Welsh Housing Quality Standards

What is Welsh Housing Quality Standard?

The Welsh Government has introduced the 2023 Standards, which has been created to upgrade social housing in Wales in a way that contributes to positive health, education and wellbeing outcomes for tenants.

The investment required to enable homes to meet the Standard, also provides a significant opportunity to generate and retain prosperity for local communities, through the creation of jobs, training and apprenticeships in the supply chain.

The Standards outline what social landlords are expected to comply with. It is expected that all homes should be of high quality, be healthy to live in and meet community, family and individual needs of tenants. Social landlords are actively encouraged to engage with their tenants to shape their programme of works and to take account of feedback from other tenants’ lived experience of retrofits, in order to improve how homes can be efficiently and effectively maintained, upgraded and decarbonised in future.

The Standard sets the requirements that all social housing is updated and kept in good condition so social tenants have the opportunity to live in a home that must:

Be in good condition.
Be safe and secure.
Be energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
Have modern kitchen and utility areas.
Have up-to-date bathrooms.
Be comfortable and suitable for the occupants.
Ideally, have a garden.
Ideally, have pleasant outdoor spaces.

What are the deadlines?

Here are the main deadlines that we will be working towards:

31 March 2025:

Assess the condition of your homes to determine the required improvements. This will involve reviewing existing information and potentially visiting some homes to undertake surveys. We will notify you if a visit is required.
Develop a comprehensive plan and budget to upgrade homes to meet the standards.
Engage with you to share our plans, gather your feedback, and raise awareness of the revised standard.
Update our business plan to incorporate the necessary improvements to comply with WHQS 2023.

31 March 2027:

Create a Targeted Energy Pathway (TEP) based on home assessments. The TEP will detail the necessary steps, work, and timeline required to maximise your home’s energy efficiency, ensuring it provides affordable warmth.

31 March 2030:

Ensure all properties achieve a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of ‘C’.
To reach this standard, all homes must typically be well-insulated as a minimum.

31 March 2034: