Environmental, Social and Governance Report 2025-26

I’m pleased to share our first ESG report as the new Housing Plus Group (HPG). This has been a year of strong progress. We’ve invested significantly in the homes and services that matter most to our customers while building a solid foundation for the future.

Sustainability remains a key focus. We are investing almost £25 million in home retrofit programmes, and during 2025/26 delivered 608 full retrofits to homes previously rated EPC band D or below, helping customers enjoy warmer, more energy-efficient homes.

As a socially focused organisation, improving lives and strengthening communities is at the heart of what we do. From providing quality homes and financial support to helping people into employment, we are committed to making a difference. This year, we delivered £92.3 million of social impact and achieved more than 30,000 positive social value outcomes.

Strong governance underpins our work. We are committed to transparency, accountability and ensuring customers help shape our services, from Board-level decision-making through to service design. Improvements in complaints performance have also strengthened how we listen, learn and respond.

Looking ahead, we will continue investing in sustainable homes and services, creating positive social impact and putting customers at the heart of our decisions. At the same time, we will modernise our systems, strengthen our financial resilience and simplify the way we work, supporting our ambition to become a 40,000-home association and create places people are proud to call home.

Wayne Gethings
Group Chief Executive

We know that improving the sustainability of our services can help customers reduce their energy costs while creating wider benefits for the Group through the responsible use of our offices, vehicles, materials and resources.

Our environmental approach focuses on improving affordability for customers, particularly those living in homes that are difficult and expensive to heat. We are investing in energy efficiency measures and helping customers better understand their energy use, tariffs and available support. This is especially important for our rural customers, around 2,000 of whom live in homes heated by oil, a fuel source that has experienced significant price increases in recent years.

To support this work, we collaborate with local authorities and sector peers, such as Vanguard, to learn from successful projects and apply best practice across our services. We are supporting the Council’s Affordable Warmth Strategy and, through a West Midlands Combined Authority project with the University of Birmingham, we are helping to understand how customers use energy before and after retrofit works to inform future investment decisions.

By 2031, we will have developed net zero plans in consultation with customers. Supported by improved stock modelling, these plans will guide future investment beyond EPC band C compliance and inform asset renewal programmes, aligned with our wider sustainability objectives.

Throughout this work, we recognise the close relationship between our environmental ambitions and our commitment to tackling fuel poverty. We will continue to use customer and property data to identify households most at risk, particularly where the transition away from fossil fuels may present challenges, and provide targeted support to help customers benefit from a more sustainable future.

Housing Plus Group is investing nearly £25 million in retrofitting our customers’ homes. This investment will accelerate our retrofit programme, improve the energy efficiency of homes and support the achievement of EPC Band C across our housing stock by March 2028, two years ahead of the Government’s target. Delivery will be subject to customer agreement and will exclude homes identified for future sale through our Asset Renewal Policy.

In 2025/26, we delivered 608 full retrofits to homes that were rated EPC band D and below. So far in 2026/27, a further 276 homes have benefited from a full retrofit. These works have included replacing oil heating systems with air source heat pumps, installing solar panels and battery storage systems, and adding external wall insulation.

To build on this progress, we have secured an additional Government grant of £1 million to deliver solar panels and battery back-up systems to homes that do not meet the current grant eligibility criteria. We are currently awaiting confirmation of contract arrangements and will announce project start dates as soon as they are confirmed.

Where existing properties cannot be upgraded to the required standard without disproportionate investment, we will continue to dispose of those homes when they become vacant and reinvest the proceeds into improving existing homes and delivering new, energy-efficient housing.

Environmental Alignment of Asset, Compliance and New Build Specifications

To ensure a consistent approach to sustainability and environmental performance across all property activities, our Sustainable New Build Specification will be aligned with our Asset and Compliance Specifications. This will create a single set of environmental standards for maintaining existing homes, meeting compliance requirements and delivering new-build homes. Following consultation with customers, this aligned approach will improve procurement efficiency and deliver cost savings, helping us to invest in retrofit improvements for more customers in the future

Environmental Alignment with Procurement Strategy

Following the adoption of our 2026-2031 Procurement Strategy, updated Procurement and Contract Management guidance is being developed. Sustainability and environmental performance will be embedded within all major procurement activities, with environmental considerations forming a key part of tender evaluations. We will collaborate with suppliers to ensure they have clear plans to reduce carbon emissions. Where practical and affordable, we will prioritise lower-carbon and more sustainable products and services, balancing environmental benefits alongside cost, quality and value for money when making procurement decisions.

