Housing Technology Report - Data Standards in Housing 2025

The purpose of this Housing Technology survey, in association with the UK Government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, HACT and Open Data Exchange, is to understand social housing providers’ views on data standards (n.b. this survey is only applicable to social housing providers).

Please complete as many questions as possible but don’t worry if you can’t easily or immediately answer all of them. Based on your and others’ responses, the final Data Standards in Housing 2025 report will be released in January 2025 (survey respondents will receive an advance copy).

Please note that unless indicated to the contrary within specific survey questions, the term ‘data standards’ also refers to/includes data definitions, data protocols and data frameworks.

Your Details

Data protection & your details: we need your contact details for a. validation & calibration purposes and b. so that we can send you a copy of the final report. All data will be treated anonymously and no individual or company will be identifiable in the final report.

Name*

First NameLast Name

Company Name*

Email*

Survey Questions

Number of properties managed by your organisation*

What do you understand ‘data standards’ to mean, and which are used in your organisation?*

	Select the definition which corresponds to your understanding of the term 'data standards'.	Are these used by your organisation (if yes, tick below)
Standard definitions of terms
Standard definitions of relationships between terms
Standard definitions of formats
Standard definitions of how data is transmitted
Standard definitions of identifiers for terms
Standard definitions of lists and hierarchies of terms
Standard definitions of reports and KPIs

Please rate the overall importance of:*

	Very important	Important	Unimportant	Very unimportant	Don't know
Internally-developed data standards for your operations
Externally-developed data standards for your operations
Shared data standards for the wider social housing sector

How important would the adoption of shared data standards be for your organisation when dealing with these groups?*

	Very Important	Important	Unimportant	Very unimportant	Don't know
Internal staff & operations
Executive team & board
Tenants
Contractors & other external agencies
Inter-organisation (i.e. between HAs/LAs/RSLs/etc)
Regulators & government

What would be your likely difficulties around adopting shared data standards?*

	Very difficult	Difficult	Easy	Very easy	Don't know
Complexity of business processes
Complexity of IT systems
Complexity of regulations
Cost
Data quality
Executive buy-in
Internal buy-in
Internal skills
Other business priorities
Other IT priorities

From your experience of IT projects, what would be the most important tools and resources for helping you to adopt shared data standards?*

	Very important	Important	Unimportant	Very unimportant	Don't know
Best-practice guides
Case studies of other housing providers
Data glossaries or dictionaries
Data standard-compliant IT supplier(s)
Data validation and auditing tools
Reference architectures
Step-by-step guidance
Training for IT & business staff

Please rate the following areas for their relevance to your overall data management strategy.*

	Very relevant	Relevant	Irrelevant	Very irrelevant	Don't know
APIs (from IT suppliers)
Application consolidation
Enterprise data platforms
External data standards
Internal data standards
Middleware
Web services

Please rate the relevance to your organisation of the following use-cases for sharing your organisational data.*

	Very relevant	Relevant	Irrelevant	Very irrelevant	Don't know
APIs (from IT suppliers)
Benchmarking performance with peers
Business intelligence and analytics
Database of all UK social housing
Financial management (incl. rent & arrears)
Innovation and R&D
Rationalisation of IT applications
Regulatory compliance
Repairs and maintenance
Sharing data with contractors
Sharing data with other housing providers
Sharing data with regulators
Tenant access to tenancy & related information
Tenant services and communications

How familiar is your organisation with these social housing-specific data standards and initiatives?*

	Already using	Planning to use	Familiar	Unfamiliar
Sharing data with regulators
BIM4Housing
COBie
GI4Housing
HACT UK Housing Data Standards
NHF/RICS stock condition survey
ODX/ODI
Schedule of rates (SOR) codes
Uniclass
Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN)

Housing Technology | Data Standards in Housing 2025

Your Details

Survey Questions