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The Seven Skills Housing Leaders Will Need in 2026 – and Beyond

Today’s housing leaders are increasingly being asked to guide their organisations through unprecedented challenges – from heightened scrutiny and tighter budgets, to rising resident expectations and rapidly evolving technology.

These leaders cannot just be decision-makers in 2026. They must have the confidence to justify investments and strategic decisions around AI, digital transformation, and workforce planning, with the capability to actively set direction and manage risk.

UK housing organisations must consider not only how to support their current and future leaders, but also which skills they need to ensure organisations remain on track in an era of unprecedented change and transformation.

Strong Leadership Is Now a Business-imperative

The housing sector currently faces unique challenges across multiple disciplines.

AI readiness is lagging, with our research showing over one third of housing staff report using AI at work despite only 20% of organisations officially deploying AI tools.
The Housing Ombudsman received a 30% increase in complaints in 2024/25,¹ putting increasing operational pressure on housing providers to improve.
The Building Safety Act, the Social Housing (Regulation) Act, and Awaab’s Law have moved the dial on regulatory scrutiny, with the Regulator of Social Housing now conducting inspections on a four-year cycle to maintain standards and accountability.²

Housing leaders can no longer afford to remain static or cautious. Organisations need a new, hybrid breed of leaders who can move beyond traditional, single disciplines to combine multiple skill sets and fluencies.

For more than 20 years, Adecco has supported housing providers, ALMOs, and local authorities in finding leaders like these who can drive their businesses forward. Drawing on our unique, sector-wide experience, here are the seven leadership skills we think will be most crucial in 2026 and beyond.

1. Risk Management and Building Safety Compliance

The Public Accounts Committee recently flagged that cladding remediation remains slow, citing a chronic shortage of expertise.³ Sector repair and maintenance costs have also risen, with the Regulator of Social Housing noting a 13% increase in 2024/25.⁴

Housing leaders need strong judgement around building safety, asset risk, and operational resilience, including proactive risk sensing, clear escalation routes, and confident decision-making.

The leaders who succeed in 2026 will be those who can support departments in translating risk into clear decisions, prioritising investment, and keeping delivery moving without compromising resident safety. Leaders must also instil a culture in which issues are surfaced early, and contractors and internal teams can be challenged effectively.

2. AI Leadership and Human-Centred Delivery

AI and digital transformation have arrived, whether housing organisations plan for it or not. A 2025 National Housing Federation survey found 47% of housing staff use AI day-to-day, despite 87% reporting low AI knowledge and 44% acting without an AI policy in place.⁵ BCN’s research into AI in social housing also found 93.8% of staff using AI found it beneficial, citing time savings, better communication, and improved productivity.⁶

Housing leaders need the confidence and judgement to guide AI adoption calmly and safely, balancing innovation with safeguarding, trust, and operational control. Leaders also need to understand how to balance the human element with digital progress, ensuring residents – especially the most vulnerable – do not lose out.

We see clients aspiring towards predictive repairs, arrears modelling, risk identification and improved triage. The leaders who succeed in 2026 will be those who can proactively set clear guardrails for how these tools are used, prioritising human-centred delivery and ensuring the technology scales based on what works, without introducing new risks.

3. Regulatory and Compliance Expertise

With regulatory scrutiny and expectations continuing to rise and evolve, leaders need deeper competence than at any time before.

The leaders who succeed in 2026 will be those who can create a culture that avoids surprises – translating requirements into clear day-to-day operations, building strong assurance processes, and maintaining clear accountability.

4. Data and Digital Literacy

Gartner estimates that by 2027, 80% of data and analytics governance initiatives will fail because they lack a strategic approach grounded in tangible business outcomes.⁷

Housing leaders don’t need to be technical specialists, but they do need to be able to challenge data quality and ensure data is acted on and interpreted appropriately, aligned with long-term business goals.

The leaders who succeed in 2026 will be those who can ask the right questions, spot data issues early, and use data to move from reactive to proactive decision-making.

5. Collaboration Across Boundaries

Research suggests sector decarbonisation will cost an additional £36bn on top of the £70bn already committed by housing associations.⁸

Sector-wide challenges like these need shared learning and capability. Key to this will be housing leaders who can collaborate beyond organisational boundaries, building external relationships to reduce duplication, improve delivery, and streamline costs.

The leaders who succeed in 2026 will be those who can build these partnerships, share knowledge, and grow momentum, in a sector that urgently needs common standards and faster collective progress. As a strategic partner in HACT’s UK HIVE initiative, Adecco is proud to support the Housing Sector in co-designing innovation pilots and contributing expertise in workforce development and procurement to drive sector-wide transformation.

6. Purpose-led Leadership and Inclusion

Gallup’s 2025 State of the Workplace survey found that global employee engagement has fallen to 21%.⁹

Credible, purpose-driven leadership is more important than ever to maintaining staff retention and performance – and the next generation of housing executives must embody this authenticity.

But purpose only counts if it shows up in decisions, culture, and how leaders listen to residents and colleagues. The leaders who succeed in 2026 will be those who can build trust consistently and turn inclusion into stronger decision-making across their business.

7. Strategic Foresight and Resilience

Housing leaders need to be ready to anticipate quick market shifts, policy changes and emerging trends.

The most successful executives will shift from traditional five-year strategic plans to shorter windows and quarterly strategic reassessments, built for adaptability. Organisations increasingly need leaders who can quickly reassess priorities, confidently accept compromise, and keep organisations resilient through volatility.

Case Study

Adecco supported a UK charitable housing organisation to recruit a new Chair of Trustees and a newly created Operations Director, using a data-led national search, structured assessment, panel support, and advanced Birkman profiling. Both hires were successful, and the profiling was rolled out across the wider leadership team. By supporting the client’s current leadership and installing key new hires, we not only improved operational delivery but also put the organisation on a strong footing for future change.

Build Future-Ready Housing Leadership with Adecco

Transformation will be key to housing strategies in 2026. But transformation fails when leaders cannot align, communicate, and execute effectively. Inconsistent decisions, change fatigue, missed opportunities and reputational damage all carry a high cost.

By building the right leadership now, organisations will move faster, avoid compliance shocks, and keep transformation on track.

Adecco helps organisations build future-ready leadership capability by supporting:

Leadership attraction
Assessment and selection
Succession and pipeline building
Interim and project leadership cover
Inclusive leadership sourcing

If you’re thinking about how to build these skills into your leadership and workforce plans, our housing specialists are here to support you.

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