While we already operate a number of electric vehicles, the current fleet is ageing and becoming less efficient. We have therefore ordered 280 new vans, of which 10 will be electric. This will serve as a pilot programme, helping us to understand how electric vehicles can best support our operations and identify opportunities to increase the proportion of electric vans within our fleet over time as technology continues to improve and organisational capability develops.

Alongside improving our existing homes, we continue to enhance the environmental performance of new developments. While our new-build homes are generally designed using a fabric-first approach, 238 homes have been delivered without fossil fuel heating systems, relying solely on air source heat pumps for heating and hot water.

We will further strengthen this approach through the development of a bespoke and financially viable Sustainable New Build Specification, capable of achieving an SAP A rating while remaining cost-effective to deliver. Pilot schemes will be built to this specification, with customer outcomes and performance monitored to inform future revisions and continuous improvement.

Maximising the social value of our services for the benefit of our customers is a priority for Housing Plus Group.

We focus our social value on seeking to address some of the challenges our customers are facing, particularly during the ongoing cost of living crisis. This includes financial, social and digital exclusion, unemployment, low skills, loneliness and health inequalities.

We work together with customers, partners and stakeholders to create opportunities for people to reach their full potential, building community and individual resilience.

By engaging with and listening to our customers, we can better understand how we might help enable them to:

• Sustainably improve life chances
• Successfully maintain their tenancy
• Remain independent in their homes
• Receive the most appropriate high-quality care and support
• Contribute towards strong, vibrant, resilient communities

In 2025/26, Housing Plus Group delivered £92.3 million of social impact and achieved 30,315 positive social value outcomes, calculated across our priority themes of Employability; Inclusion; Wellbeing; Resilience and Environment.

Social impact is the effect of our activities on our communities and the wellbeing of the people within them. These figures are based, in part, on calculations and formulas created by HACT (Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust) and the National Housing Federation. A summary of this impact and outcomes in 2025/26 is detailed below.

Housing Plus Group makes a difference to people’s lives by creating jobs, promoting economic growth, generating opportunities for employment and supporting people towards work and training.

Employability Programmes

Through our employability programmes we deliver group workshops and individual 1:1 support to tenants, achieving successful outcomes into work, training or volunteering.

Customers engaging with our programmes are offered work experience with us or our partners to improve their CV and employment prospects.

In 2025/26 we successfully supported 14 people into work. We also worked in partnership with other local employment and training providers to support a further seven of our tenants into work.

Our Get That Job programme supports tenants who are looking to secure employment, improve their employment prospects or change careers. The programme offers three interactive workshop sessions covering confidence building, job searching, CV writing, application techniques, and interview skills.

During 2025/26, we delivered Get That Job programmes in Leegomery and Madeley, supporting residents across Telford to take positive steps towards employment.

Sharon’s Story

Sharon attended one of the Get That Job sessions in 2025, after receiving a message about the event.

After taking an extended career break to care for her child with additional needs, Sharon was feeling isolated but ready to take the next step back into work as her child became more independent.

It had been more than 12 years since she had updated her CV, and her IT skills needed refreshing. However, she left the workshops with a new CV, updated skills and renewed confidence about her future.

Sharon continued to receive ongoing mentoring and support with job searching and interview preparation, and was gifted a tablet from our social value device scheme to help with completing applications.

She started to volunteer for a local charity and began to get invited to job interviews. It wasn’t long before she landed her dream job as a work coach supporting others to find work.

HPG works closely with local schools and colleges to inspire and prepare young people for the world of work, linked closely to our own organisational development and workforce planning priorities.

During 2025/26, we welcomed 150 work experience placements across the organisation, together with 17 longer term industry placements and six supported internships.

Placements vary from occasional days to a week, to a day per week for a full academic year. Meanwhile, a further 158 students participated in school workplace visits and taster days.

HPG staff supported 44 school careers events and workplace visits, with 25 staff volunteers dedicating 200 staff volunteer hours during the year.

Joe’s Story

Joe, from one of our tenant families, came to us for work experience as a 15-year-old. Working alongside Tony, one of our Advanced Craft Carpenters, Joe made a positive impression and was welcomed back for further work experience in Year 11 and during the school holidays.

Joe’s dream was to become a Carpentry Apprentice. He was offered some support with his application, confidence building and interview skills, and after a highly competitive process, Joe was successful in achieving his dream of securing an apprenticeship with Housing Plus Group in 2025.

To celebrate, Tony presented Joe with his first hammer – the same make and model Tony bought when he started his own apprenticeship 42 years earlier.

Tony said: “I got mine when I was 16 and still have the same one. I’m getting Joe the exact same weight and brand. I’ve made a friend for life with this lad and will always be there to support him. I’m hoping this is the start of something really good for Joe – he more than deserves it.”

