Speaking at the Housing Community Summit in Liverpool on Tuesday 9 September 2026, Regulator of Social Housing chief executive Jonathan Walters said providers are working through a period of greater uncertainty and should not expect conditions to become easier in the next few years. In remarks published by the Regulator of Social Housing, he said investment in existing homes remains essential but carries a substantial cost. That framing places stock condition, safety work and tenant service alongside development, rather than treating them as separate tasks. For registered providers, the message was that improving existing homes is now a central test of financial and organisational capacity.
Walters said those pressures are already visible in the sector’s finances. He noted that more than two thirds of landlords now hold a V2 viability grading, and that the position is harder in London and other large cities where fire safety remediation costs are higher. For boards, that points to tighter margins when major spending decisions are being made. Providers are being asked to fund significant works in existing stock while managing uneven regional cost pressures, which leaves less room for error in business planning and capital allocation.
Despite that, Walters said the case for new social housing remains strong. He said landlords continue to carry a dual ambition: delivering more social homes while also delivering better homes, and he pointed to the sector’s record of around 50,000 homes a year, or roughly half a million over the past decade. The policy question raised by the speech is whether that rate can be maintained as economic conditions shift. RSH is effectively asking providers to show how development ambitions will remain credible when investment demands on existing homes are also rising.
Walters linked that challenge to RSH’s 'More and better social homes' discussion document, which argues that the sector and the regulatory approach will both need further change and innovation if delivery is to increase. The speech presented that work as part of a broader attempt to define what sustainable expansion should look like under tighter financial conditions. He was also clear about the regulator’s intended role. The issue, he said, is accountability rather than control. RSH is not seeking to take decisions away from boards, but it is signalling that boards must take ownership of difficult choices and be ready to account for them.
That emphasis on explanation is likely to matter as much as any formal rating outcome. Walters said providers will not be able to satisfy every interest at the same time, and that boards need clear focus on what they are doing, why they are doing it and how those decisions are explained. In practice, that means governance must be visible as well as competent. A provider may decide to slow development, rephase investment or concentrate spending on particular homes, but the regulator is indicating that those decisions should be transparent, evidence-based and consistent with the organisation’s stated purpose.
Walters also used the speech to restate the meaning of registered provider status. He said it is not simply a designation, but a role carrying significant responsibilities: building new homes, delivering a quality service to tenants and meeting obligations to local communities. His closing message was that RSH’s standards exist because providers are expected to deliver good services, add new supply and serve the places in which they operate. Taken together, the speech amounts to a clear regulatory position for 2026: growth ambitions in social housing will be judged alongside the quality of governance and the strength of board accountability.