversight at every decision point given the life-affecting consequences involved.- Introduce a Right to Buy digital service: a tenant-facing, AI-assisted tool managing the full 10-year eligibility lifecycle: milestone notifications, plain-language guidance, application support, and fraud flagging.I am more than aware that digital-by-default is often exclusion-by-default if inclusive design and thinking are not considered and built-in from the beginning. Retrofitting is both expensive and most of the times unsuccessful.We know the Government is keen to harness AI and technology to improve efficiency and growth as it has just unveiled a new AI tool, developed by Google DeepMind, called Augmented Planning Decisions. This is great but slow (the tool is in alpha testing in only three councils).What I propose instead with my amendments to the Social Housing Bill is that the government do more than drip-feed technology tools but rather grip the issue by designing a digital and AI infrastructure with a clear governance framework from the outset. It is no small job, and I am conscious of the scale of the challenge. However, the significant technology gaps and lack of digital layer bring a huge opportunity to design and deliver a digital and AI infrastructure to optimise and manage the Bill's objectives. The caveat being it needs to be thought-through carefully, inclusive and accessible by design with a clear governance framework from the outset. All AI development and implementation must be human-led. AI is a tool to augment human judgement, not replace it. Nowhere is this more important than in a system where decisions affect the safety, security, and wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable people in the country.Both innovation and inclusion need to be taken further. The tools and technology exist. This is about systems, structures, leadership, attitudes, and accountability. It is time to act and lead, not to keep doing the same thing in the same disconnected way. Lord Holmes of Richmond, MBE

Title

SOCIAL HOUSING

Building digital foundations for social housing

By Lord Chris Holmes | 10 July 2026

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