Michael’s Story

Housing Plus Group is committed to the Armed Forces Covenant. We encourage and support applications from ex-service personnel.

In summer 2025, we were approached by Michael, who was due to leave the Army after 16 years’ service. Having joined straight from school, he was looking for civilian work experience, and wanted to work in property maintenance.

Living in Telford, Michael often saw our vans around town. He had heard we are signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant, so got in touch to see what opportunities we had available.

We were able to offer Michael some flexible work experience shadowing one of our Building Assistants for three days a week.

After three months, he had the opportunity to apply for a Building Assistant role at Elmwood Extra Care. He was successful and is now a much-valued member of the team.

Michael said that having the opportunity to shadow a colleague for a few days a week prior to gaining his role, meant that the transition from leaving the Army to working for HPG was seamless. He says he really enjoys that every day is different, meeting new people and was impressed with the support he received in securing work in this new chapter of his life.

Each year, HPG invests in initiatives that support financial, social and digital inclusion across our communities. Working directly with our tenants, customers and employees, we provide advice, support and opportunities that enable people to sustain their tenancies, maximise their income potential, strengthen social connections and play a fuller role in society.

Financial Inclusion

Our money advice teams help customers access the income they are entitled to, manage finances and access support to sustain their tenancies, including advice on benefits, budgeting, debt, energy costs, employment, grants and crisis assistance.

During 2025/26, the teams secured more than £10.6 million in additional benefits, income, discretionary payments and charitable support for customers, responding to over 4,700 referrals for support and advice.

Lee’s Story

When poor health forced Lee to stop working, he accumulated more than £15,000 of debt, fell behind on his rent and struggled to cover his bills. Feeling overwhelmed, he stopped opening letters and found it difficult to ask for help.

Working with our money advice Team, Lee was able to understand and address his debts while accessing additional benefits that almost doubled his monthly income. With support from our housing team, he also moved to a more affordable one-bedroom property and successfully obtained a Debt Relief Order.

The support not only transformed Lee’s financial situation but also improved his mental wellbeing. Now debt-free for 18 months, Lee says: “When I realised everything was going to be sorted, I could start to feel the weight lift. My advice is don’t bury your head in the sand like I did. There is help out there, and I wish I’d asked for it sooner.”

Michael’s Story

After losing his job, Michael struggled with job applications, finances and the benefits system due to undiagnosed dyslexia. With support from our employment and money advice team, he gained a dyslexia diagnosis, accessed training and therapy, successfully navigated benefit claims and improved his financial confidence through budgeting support.

Digital Inclusion

Housing Plus Group is able to support customers experiencing digital exclusion. We have several devices, phones, tablets and laptops that we gift to customers who are working with us to improve their digital skills and access to technology.

The devices are gifted to the social value team from our ICT colleagues when they are no longer suitable for work use.

During 2025/26 we:

• Gifted 79 digital devices, including 53 to tenants facing financial hardship, digital exclusion or accessibility needs, and 26 to local community partners
• Gifted 43 free data sim cards to tenants without access to the internet, supplied by our telecoms provider, Vodafone
• Supported 117 tenants through 1:1 troubleshooting, skills and confidence building, alongside fraud awareness sessions

We continue to work in partnership with local authorities and others, delivering digital support across our communities to promote digital inclusion opportunities to tenants.

Our social value devices are also used in our Get That Job workshops and work experience bootcamp sessions, improving digital skills and online accessibility.

Tom’s Story

Tom was gifted a laptop to help with his voluntary work with Men in Kitchens, a charity that runs cooking classes for men in the community.

Before receiving the laptop, Tom said that he relied solely on his mobile phone to research recipes and prepare materials for the cooking sessions. This was often inconvenient, time-consuming, and difficult to manage when multi-tasking during his volunteering.

Having access to a laptop has made researching recipes, planning sessions, and accessing information much quicker and easier. The device has helped Tom continue supporting the charity, which he is passionate about.

Tom said: “Without the gifted laptop it would likely have taken me over a year to save enough money to purchase one myself.”

Southall School

Southall School reached out to us after the introduction of Windows 11 meant their existing equipment was no longer fit for purpose. Through our own kit management, we were able to gift 20 tablets and four laptops with Windows 11 compatibility.

Adam Spellman, Headteacher, said: “On behalf of the pupils and staff I’d like to say how thrilled we are with your generous donation of equipment. For some of our pupils, accessing the school equipment is their only experience of ICT.”

Rob Davies, teacher, added: “The iPads you provided are being adapted for communication aids for non-verbal students; visually impaired students; and are being fully utilised in maths classes for pupils to access online programmes.”

