05 Nov 2026
How the professional standards can help transform your workplace learning
The Competence and Conduct Standard has officially been launched in England, giving all of us in the housing sector a push to update our CPD plans. If your organisation is still getting to grips with this, the CIH professional standards can be used as a starting point to figure out where improvements need to be made. They’re designed to cover all the key aspects of being a good and responsible housing professional so, even if your organisation already has a solid CPD plan, aligning it with the CIH standards will give you that extra edge in professionalism. If you’re an organisation looking to meet the Competence and Conduct Standard requirements, our pathway to professionalism commercial offering might be perfect for you.
Integrity
Integrity means being honest and sticking to your moral principles – an important quality to have when your work affects the homes and lives of others. As a housing organisation, you’d ideally like every one of your employees to demonstrate a high level of integrity at all times, so your CPD plan should involve maintaining this, or reaching this point if you haven’t already. Identifying positive role models within your organisation and the wider sector can help you to identify the areas your workforce needs to progress in.
Your internal culture needs to promote honesty and fairness. Making mistakes is how we learn and better ourselves, so employees shouldn’t feel afraid to ask for help when something didn’t go the way they planned. Staff should be encouraged to speak up if they don’t know something so that others can step in and support, especially if it affects tenants. Training in areas like maintaining professional boundaries and challenging incorrect or unhelpful practice can be helpful to make sure colleagues, communities and residents are treated with the respect they deserve.
Inclusive
Inclusivity is at the heart of housing; every person deserves a safe place to call home. Everyone has qualities that make them unique and it’s crucial to navigate life as a professional (and in general) with an open mindset. Whether your organisation has mainly front-facing or back-office staff, inclusivity is more than just a tick-box exercise – it’s a crucial part of your CPD plan that has real impact on the communities you support.
The housing sector is a diverse environment to work in and everyone in your organisation should have an understanding of who it is you help, and what their needs are. You should promote a culture of openness that encourages everyone from top-level executives to new starters to challenge unfair behaviour and attitudes. An achievable CPD goal would be to have all staff undergo unconscious bias training – being inclusive means continuously learning new things about yourself and the world around you.
Ethical
Being an ethical housing professional links closely to having integrity and being inclusive. Many people choose to work in housing because it gives them the chance to help their community, but good intentions should be backed up by knowledge that allows you to make ethical decisions that affect other people’s lives.
As an organisation, you should have your own ethical decision-making model (you can use ours as a guide) to support staff in making tough calls. Making sure employees hold the right qualifications to understand the effects of their choices is also essential, especially in England where the Competence and Conduct Standard now requires senior managers and executives to be qualified to a certain level. By getting staff trained up now, you’re prepared for the years to come when staff naturally progress into more senior positions and will already hold the qualifications they need.
Knowledgeable
The Competence and Conduct Standard ensures housing professionals have the knowledge to support residents safely and effectively. Even if your organisation isn’t in England, it’s important to keep your staff’s knowledge up to date as part of your CPD plan so you can keep up with the standards of the rest of the housing sector.
By now, you should understand who in your company needs to undergo a housing qualification immediately and who will need to in the future. Even if most people in the organisation are already qualified, it’s a good idea to map out who holds what and to work together to identify knowledge gaps. Just because you already meet the regulatory requirements doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be upskilling wherever you can. Having theoretical knowledge is one thing but applying it to your local area and community is another – ensure staff are up to date with the issues affecting the residents they work with as well as broader sector changes, and encourage them to self-reflect regularly.
Skilled
Much like having the knowledge to do a good job is important in housing, so is having the right skills. Staff should consistently be building up essential skills by working on the job and learning as they go, but it’s important to keep track of any gaps that start to appear and factor these into your CPD strategy.
Encourage employees to seek out opportunities to build their skills and make them aware of your CPD budget. Something as simple as becoming a CIH member can really help move them forward as a professional, whether that means spending time reading through relevant sections of our Knowledge Hub or signing up for a training course with member discount. Aligning staff goals with the wider company’s goals will help everyone achieve their professional aims and lead to a successful and efficient workforce.
Advocate
Advocating for the sector is a big part of working in housing. As an employer, you have a duty to advocate not only for your workforce, but for the communities you support and the sector as a whole. The Competence and Conduct Standard’s purpose is to ensure that housing staff have adequate training to be able to help and advocate for tenants and residents. The failings that led to tragedies like Grenfell Tower and the death of Awaab Ishak must not be allowed to continue.
Complying with regulations and putting resident safety at the heart of everything you do is non-negotiable. There are unfair negative stereotypes attached to social housing, so giving staff the necessary training to look past these pre-conceived notions and actively combat them will help. Sharing positive stories of how your organisation and local community has come together to solve problems is also a great way to advocate for the people you work with. Introducing ambassadorial roles within your organisation is an easy way to put the sector on the map in a positive way. The housing sector is a diverse and brilliant place to be, and sharing wins is just as important as sharing mistakes and making improvements.
Leadership
Everyone in housing needs to be able to lead, even if they’re just starting out in the industry or their career. Leaders have a positive vision for the future and lift others up, so it’s important that your CPD plan involves supporting your current leaders while nurturing future ones.
Putting staff through relevant training will give them the confidence and expertise to strive for excellence and work towards their goals. Setting up regular check-ins between managers and employees will help everyone stay on track and can be a great way to identify new aims or areas for improvement. Your employees should also feel confident enough to own up to any mistakes made and to rectify them as needed. Building a collaborative culture and encouraging employees to take the lead from each other is the way to success.
The CIH professional standards are a brilliant framework to build your CPD plans around, whether your aim is to meet regulatory standards or upskill your workforce. As the housing sector changes and improves, we’ve all got a duty to keep up and do the best job we can. Make sure your staff are familiar with the standards as well – you don’t have to be a member to uphold our values.
To improve and explore each of the professional standards in depth, please use our professional standards resources.
