Locarla | The UK's Social Housing Data Platform

Social Housing RMI Business Intelligence & other stuff

And so this is Christmas, and what have we done?

As another fun packed year draws to a close, and in the week, we finally get conclusive evidence that 9 out of 10 people who keep their camera’s off in meetings, are actually naked, let’s take a moment to celebrate life’s hero’s. The people with grit, determination, and strength ‐ both of mind, and physical fitness. The selfless few who give no thought for awards or accolades but work tirelessly to improve the lives of others.

No one typifies this more than Gaz Summer. Some say thought leader, guide, guru, sage or even deity, but deep down he’s just a humble guy who likes hats, and building worm farms.

If we could, Gaz would undoubtably have been the most deserving winner of this years ‘Locarla’s Most Favourist Person of the Year Award’, but certain legal implications put the kibosh on that. So, the winner (essentially the 2nd place person if Gaz wasn’t hamstrung by bureaucracy), of this year’s LMFPOTYA is:

Step forward… Mike Edward, MD of Milestone (LinkedIn) ‐ Mike’s story of how he lives with his health issues and continues to navigate their impact demonstrates the strength of the mind and the choices each of us makes when confronted with life’s challenges.

Mike’s prize is a very nice 75‐piece Classic Gift Tin from Beverly Hills Bakery filled with delicious homemade muffins, cookies and brownies. Sadly, as Mike has Crohns, he might not be able to eat them, but his family can enjoy. Sorry Mike.
Unfortunately, Gaz had already chosen the prize before all the confusion over the eligibility rules.

This year we continued our AI journey with gusto. As a business model ours is not AI‐proof. We could see the writing on the wall ‐ we scrape data and build software to organise it. If you looked up ‘Agentic AI’ in a dictionary, it would say – ‘scrapes data and builds software to organise it’.

Given that we have the latest EPC Q3 analysis in this month’s Briefing, it seems timely that today we’re launching our latest work. The result of two years hard labour: a tool that lets you talk to Locarla Properties, our national property and EPC datasets. Ask a question and get a precise, data-driven answer in seconds (sometimes a bit longer). More on that below.

My Christmas message to you all, don’t stress, we’ll figure it out. Smile at strangers, but not in a creepy way. Sometimes Christmas can be a bit sh*t, but it passes.

Thanks for the time we’ve spent together this year, it’s been a blast. To our clients – “you’re the best!” Stick with us as we are light years ahead of the competition.

And to my team, very ably headed by Ajay (the Boss and Chief Scientist), Amy and Preeti, thank you. And to the rest of the crew, too numerous, and of no marketing value, to list here, but wonderful none the less. They are all a joy to work with and I’m a very lucky guy.

Merry Christmas, one and all.

Ed.

‘Blue links‘ for all and ‘green links‘ are behind login so dependent on your licence.

Welcome, welcome, one and all.

The RAG, or put simply, a Retrieval‐Augmented Generation tool.

It looks and feels like ChatGPT (we copied them), but it’s entirely Locarla, and it draws only on our verified dataset. Where GPT guesses, ours reports facts. It is next‐generation analysis made simple.

From today, people fortunate enough to be on our ‘Retrofit/Works’ licence can access the system via this link.

Be gentle with it. Don’t start with trying to split the atom. Ease in gradually. Where, what, how? The RAG has been trained on Locarla Properties data – 4.8 million housing association and local authority owned, residential properties + EPC, UPRN and deprivation data.

It is not ChatGPT, or any other LLM. If your company has a no-LLM policy, tell them to chill out. This is Locarla software, sitting on our servers ‐ accessing only our data. Any information you give is not used to train the model – these systems just don’t work like that.

‘Prompts’ are the questions we ask. You are talking to a machine so some effort is required to craft the question in a way that elicits the best response.

We might write:

How many homes in Lambeth still need to reach EPC C?

But this is vague and does not give clear instructions. A better prompt would be:

Give me the total number of homes in Lambeth that currently have an EPC rating of D–G.

Use all tenures.

Return:

1.	*Total homes with valid EPCs*
2.	*Count of D, E, F and G separately*
3.	*Percentage of Lambeth’s total stock this represents*
4.	*A short explanation of the main archetypes involved*

Here’s a secret ‐

“Hello ChatGPT.
I have access to a Social Housing property/EPC RAG, covering England & Wales. I want to understand more about [topic]. How should I structure an effective prompt?”

Over the next 3 months we will be adding our Housing data, followed by the contract data – these will also be included in the relevant licences. Access, to what we call ‘the RAG’ will also be made available on a monthly subscription without access to the main Locarla site. In my opinion, you need both to use the ‘AI’ part effectively.

Given the nature of our work I of course have issues with the darker side of this new tech.
The energy/water use and the inevitable job losses that will occur because of it, have very serious real-world implications. But the genie is out of the bottle, AI is not going away. A lot of remote working requires no human interaction, and these tasks will be the first to be lost to ‘Agentic AI’

“Here is a list of my competitors’ websites, go check all their prices and build me a report”.