Southall School is a maintained day special school in Telford for children and young people with a range of moderate and complex needs.

Supporting the wellbeing of people across the communities we serve is essential to creating places where individuals and families can thrive. Good wellbeing is closely linked to physical health, mental resilience, social connection and overall quality of life. By investing in activities, partnerships and opportunities that bring people together, we can help build stronger, healthier and more inclusive communities, enabling people of all ages to feel supported, connected and empowered to reach their full potential.

Much of this work is only possible thanks to the dedication of volunteers, whose time, skills and commitment help deliver activities, support local initiatives and create meaningful opportunities for people to connect, participate and flourish within their communities.

Customer Wellbeing

Over 9,700 customers each month took part in activities across our retirement living and extra care schemes during 2025/26. A total of 13,212 different activities were delivered throughout the year, including fitness classes, gardening clubs, walking groups, reading clubs, singalongs, quizzes, and arts and crafts sessions. Run by staff and volunteers, these activities play an important role in supporting customers’ physical health, mental wellbeing and social connections, helping them to stay active, engaged and independent.

Alongside these regular activities, customers enjoyed a wide range of organised trips and special events designed to bring people together and create lasting memories.

During 2025/26, our programme included two holidays, numerous day trips, visits to musicals and pantomimes, and celebrations for Christmas, Chinese New Year and Halloween.

Other popular events included boccia competitions, Men in Kitchens cookery workshops, the annual Bake-Off and a gardening competition.

In total, 107 organised trips and events were enjoyed by more than 2,788 customers, helping to foster friendships, reduce social isolation and strengthen community connections.

Volunteering

840 volunteer hours were logged by 73 staff members to assist with litter picks, school events, digital inclusion workshops, communal garden tidies and outdoor improvements at our learning disability homes.

3,966 volunteer hours were donated by individuals and students to our Care Plus Engagement and Volunteering Team who support residents across our retirement living schemes with activities such as dog walking, befriending, gardening, and helping to deliver events and activities.

2025/26 saw a 37% increase in the number of people volunteering to do these roles with up to 54 individuals fulfilling 66 different volunteer roles across 57 locations.

Supporting Our Most Vulnerable

Our Intensive Housing Management service support some of our most vulnerable tenants.

Our tailored support service delivers impactful interventions to enable individuals to maintain their tenancies and ensure their safety at home.

R’s Story

An alert was raised following a home check from one of our Trade Operatives.

R demonstrated significant hoarding behaviours, and property surveys identified damp and mould issues, with air quality assessments confirming that conditions in the bedroom were unsuitable for vulnerable individuals.

R has been a single father to twin sons since they were three months old. Tragically, one of his sons died in 2024.

R recognised his hoarding behaviours and explained that he collected and kept items because he “didn’t have much” when raising his sons. As a result, he held on to anything he thought might be useful, including his deceased son’s belongings, his own possessions and items from his sons’ childhoods.

In order to remedy the damp and mould there was a need to address the hoarding in a compassionate way due to the highly sensitive nature of the situation.

Weekly video calls were set up with R’s surviving son, who lives in Italy, so he could be shown the old childhood toys, helping R to agree they could be removed by us. Through this process we supported him, not only to clear some of his belongings, but also reconnect with his surviving son.

Through our social value device scheme we gifted R his own mobile phone, and referred him to a digital inclusion project to teach him how to use it. We also discussed grief counselling with R, which he is considering. R continues to receive support from our Intensive Housing Management team.

K’s Story

A trade inspection uncovered significant damp and mould. However, remedial works could not be completed due to the property’s poor condition which posed significant risks to K and her partner, and their neighbours.

With consent, we worked with external partners to remove household waste from the property. This was followed by a comprehensive bio-clean, enabling the damp and mould remediation works to be carried out.

We worked with the fire safety team to complete a person-centred risk assessment. As a result, additional smoke detection was installed in all rooms, thumb-turn locks were fitted to all doors to enable emergency exits, and assistive technology was implemented so that any smoke alarm activation would be monitored by an external call centre.

With support from the hardship fund, a new bed and mattress were purchased as well as a new electric cooker to reduce the fire risk.

Our team collaborated with the GP, Mental Health Team, and Adult Social Care, and accompanied the couple to health appointments to ensure they received diagnoses and appropriate support.

During this intensive support, K shared, in confidence, that she wished to leave the property due to domestic abuse. With ongoing support from teams across our organisation she is now living safely and independently within a retirement living scheme.

Community Investment

School Games

Housing Plus Group, in partnership with one of our developers KEON Homes, proudly supported the Energize Primary School Games programme across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin during 2025/26.

