When is an Asset Programme not an Asset Programme - Greenacre Executive Leadership Lounge discuss readiness for Awaab's Law

With DH2, Awaab's Law and capacity hungry asset programmes dominating business plans and discussions around executive and board tables, it's no wonder that good Asset Directors are in demand and organisations are prioritising investment in existing homes.  Of course, it's a delicate balancing act as growth, new supply and partnerships are also critical to deliver against Governments expectations. As leaders grapple with potentially conflicting investment priorities and a stagnant economy it's time to take an organisation wide approach to evolving regulation and policy direction.

 At Greenacre Executive's quarterly Leadership Lounge, we discussed the challenges of the asset landscape and readiness for Awaab's Law.  One fact was striking - its the culture, infrastructure and data maturity that is hampering efforts to get ahead - not supply chain challenges, component cost inflation and capacity.  Not withstanding those obvious barriers, the real stand out was that organisations that have taken a system wide approach to evolving legislation are making better progress.  Integrated, coherent functional roadmaps in areas like data, people and technology, aligned to business plans and regulatory requirements are essential to getting ahead.

Consistent with the breadth and quality of our Leadership Lounge cohort, we found a cross section of Directors all concerned about how to get ready at an organisation level.  It's clear that regulation readiness in the asset space is being embraced much wider than the property people who are responsible for day to day delivery.  

Recent Housemark Business Planning Boost and Monthly Pulse data highlighted the characteristics of top performing organisations and saw consistency between regulatory grading, key operational metrics, satisfaction and cost performance - further highlighting the need for cross functional working and embedded organisation wide plans.

An experiment I like to conduct is to close my eyes and listen to an exec team discussing a key business area.  In a mature, high performing team you shouldn't be able to tell who has what specialism.   You should expect to see a customer lead driving VFM as much as you should hear the finance team reporting on it.  If these functional areas are treated as hubs of specialist expertise and organising structures for getting things done rather than silos with their own binary objectives we would achieve more and embed critical success factors for all key strategic objectives such as winning hearts and minds, enabling through technology and providing the conditions for success.  This type of cabinet responsibility for all areas of the business and strategic plan is what will see organisations readiness accelerate.  

 A recent poll conducted revealed that almost half (42%) believed that the biggest barrier to readiness for Awaab's Law was Culture and Ownership with a further third (33%) citing systems and data.   This is a pattern we are also seeing consistently through consumer gradings and regulatory learning.  

With FY26/27 underway, it's time to embrace a unified approach to functional agendas and collaborate to ensure that the underpinning philosophy, culture, data and technology infrastructure is in place.  It's definitely the end of the whack a mole era, as there are too many moles to whack so this aligned approach is the only game in town.

At Perfectstorm we are working with Boards and Exec teams  as they tackle the usual round of autumn away days and strategic planning, so here are my tips for context led strategic planning.

To join Greenacre Executive's complimentary Leadership Lounge please contact Lizzie@greenacre-recruitment.com. 

Amanda has built a distinguished career at Board and Executive levels within global FTSE 100 companies, including Vice President and Director roles at Sainsbury’s, Granada Group PLC, and Compass Group PLC. 

Her leadership spans fast-paced, customer-centric, and regulated sectors such as hospitality, travel, retail, and sport.

Since founding PerfectStorm Ltd in 2010, Amanda has brought her expertise to the housing sector, where she has become a passionate advocate for innovation and resident engagement. She played a pivotal role in the Clarion merger, collaborating with the Cabinet Office on the first post-Grenfell resident consultation. Amanda works extensively with Boards and Executive teams to shape strategy, governance, and communications. She also partners with data and technology businesses, like Housemark, to drive growth and has pioneered a new model for embedding the customer voice within housing providers—co-designing structures directly with residents to ensure meaningful involvement and impact.