On 27 January 2026, Inside Housing published their risk register survey. Undertaken each year, Inside Housing examines the financial reports of 100 housing associations to identify the main risks impacting organisations for the 2024/25 financial year.

The top risk themes identified in the 2026 survey

1. cyber security and IT management;
2. health and safety;
3. customer service / satisfaction / expectation / experience;
4. data quality / integrity / protection / governance;
5. asset management;
6. financial;
7. development;
8. recruitment and retention of staff;
9. legal and regulatory compliance; and
10. sustainability / net zero / environmental commitments.

We discuss some of these identified strategic risks in further detail below.

Cyber Security

Cyber security was identified as the most common risk for a third year in a row, with 84% of organisations identifying this as a concern. It is unsurprising that this remains a key concern for housing associations, particularly as a breach can negatively impact the effective running of an organisation and be costly in terms of reputational and monetary impact. Cyber security being the top risk reiterates the importance of ensuring business continuity plans are in place. The survey provides 20 examples of controls different housing associations have in place to mitigate cybersecurity risks. It is vitally important that the sector takes the security of data seriously.

Legal and regulatory compliance

Over half of housing associations named legal and regulatory compliance as a main concern. This is an increase from 44% in the previous risk register survey. This is unsurprising due to sector wide changes such as the implementation of Awaab’s Law and the proposed introduction of two new consumer standards. Additional regulation brings with it additional costs and additional risks of non-compliance together with the potential risks that can bring. Many housing associations have mitigations in place such as regulation and compliance groups; regular reviews of policy and procedures and roles dedicated to monitoring legal and regulatory changes. Of course, being compliant with regulation is a core requirement of a housing association.

Artificial Intelligence

Increased use of Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to provide streamlined resources but it also increases risk to all organisations, including housing associations. The risk register reveals some have identified AI as an emerging risk instead of a current strategic risk. Currently, this is not a top risk for most organisations, and it is not one of the most named risks on the risk register. Regardless, housing associations should ensure they keep up to date with changes in use of AI and ensure steps are taken to mitigate any risks to their organisations for example through policy and procedure. This is particularly important as we experience increase use of AI over time, meaning this will become an increasing risk as widespread usage increases. We know that AI use by residents in complaints is increasing dramatically and this is increasing the workload on housing associations. The sector needs to consider a) how they can respond to this; and b) how they might effectively use AI themselves but in a way that maintains the ‘human element’ of communication with residents.

A copy of the full Risk Register Survey published by Inside Housing can be viewed by subscribers here.

Conclusion

The findings of the risk register survey demonstrates that organisations continue to adapt to an evolving sector characterised by regulatory change, rising operational costs, environmental commitments and advances in technology. The fact that cyber security has now been the top risk for three years in a row, coupled with the increasing risk posed by AI, underlines how important proper data security and data systems are for the effective running of a housing association.

How Capsticks can help

If you have any queries around what's discussed in this article, and the impact on your organisation, please speak to Darren Hooker and Georgia Moon to find out more about how Capsticks can help.