The School Games programme helps give young people opportunities to be active through sport and physical activity. Housing Plus Group’s support enhanced the participant experience by providing medals, certificates, banners and event t-shirts, helping to create memorable and rewarding events for children across the region.

This investment enabled young people to celebrate their achievements, build confidence and enjoy positive experiences through sport.

Little Footprints in the Sky

In 2025, Housing Plus Group supported the development of the Little Footprints in the Sky Baby Memorial in Telford after being approached by the local charity behind the project, which is run by two HPG employees.

Staff volunteers joined forces with our supply chain and development partners to provide time, expertise, materials and financial support, while HPG also contributed grant funding through its Community Fund.

Thanks to this collective effort, the memorial was completed and opened in Spring 2026, creating a special place for families to remember their loved ones.

The project is a powerful example of partnership working, employee volunteering and corporate social responsibility in action, and we are grateful to R1 Construction, Prime Facilities, Leavier Limited, QA Kitchens, AST Flooring and Dodds Group for their support.

Fifth Avenue Community Centre

Whilst fitting new fire doors at Fifth Avenue Community Centre in Bushbury, our trades Adam and Jake were asked if they could help with some other jobs around the building.

Supported by their Maintenance Supervisor, and with paint gifted by Travis Perkins, Adam and Jake opted to use their staff volunteer days to bring an unused room back into use.

Fifth Avenue Community Centre is run by volunteers and provides a wide range of activities and support to those living in the Bushbury area, including many that are our tenants.

Natalie who volunteers at the Centre said: “Adam and Jake were amazing, we couldn’t have asked for more. Their work was exceptional and they went above and beyond.”

Through our resilience programme we financially supported a range of community based projects in 2025/26 for the benefit of Housing Plus Group customers and communities.

These included aspiration building programmes in primary and secondary schools; school holiday activities; food banks and crisis support; Sight Loss Shropshire; Parents Opening Doors; Shropshire Good Food Partnership; ANTA Education; Citizens Advice Bureau and Telford’s Interfaith Council.

Our resilience funds are also used to support individuals and households in crisis. These funds are most commonly distributed through our Money Advice teams for customers they are engaging with. Our own crisis funding is used when other options such as statutory funding or charitable grants have been exhausted.

In 2025/26 we received social value credits via our B&Q trade account. This funding was set aside to support households facing significant hardship in need of floor coverings.

New Road Academy – Money Management and Budgeting for Young People

Working in partnership with the Citizens Advice Bureau and New Road Academy we developed and delivered a Money Matters programme to more than 200 students, from years 7 to 10.

The programme provided practical, preventative financial education to young people and was designed to help pupils understand money in adult life before they reach crisis points around debt, borrowing, Buy Now Pay Later schemes or poor financial decision-making.

The programme was very well received by the school and the students, with all year groups declaring a greater understanding of the topics covered post workshops.

Teacher, Simon Moss said: “Excellent delivery and the sessions were well structured. The engagement of the students was strong as a result of this. Student feedback was very positive and students could articulate key areas of financial wellbeing following the sessions.”

Positive Footprints

Positive Footprints is an inspiring programme designed to raise aspirations among primary school children by helping them explore the world of work, build resilience, develop confidence and self-esteem, and prepare for positive and purposeful futures.

Through social value credits provided by IDEAL Heating, the programme has been delivered by Housing Plus Group in a number of primary schools across Telford, introducing pupils to a wide range of career opportunities and encouraging them to think ambitiously about their future education, employment and life choices.

Shropshire Good Food Partnership – Feeding Resilience

We supported the Shropshire Good Food Partnership to secure funding from CHIP, the charitable arm of one of our procurement frameworks.

Feeding Resilience is a community-led project that makes it easier for people to grow, cook and share healthy food, build community connections and improve health outcomes.

The pilot project focused on Stirchley, Brookside and Dawley, bringing people together through growing and cooking activities and shared community meals. Delivered in partnership with local residents and organisations, the events celebrated locally grown food, home cooking and the diverse food cultures of Telford’s communities.

The six month project reached more than 150 individuals, providing practical food skills and access to growing opportunities. As part of its legacy, plans are underway to develop a community garden, in partnership with Stirchley & Brookside Parish Council, at the Sambrook Centre, Stirchley.

HPG Community Fund – Jewsons EEM

Social Value credits received through our contracts with Jewsons and the EEM procurement framework are used to create Housing Plus Group’s Community Fund.

In 2025/26 nearly £70,000 was awarded to more than 50 community led projects that benefited HPG tenants across Shropshire, Staffordshire and Telford & Wrekin.

