Raising standards together
At Brighter Places, we want every customer to receive a service that is safe, respectful and reliable. That's why we welcome the new Competence and Conduct Standard, introduced by the Regulator of Social Housing from 1 October 2026.
The standard aims to make sure housing professionals have the right knowledge, skills and behaviours to deliver high-quality services.
Over the next three years, we’ll continue developing our colleagues, reviewing how we work and involving customers in shaping our approach.
Ultimately, it’s about making sure our customers receive the best possible service from people who are skilled, accountable and focused on what matters most to residents.
What is the Competence and Conduct Standard?
The standard sets out clear expectations for housing providers like Brighter Places. It requires us to make sure colleagues delivering landlord services are properly trained, professional and customer focused. The standard also applies to contractors and other organisations working on our behalf.
To help us meet these requirements, we have:
- developed a new Competence and Conduct policy
- maintained our current Code of Conduct in line with the NHF Code of Conduct 2022
- drafted and consulting on a new Code of Conduct aligned with the NHF Code of Conduct 2026
- made changes to recruitment and induction processes
- changed how we assess performance and development
- developed how we undertake regular skills and development reviews for colleagues
- identified those in scope of professional qualifications for relevant housing leadership roles
- put in place checks and monitoring arrangements for contractors and service providers
- identified opportunities for customer scrutiny and feedback
What we've done so far
We've already taken important steps to prepare for the news standard, including:
- identifying roles that require professional housing qualifications
- reviewing and verifying existing qualifications held by relevant colleagues
- supporting our first group of colleagues to begin professional qualifications
- creating a framework to assess skills, knowledge and behaviours
- strengthening checks for contractors and managing agents
- putting arrangements in place to monitor progress and compliance
- inviting customers and colleagues to review our new draft Code of Conduct
Professional qualifications
Some housing roles are now required to hold specific professional qualifications.
We’ve already identified the training routes needed and will support colleagues through the process with study leave, learning time and development opportunities to gain qualifications.
This work will be rolled out over the next three years, helping us meet the new standard while continuing to deliver services to customers.
Working with contractors and service providers
Customers expect the same high standards whether services are delivered directly by Brighter Places or by an organisation working on our behalf.
That’s why we’re strengthening how we monitor contractors, managing agents and service providers to make sure they have suitably skilled and qualified staff.
We’ll continue to review their performance and ensure they meet the standards our customers expect.
How customer can get involved
Customer feedback plays an important role in helping us improve.
We want customers to help shape how we deliver services and hold us to account for the standards we set ourselves. This includes:
- Having opportunities to comment on and review our Competence and Conduct policy and associated Code of Conduct
- Accessing information about the standards we expect from colleagues and contractors
- Taking part in customer panels, scrutiny groups and other engagement activities to review our performance relating to service quality, customer experience, complaints, learning and development, and compliance with competence and conduct requirements
- Sharing feedback about customer service and professional behaviour
- Helping inform training and service improvements
- Seeing how we’ve acted on feedback and recommendations
Listening to customers helps us to continuously improve by understanding what’s working well and where we can do better.
Documents and policies
To be open and transparent about our approach, we have published our documents and policies here for customers to download. These documents explain the standards we expect, how we support colleagues to develop their skills, and how we monitor performance across the organisation.
Looking ahead
The Competence and Conduct Standard gives us an opportunity to build on the work we're already doing to improve services for customers.
While meeting regulatory requirements is important, our focus is on making sure customers receive a consistently high-quality service from people who are knowledgeable, professional and accountable.
We’ll continue to invest in our colleagues, work closely with contractors and involve customers in reviewing our progress.
By working together, we can continue improving services and creating positive outcomes for the communities we serve.