Trades are different. In the next 50 years we are not going to be converting the plumbing and electrics in every property in such a way a robot can do the job.

Everyone in my company is encouraged to use AI as much as possible, with guardrails. I have to re‐skill them, and they need to understand which parts of their job AI can do faster, or better ‐ then learn how to manage that process. Working with, rather than against, the machine.

Better access to cleaner data, the speed of data processing, and the power of analytics will help us solve the problems we face now and in the future. This is what humans are good at, and how we’ve got this far.

If your Locarla licence includes Locarla Properties, you can access the RAG via this login.

It’s all News to me!

AI generated content

South Yorkshire Housing Association and Elim Housing have joined the Places for People Group, expanding investment and support for thousands of customers. Source: Places for People Group. Chelmer Housing Partnership and Estuary Housing Association plan to merge, forming Delta Housing on 1st April 2026 to strengthen services and secure long-term sustainability. Chelmer Housing Partnership (CHP). Jigsaw Homes Group will consolidate its four registered providers into a single organisation. Source: Housing Today

Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council was rated C3 for RSH consumer standard non-compliance, while Ealing Council received a C2; 30 other landlords kept their existing ratings. Source: GOV.UK. The Housing Ombudsman flagged failings in temporary moves, including residents in a caravan and tenancy terminations, with reviews of Trident Housing Association, Wigan Council, and Moat offering sector-wide lessons. Source: Housing Ombudsman Service

Sanctuary is consulting on the sale of 300 shared ownership homes to a for-profit provider owned by the William Pears Group. Source: Housing Today

THFC has announced £350m in new Blend loans to support affordable housing, including £150m to Vico Homes and two £10m facilities for Aster Group and Walsall Housing Group (WHG). Source: The Housing Finance Corporation. Onward Homes secured £207.6m from HSBC, NatWest, and Barclays for its 2030 plan. Source: Investegate. Bromford Flagship finalised £150m sustainability-linked funding with HSBC UK. Source: Housing Executive. Stonewater agreed a £100m funding package for its 2030 plan. Source: Stonewater Ltd. VIVID secured £100m from NatWest as part of a £500m social loan fund. Source: VIVID. Orbit Group achieved £100m in social value ahead of schedule. Source: Orbit Group Ltd.

The Welsh Government has allocated £36m through its RSLs Development Loan Scheme for low-carbon and existing social homes. Source: Welsh Government

Basildon Council is considering an overhaul of its council housing management after letting its maintenance contract with Morgan Sindall lapse. Source: Echo. Peabody Trust is seeking a construction partner for the final phase of its Wornington Green estate regeneration in west London. Source: Construction News

Ventro Group acquired Birmingham-based Harrold Jones Services to expand its national building safety and refurbishment offerings. Source: Construction News

Construction sector administrations jumped in November, with 28 failures-the joint‐highest since March, up from 15 in October. Source: Construction News

As of September 2025, the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) had installed 101,500 measures across 49,400 households. Source: GOV.UK. The Green Homes Grant LAD and HUG 2 delivered 22,000 measures across 11,900 households. Source: GOV.UK. The GBIS installed 107,900 measures in 82,200 households. Source: GOV.UK, and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme supported up to 90,000 low‐carbon heating installations. Source: GOV.UK. Social housing must accelerate EPC C upgrades to meet decarbonisation goals. Source: Housing Executive. Millions of social homes remain vulnerable to rising heat and energy costs. Source: The University of Manchester, while heat-pump homes put less strain on the grid than expected. Source: The Guardian

In 2024‐25, England added 208,600 net additional dwellings, a 6% decrease from 2023‐24. Source: GOV.UK. Affordable housing completions reached 64,762, up 1% and the highest since 2014‐15. Source: GOV.UK. As of October 2025, 5,570 residential buildings over 11 metres were identified with unsafe cladding, up 12 since September. Source: GOV.UK. Scotland’s building tender prices rose 1% in 4Q2025 quarter‐on‐quarter and 3% year‐on‐year. Source: BCIS. Human rights monitors warn that hundreds of UK construction workers remain at risk of modern slavery. Source: The Guardian

New Homes England has launched a strategy to accelerate new homes delivery, support regeneration, and drive innovation. Source: GOV.UK. Middlemen have taken nearly £650m from councils over five years amid the housing crisis. Source: Sky News. Action on Empty Homes found over 300,000 homes long‐term empty in the UK. Source: PBC Today

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Social Housing EPC Analysis

EPC data methodology

Locarla maintains a core dataset of approximately 4.86M property records, updated using monthly Land Registry change‐only (CCOD) files to capture ownership changes, disposals, sales, and newly added stock. EPC data is updated quarterly from the national EPC Register (approx. 28.5M records). For each update, the full EPC dataset is processed and matched against the Locarla property dataset.

Matching is primarily undertaken using the UPRN. Where a UPRN is not present, records are matched against Ordnance Survey AddressBase Location data (around 30M records) using a Machine Learning model. Once a valid match is found, the derived UPRN is used to link the property to its EPC certificate.