Successful applicants included charities, community groups, schools, town and parish councils, sports clubs, food banks, community events, school holiday activities, village halls and community centres.

Little Stars Baby Bank

Little Stars works to ensure babies and children across Shropshire have access to the essentials they need at every stage of childhood such as nappies, equipment, clothing and school items.

Due to increasing demand, the charity moved into new premises in Shrewsbury in 2025. The HPG My Community Fund donated £2,000 towards the move.

HPG’s money advice teams work closely with Little Stars to help support tenants who may be struggling to afford essentials for their children.

Founder and chief executive of Little Stars, Leanne Simcoe, said: “The support meant we could invest in the essential health and safety work, to equip the staff kitchen and buy fleeces to keep our volunteers warm in the warehouse.”

School Holidays

In 2025/26 we committed more than £28,000 to supporting the delivery of free, accessible children and family activities for our tenants across our regions.

Delivery partners came forward with a wide range of opportunities, from fun days, picnics, sports activities, arts and crafts, trips, circus skills, bushcraft, dancing, exotic animal encounters, building bug houses and graffiti art.

Partnership working

Housing Plus Group works closely with our supply chain, contractors and developer partners to maximise social value through our procurement and investment in our homes.

During 2025/26 we completed 709 new homes and our onsite developer partners supported:

• 75 site based apprentices
• 286 work experience weeks

• 49.95% average local spend on subcontractors and suppliers

Striving for good governance is at the root of everything we do at Housing Plus Group.

We are one of the leading providers of housing, care and support services in the West Midlands, and the high standards we set are reflected throughout our corporate strategy.

By doing more for residents and communities, we will deliver better services for our customers and colleagues. We will invest in repairs, building safety, energy efficiency and customer service to ensure our homes and neighbourhoods meet the standards our customers expect.

We will continue to be a place-based leader, working closely with local, regional and national partners to help shape the communities where our customers live.

We are committed to making our organisation a great place to work by supporting the development of our employees, enabling them to deliver excellent services and feel proud to work here.

We will also build organisational capacity and resilience by modernising our systems, strengthening our financial position and simplifying the way we work. This will allow us to invest more in existing homes, build new homes and communities, and support our ambition to grow to 40,000 homes.

Together, these actions will help us create places that people are proud to call home.

Our Behaviours

With more than 33,000 homes across Shropshire, Staffordshire and Telford & Wrekin, we believe everyone deserves a safe, comfortable and affordable place to live. Listening to our customers, both directly and through the insights our data provides, is fundamental to achieving this and helps shape the services we deliver.

Our three behaviours are ways of working that put people first:

1. Own it – Make it happen:
   We take responsibility, and get it done
   We solve problems, not pass them on
   If you need something from us, we will take responsibility and see it through. No passing the buck, no delays – just action.
2. Improve it – Move things forward:
   We find ways to make things better
   We learn and adapt
   We want to do better, every day. We’re open to feedback, always learning, and ready to adapt. If there’s a better way of doing things, we’ll find it.
3. Live it – Show understanding and compassion:
   We build strong relationships based on honesty and trust
   We listen and support
   We are here for you. That means being honest, listening and treating everyone with respect. That’s what good service means to us.

2025/26 Achievements

The Group’s governance arrangements performed well during 2025/26, with a number of notable achievements. During the year, we maintained our G1/V2 rating. G1 is the highest of four possible grades for governance, while V2 confirms that we meet the Regulator’s requirements for financial viability. Following an inspection in June and July 2026, the Regulator confirmed our new G1/V2/C2 grading in October 2026.

The Board undertakes an annual assessment of its effectiveness, skills, composition, and succession requirements. Findings are used to inform Board development, recruitment activities, and governance improvements. During 2025, the Group appointed a Governance Consultant to carry out an external governance review, the recommendations of which form part of the Group’s Governance Improvement Plan and Board Effectiveness Plan.

In August 2025, following its January 2025 merger with Wrekin Housing Group, S&P Global Ratings assigned Housing Plus Group an ‘A’ long-term issuer credit rating with a negative outlook. While not a downgrade, the negative outlook reflected the importance of successfully delivering merger integration, maintaining financial discipline, and sustaining strong governance and risk management arrangements.

One year later, in August 2026, S&P Global Ratings reaffirmed Housing Plus Group’s ‘A’ long-term issuer credit rating and improved its outlook from negative to stable. The rating reflects the Group’s strong market position, financial profile and governance arrangements.

This strong investment-grade rating provides independent assurance of the Group’s resilience and governance framework, supporting confidence among funders, investors, regulators and other stakeholders, while helping maintain access to long-term funding. The Board continues to oversee financial planning, stress testing and integration activity to support the Group’s ongoing financial strength and stability.

