Welsh housing quality standard: overview

All social housing must be maintained and kept in good condition. Housing associations and local authorities with social rented homes are responsible for meeting and maintaining homes to the housing quality standard.

The standard has been updated to reflect changes in the way people live, work and feel about their homes. The Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) 2023 will continue to improve the quality of people’s homes, sets new targets to address decarbonisation and water efficiency. 

The updated WHQS 2023 standard published in April 2024 contains the following material changes to the standard published in October 2023:

• Appendix 2 – Full guidance on Balancing Carbon Emissions across a Housing Portfolio (Page 56 to 59)
• Appendix 3 – Full guidance on Whole Stock Assessments and Target Energy Pathway (Page 60 to 67)

An easy read version is also available to accompany the updated WHQS 2023 standard.

For social landlords to meet the standard, homes must be:

• in a good state of repair
• safe and secure
• affordable to heat and have minimal environmental impact
• fitted with an up-to-date kitchen and utility area
• fitted with an up-to-date bathroom
• comfortable and promotes wellbeing
• a suitable garden; and have
• attractive outside space. 

Note - The Welsh Ministers propose to specify a rule(s) in relation to social landlords’ response to damp, mould and other hazards. Any such rule(s) may be issued as an addendum to WHQS 2023 once any required consultation is complete and the rule(s) finalised. Once set, the rule(s) will need to be met in order to comply with WHQS 2023.

We administer two funds to help housing associations and local authorities with their social housing stock:

• Major repairs allowance
• Dowry gap funding

Major repairs allowance

We give funding to the 11 local authorities who continue to manage and maintain social housing.

Funding 2024 to 2025

• Caerphilly £7,300,000
• Cardiff £9,570,000
• Carmarthenshire £6,200,000
• Denbighshire £2,370,000
• Flintshire £4,980,000
• Isle of Anglesey £2,690,000
• Pembrokeshire £4,000,000
• Powys £3,720,000
• Swansea £9,280,000
• Vale of Glamorgan £2,770,000
• Wrexham £7,520,000

Dowry gap funding

We give funding to 10 housing associations to help them improve their social housing. These housing associations were formed when local authorities transferred their responsibility for social housing across to these organisations.

Funding 2024 to 2025

• Trivallis (formerly RCT Homes) £7,300,000
• Newport City Homes £6,500,000
• Tai Tarian (formerly NPT Homes) £6,200,000
• Bron Afon Community Housing £5,800,000
• Tai Calon £4,200,000
• Adra (formerly Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd) £4,100,000
• Merthyr Valleys Homes £2,900,000
• Cartrefi Conwy £2,600,000
• Monmouthshire Housing Association £2,600,000
• Barcud £1,600,000