"The decisions we make today shape the homes and communities of the future. This report shows how we're investing in the quality and sustainability of our homes, supporting residents through a challenging economic environment and strengthening the organisation for the long term.”
Building a sustainable future
Our environmental, social and governance (ESG) report for 2025/26 explains how we're creating long-term value for residents, communities and stakeholders through our approach to sustainability, social impact and governance.
The report sets out our performance against the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRSSH), covering key areas including environmental sustainability, resident wellbeing, affordability, governance and organisational resilience.
It reflects a year in which we remained focused on improving services for residents, investing in existing homes and strengthening the foundations of the organisation. While challenges remain, the report demonstrates the progress we've made in improving the quality, safety and sustainability of our homes, supporting residents through financial hardship and continuing our work to strengthen governance and accountability.
Future-proofing our homes
Improving the environmental performance of our homes remains a key priority. During the year, 1,711 homes were improved to EPC C or above, significantly exceeding our target and bringing the proportion of homes meeting that standard to almost 85%.
We also secured additional funding through the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund, supporting our programme to improve the energy efficiency of some of our least efficient homes. This work is helping residents reduce energy consumption, lower household bills and live in warmer, more comfortable homes.
Alongside improvements to residents' homes, we reduced carbon emissions from our operations by 10% compared with the previous year and continued to embed sustainability across the organisation.
Delivering social impact
Our social purpose remains at the heart of everything we do. As well as providing affordable homes for more than 130,000 Londoners, we continue to support residents through financial challenges and invest in stronger communities.
During the year, our welfare benefits teams helped residents secure more than £4.3 million in additional income, while our hardship fund provided targeted support to those facing financial difficulties.
We also continued to invest in resident involvement, giving residents more opportunities to shape services, influence decision-making and hold us to account. Resident feedback continues to play an important role in driving improvements across the organisation and helping to shape our future strategy.
Strengthening our governance and accountability
Good governance is fundamental to delivering safe homes and effective services. During 2025/26 we continued to make progress against our regulatory compliance plan, completing the majority of planned actions by year end.
We strengthened governance arrangements, improved oversight and accountability, and continued to build the systems, processes and assurance needed to support better outcomes for residents and compliance with regulatory expectations.
As we reached the end of our Better Together strategy, we also established five organisational priorities focused on customer experience, safe and quality homes, our people, governance, and financial resilience. These priorities will help guide the development of our next corporate strategy and support our ongoing improvement journey.
Baths Court heat network retrofit
At Baths Court, our supported housing scheme in west London, we completed a £1.2 million heat network retrofit to improve reliability, comfort and energy efficiency for residents.
Delivered in partnership with Fairheat and Watkins Heat Contractors, the project modernised an ageing communal heating system serving 32 homes and communal areas. The upgraded network is designed to be more efficient, more reliable and better prepared for the transition to low-carbon heating technologies.
The improvements have already delivered significant benefits, including a 74% reduction in heat network losses and a 62% reduction in carbon intensity, alongside lower gas and electricity consumption. Residents now have greater control over their heating through individual heat meters and updated controls, enabling fairer billing based on actual energy use.
Given the needs of residents living at the scheme, customer support was central to delivery, with dedicated on-site support, regular communications and measures to minimise disruption throughout the works.
The project represents an important step in our programme to modernise older heating systems, improve the quality of residents' homes and reduce environmental impact. In recognition of its success, Baths Court received the Energy Project of the Year – Residential award at The Energy Awards 2026.
Cultivate Colindale: creating community and biodiversity through meanwhile use
At Cultivate Colindale, we transformed a vacant 4,000m² site within our regeneration programme into a vibrant community garden, learning space and environmental asset.
Working with Wayward and Energy Garden, the meanwhile use project brings together food growing, community activities, volunteering opportunities and biodiversity initiatives, creating a space that local people can enjoy while the site awaits future development.
The garden includes allotments, food-growing spaces, composting facilities and creative workshops, helping to strengthen community connections and increase access to green space. NHG colleagues also volunteered their time during the year to support the development and maintenance of the site alongside local residents.
Cultivate Colindale is contributing to our wider environmental ambitions by creating habitats for wildlife and promoting biodiversity in an urban setting. Through activities including pond dipping and insect surveys, local schoolchildren have been able to learn more about nature and the role it plays in thriving communities.
By turning underused land into a valued community asset, the project demonstrates how regeneration can deliver environmental and social benefits long before new homes are built.
Strategic asset management creating better outcomes for residents
During the year, we introduced a new asset strategy designed to make better use of our existing homes and respond more effectively to changing resident needs.
The approach enables more homes becoming vacant to be offered to existing NHG residents whose circumstances have changed, helping people move into homes that better meet their needs. This includes residents affected by overcrowding, changes in health or mobility, financial hardship, or domestic abuse.
One of the first examples of this approach created a "lettings chain", where a single move unlocked opportunities for multiple households. A resident who had been seeking to downsize for two years was able to move into a smaller home, reducing the impact of bedroom tax and improving their financial wellbeing. Their previous home was then allocated to a family who had experienced persistent safety concerns and needed a secure place to live. A further home released through the process will provide another household with suitable accommodation.
This demonstrates how strategic asset management can deliver wider social value by helping residents access homes that better suit their circumstances, improving wellbeing, increasing safety and making more effective use of our housing stock.