We adopt the National Housing Federation’s (NHF) 2020 Code of Governance which we were fully compliant with in 2025/26.

We publish our Tenant Satisfaction Measures annually and these measures are part of a national framework introduced by the Regulator of Social Housing to help tenants understand how well their landlord is performing. They cover key areas such as repairs, safety, complaint handling, and overall satisfaction.

These have ensured we have a good understanding of how our services are working, which services our customers value, as well as which areas we need to improve on going forward.
Housing Plus Group demonstrates a strong culture of transparency, customer influence, and accountability. Customer voice is embedded from Board level through to service design, complaints performance has improved dramatically, and the focus is now on strengthening customer insight, scrutiny, and accessibility.

Housing Plus Group’s corporate governance structure and risk management activities are led by the Group Board which sets the strategic direction. It monitors performance against our 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, with the main aim of creating places people are proud to call home. This plan balances the needs and interests of a wide range of stakeholders and seeks to deliver growth and high-quality services, whilst also balancing the need for investment with that of financial sustainability.

In line with the Group’s Board Member Declarations of Interest Policy, Board and committee members are required to complete a Declaration upon appointment, and annually thereafter, with declarations of interests and any potential conflicts reviewed at each meeting and formally minuted. The policy specifies what constitutes a conflict or potential interest and how the Board will manage this. This will range from redacting Board papers, a Board member leaving the meeting room for specific agenda items to be discussed, through to resignation or removal of a Board member where a conflict is unmanageable.

All Board and Committee Members are also bound by a Service Agreement, Code of Conduct, probity policies and the Standing Orders and Rules of the Organisation. Our Group Board comprises 10 members and benefits from a diverse range of experiences and backgrounds.

Across our Board and committee membership, 44% of members are women and 5% are from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
People aged under 54 make up 22% of all board and committee members across the Group’s governance structure. The Group Board includes one member under the age of 54, representing 10% of its membership.

The mixture of skills they have is suited to the activities we conduct and the risks that we face. The Group Chief Executive and Chair of the Board are separate roles, ensuring the segregation of duties and independence of the Board. The Group Chief Executive sits on the Board, which enhances collaborative working and achieving a shared purpose for our customers.

The average tenure of a Board Member is four years and 10 months. During 2025/26, one member retired and the Chair of the Board came to the end of their tenure. A new Chair (former Chair of Audit and Risk Committee) was appointed from January 2026. The Chair of Service Performance and Customer Experience Committee is a customer of the Group which strengthens customer voice at the heart of governance decision making.

We also have seven independent members across our Audit and Risk Committee, Group Care Committee, Finance, Treasury, and Investment Committee, HPG Finance Limited Board, and Service Performance and Customer Experience Committee. The Independent Members on our dedicated Service Performance and Customer Experience Committee have direct, lived experience of what it is like to be a customer of the Group.

The Group Board is supported by eight separate boards and committees for the subsidiary group members; Choices Housing Association Limited, Old Park Services Limited and Strata Housing Services Limited for legacy Wrekin, and Housing Plus Group Finance Limited, Care Plus Staffordshire Limited and Homes Plus Limited (County Town Homes, Development Worx and Severn Homes) for legacy Housing Plus Group, which have delegated authority to review specific aspects of service and risk management:

• HPG Finance Limited Board
• Group Care Committee
• Integration and Business Transformation Committee
• Governance Improvement Committee
• Finance, Treasury and Investment Committee
• Audit and Risk Committee
• People, Remuneration and Nominations Committee
• Service Performance and Customer Experience Committee (SPaCE)

The SPaCE Committee continues to strengthen the range of ways our customers can get involved and provides a framework for decisions to be overseen and scrutinised. The SPaCE Committee also has a direct reporting route into the Group’s Board, and its Chair is a Board member and the Group’s Member Responsible for Complaints.

The Board regularly reviews its diversity, skills, and experience to ensure it reflects the communities we serve and possesses the expertise to deliver on the Group’s Corporate Plan. The Board leads on Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and is responsible for the delivery of the EDI Strategy. Our EDI Strategy ensures a check and challenge and provides an assurance pathway for achieving our goal: Where everyone is respected and treated fairly, with support and opportunities to thrive.

This strategy will be delivered through a dynamic, responsive three-year action plan, overseen by a cross-organisational EDI Steering Group, led by the Executive Director of Integration and Change, with progress reported regularly to the People, Nominations and Remuneration Committee (PRNC); and the Service Performance and Customer Experience Committee (SPaCE); and annually to the Board.

