The Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2023 (the Standard) sets the target conditions of all social housing in Wales.
The Standard says that all social housing must be updated and kept in good condition so tenants can live in a home that:
- is in a good state of repair,
- is safe and secure,
- is affordable to heat and has minimal environmental impact,
- has an up-to-date kitchen and utility area,
- has an up-to-date bathroom,
- is comfortable and promotes wellbeing,
- has a suitable garden, and
- has an attractive outside space.
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Maintenance
It is important that the standard is maintained, and investment is planned properly. The amount of investment needed will change every year so our programmes of work will need to be adjusted annually.
We have a number of temporary fails, and we have brought in measures to revisit and maximise achievement of the standard. A temporary fail is a property that does not meet the standard for legitimate reasons. For example, if a resident does not want what is offered.
We review the standard when a property becomes vacant. We also work closely with the Tenants Participation Team to get tenants that have not had WHQS works or who have changed their minds to contact us.
Funding
The funding is made up of:
- council housing rent income,
- borrowed money (prudential borrowing), and
- the Major Repairs Allowance (MRA) Grant from the Welsh Government.
In the 2026 to 2027 financial year, we will get £9,570,000 from the Welsh Government which will be spent on WHQS improvement schemes.
