“The involvement of Housemark, L&Q, Metropolitan and numerous other housing associations signals that the development of the UK data standards will be accelerated,” said Andrew van Doorn, Chief Executive of HACT. “It’s no longer a question of whether data standards will happen. We believe that once the full data standard is developed, it will be adopted and embraced by the sector.

The project, which paves the way for the adoption of a new, standardised data descriptions across the sector is poised to transform the way housing providers store, interpret and share data. It will enable more effective systems integration, more cost effective technology-led innovation, and better performance benchmarking.  It also holds the potential for lower cost overheads associated with mergers, at a time of consolidation across the sector.