EPC Rating Breakdown for Housing Associations Issuing the Most EPCs

Download the full report.

Show me the money!

A PDF guide to contract management on Locarla.

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UK social housing procurement activity remains strong this month, with a broad pipeline spanning repairs and maintenance, construction and demolition, retrofit, compliance, estates services and environmental works across the UK.

Leading this month’s pipeline, CHIC Limited has launched its Merchants Framework 2026–2034, valued at £1.62bn over 96 months. The UK‐wide framework covers the supply and distribution of building materials for repairs, maintenance, retrofit and new build, including plumbing, heating, electrical, timber, roofing, glazing, managed stores, van stock and plant hire.

Looking ahead to major construction activity, LHC Procurement Group has issued a £1.5bn PIN ‐ Housing Construction, Demolition and Remediation (H3) Framework in Scotland. The proposed scope spans new build housing, MMC, conversions, demolition and site remediation. Also at pre-tender stage, the Group is engaging suppliers on its Windows and Doors (WD3) Framework, valued at £100m, for delivery in Scotland. The framework will support the manufacture, supply and installation of PVC‐U, timber and aluminium‐clad windows and doors.

Representing a significant operational services opportunity, Westminster City Council is tendering a £1.4bn Waste and Recycling Collections, Street Cleansing and Winter Services contract over 102 months. The Greater London contract covers residential and commercial waste collection, recycling, cleansing, winter maintenance and event support.

Focusing on core housing maintenance, Procurement for Housing (PfH) has opened a £725m Responsive Repairs, Disrepairs and Void Services Framework for 36 months, UK‐wide. The scope includes responsive repairs, void refurbishments, cleaning, security, pest control and multi‐trade works.

At pre‐market stage, Kent County Council is engaging suppliers on a £500m PIN ‐ Grounds Maintenance & Associated Services Framework over 48 months. The framework will support grounds maintenance, environmental services and public realm works across the public sector. Running in parallel, the Council is also engaging suppliers on an upcoming Modular Buildings and Storage Solutions Framework, also valued at £500m over 48 months. The framework is expected to support modular construction, offsite accommodation and storage solutions across the public sector.

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is engaging the market on its PIN ‐ External Cyclical Maintenance Programme, valued at £180m over 69 months. The programme focuses on external fabric maintenance, boundary works and associated external environments across its housing stock.

Supporting adaptations and accessibility, the Northern Housing Consortium has launched a £100m Stairlifts and Lifting Equipment Framework for 48 months. The UK‐wide framework covers design, supply, installation, servicing and maintenance of stairlifts, hoists and platform lifts.

At a regional investment level, Yorkshire Housing Limited is procuring a £64m Kitchen and Bathroom Installation Framework over 24 months, covering supply and fit works across Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West.

In Scotland, the Edinburgh City Council has extended its £50m Domestic Repair & Maintenance Framework for 48 months. Split across multiple lots, the framework covers responsive repairs, empty homes and planned works, including internal, external and specialist trades.

Targeting asset reinvestment, mhs homes group is tendering £45m of Planned Works over 60 months in the South East, covering roofing, windows and doors, communal works, scaffolding and energy efficiency measures.

At regional framework level, Sunderland City Council has launched a PIN ‐ Minor Works Framework, valued at £43m over 48 months in the North East. The framework is structured across 41 trade‐specific lots, covering scaffolding, roofing, electrical, mechanical, fire safety, building works, gas, plumbing, security and specialist insulation services.

Preparing future fire safety procurement, Notting Hill Genesis has issued a £35.44m PIN ‐ Fire Servicing Framework 2027–2031, spanning London, East Anglia and the South East. The scope includes sprinklers, alarms, risers and wider fire safety systems.

At council framework level, West Lothian Council is consulting the market on a £32.4m PIN ‐ Trades Contractors Framework in Scotland, structured across single‐trade and multi‐trade lots to support property and building services.

Focusing on delivery partnerships, Waltham Forest London Borough has launched a £30m Waltham Forest Services Ltd Technical Partners ‐ DPS over 36 months, appointing partners for property maintenance, energy solutions and asset transformation in Greater London.

Rounding off the month, Caledonia Housing Association Ltd has opened a £16.5m Repairs, Maintenance and Voids Framework for 24 months in Scotland, covering 24/7 reactive repairs, voids and multi-trade housing works.

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The Other League Tables

Along with our main monthly league tables, ❲see below❳, we also produce tables based on the following trades: Retrofit, Asbestos Survey, Fire Risk Assessment, Water/Legionella & Stock Condition Survey. ❲Premium Clients, click here for the PDF❳

Top of the league in each table are ….

Retrofit:

Wates Group

Asbestos Survey:

Tersus Consultancy

Fire Risk Assessment:

IFI Group

Stock Condition Surveys:

Property Tectonics

Water / Legionella:

Sureserve Compliance Water

November League Tables

Built Environment Contracts

The trades we cover; Responsive Repair, Planned Works (Kitchen/Bathrooms & Doors/Windows), Gas Servicing/Central Heating, Voids, Fire Safety & Roofing.