The commitments and actions within this Strategy will ensure strong compliance with the Regulator of Social Housing Consumer Standards and Tenant Satisfaction Measures; National Housing Federation Code of Governance; and Housing Ombudsman’s Complaints Handling Code.

Our Board and Committee report template includes a statement on how it considers impacts and relates to EDI factors; all reports include customer and EDI implications, helping Members understand customer impact and how data shapes recommendations. Examples include our Repairs Review, which engaged 10,000 customers, and Equality Impact Assessment driven policy changes.

Customer voice is also reflected through Board reports, the Chair of SPaCE Committee’s report to the Group Board and the Customer Engagement Strategy.

Our Board metrics and Performance Reporting Framework have been revised using sector best practice and Board and Committee feedback, with continued focus on customer voice and outcomes.

Risk management is at the centre of our internal control framework, and the Group Board is responsible for setting the tone and culture of risk management within Housing Plus Group. The Strategic Risk Register is presented quarterly to the Audit & Risk Committee (ARC) for review, who recommend it to the Group Board for approval. This provides an opportunity for ARC members and Board members to assess the strategic risks, monitor whether risks are operating within or outside of their agreed appetite level, assess risk scoring, appropriateness of control measures, direction of travel and any new/emerging issues.

The Board’s Statement of Risk Appetite and Risk Appetite Levels were reviewed and approved in March 2026. Risk Appetite sets out how much risk we are willing to take, and accept, in the achievement of our corporate objectives. The Risk Appetite Statement and Risk Appetite Levels are reviewed annually although a dynamic approach to risk appetite is adopted and the Board can amend its appetite to respond to internal and external factors at any time.

Our Risk Management approach is continually reviewed to ensure that it is effective and remains fit for purpose. This enables us to keep our customers safe, deliver excellent services, safeguard our financial resilience, deliver sustainable homes and achieve our environmental, social and governance objectives.

On an annual basis, the Strategic Risk Register is compared with the regulator’s Sector Risk Profile. The analysis is presented to the Board to ensure that we are addressing the risks facing the Group and the wider sector in an effective and proportionate way. Emerging risks are monitored through horizon scanning by Executive Directors, Directors and the Head of Risk and Assurance, with regular reporting to ensure timely identification and responses.

Yes, the Group’s Net-Zero Carbon Strategy 2022-2050 outlines the Group’s roadmap to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The strategy highlights the critical role of the housing sector in combating climate change and sets ambitious goals for the organisation. Key targets from the strategy include:

1. Deliver all new homes to at least meet current Building Regulations standards, ensuring the building envelope (floors, walls, roofs) achieve U value targets set out in the Future Homes Standard. This will create a new build portfolio that is Zero Carbon ready using a Fabric First approach and promotes affordable warmth for our customers.
2. Develop a bespoke and viable sustainable specification that achieves (or is capable of achieving) an A rated SAP score at a viable build cost.
3. Deliver pilot projects using the sustainable specification, monitor outcomes and update the specification accordingly.
4. SAP rating of Band C or above – all existing homes will achieve this rating by end March 2028, two years before the government’s statutory target.
5. Net-zero carbon by 2050: All homes and organisational operations will achieve net-zero carbon status.

The Group will be spending £25 million to deliver 5,532 refitted homes by March 2028, using a blend of government grant, match funding and remaining contributions from ECO/GBIS.

In 2025/26, 1,665 homes benefited from retrofit and energy-efficiency improvements, representing 30% of the total target homes to be retrofitted. This included both whole-house retrofit projects and upgrades such as new windows and doors, replacement boilers and improved heating systems.

Where housing stock cannot economically be improved, stock with EPCs of D,E and F are being sold. The funds raised will support investment in existing homes as well as the new building housing programme.

Housing Plus Group reports Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions through its annual Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) process.

For 2025/26, total reported emissions were 6,817 tCO₂e, comprising:

• Scope 1 emissions: 4,917 tCO₂e
• Scope 2 emissions: 1,544 tCO₂e
• Scope 3 emissions: 356 tCO₂e

Based on total reported emissions of 6,817 tCO₂e and housing stock of 33,000 homes, total emissions equate to approximately 0.21 tCO₂e per home.

We are working with external consultants to assess our homes against both current and future climate-related risks. This work will inform and be incorporated into our forthcoming Net Zero and Climate Change Plan, helping to ensure our homes remain resilient and sustainable in the long term.

No. However, we have undertaken an independent assessment of flood risk across our properties, which concluded that the current level of risk is negligible.

No. However, as noted in our respinse to C6, we are working with external consultants to assess our homes against current and future climate-related risks, including overheating.