The government has set a target of creating 1.5 million homes by the next election and allocated £39 billion to deliver 300,000 social and affordable homes over 10 years. This sounds like a lot. However, with 172,000 children currently living in temporary accommodation – a record high – we must ask whether we are really doing enough as a country to tackle the housing crisis and give hope to families living in uncertainty.
My first year at Accent has taught me many things, but perhaps the most important is this: when the foundations are strong, real change becomes possible.
At Accent, we have been working hard to ensure our customers have a real voice in shaping what we do. In September, we held our third annual Big Conversation, knocking on 5,671 doors and speaking to 1,951 customers. We also launched a new Customer Influence Framework and formed engagement groups to give more customers a meaningful say in our services. The overwhelmingly positive response to our recruitment campaign for these groups shows that customers want to be involved, want to hold us to account, and want to help us get better. Continuing to work closely with our customers is the right thing to do, and it sits at the heart of our corporate strategy and future.
Building a more reliable, customer-focused Accent also starts with our colleague culture. Over the spring and summer, we held a series of workshops focused on our BeAccent culture, bringing renewed energy and clarity to how we work together. Alongside this, we invested further in employee benefits through our Framework for Fairness, aligning with the workplace and culture we are creating together.
We also invested in Wellbeing, Culture and Change Champions to support our colleagues and ensure they are equipped to deliver the best services for our customers. This work has been recognised across the sector, with Accent winning both the Transformational Change and Excellence in Organisational and People Development categories at the 2025 Yorkshire HR Excellence Awards.
This year, our V1/G1 regulatory rating was reaffirmed, alongside our A credit rating, reinforcing Accent’s financial strength and governance standards at a time of unprecedented scrutiny in the sector. We are also seeing positive movement across our Tenant Satisfaction Measure scores, with improvements in customer satisfaction, while remaining open about the work still needed to go further.
Despite ongoing financial pressures and economic uncertainty, our investment in both existing and new homes has remained strong. Our planned works programme delivered record investment to modernise 3,167 homes, alongside improvements in repairs satisfaction. Delivering around 70,000 repairs a year is challenging, but we remain committed to making this service the best it can be.
We are delivering new homes at scale, with 825 homes currently under construction and a development plan to complete a minimum of 400 new homes per year for the next ten years. Despite economic uncertainty, our development programme remains strong. Accent was named the sector’s top EPC A-rated home builder by Inside Housing and climbed to number 38 in its Biggest Builders rankings.
Accent has also secured £33.8 million in new government funding through our Strategic Partnership with Homes England. This will enable us and our partners to deliver 301 additional affordable homes, most of which will be for social and affordable rent.
Customer safety and wellbeing remain a priority, supported by dedicated leadership on safeguarding and a strong framework of protection for those most at risk. In May, we welcomed Nigel Wright as our new Chair of the Board, and throughout the year we hosted community and neighbourhood events across the country, including health checks, IT sessions and estate walkabouts.
In recognition of the hard work and dedication across Accent, we were shortlisted for 12 awards over the past year.
Looking ahead, as Accent approaches its 60th anniversary in 2026, our focus includes continuing our customer-first approach, embedding engagement across the organisation, improving satisfaction and complaints resolution, and building trust and confidence. We will continue to use technology to strengthen service delivery, embed safety compliance in everything we do, build on our partnership with Homes England, submit a bid to the £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme, and invest in Accent’s culture and performance to create a high-performing organisation with clear and visible leadership.
As we come to the end of another busy year, I want to thank all our colleagues, customers and partners for their continued support and commitment. I wish you all a peaceful Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.