Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) 2023: assessment methodology

The Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) 2023 sets out what all social homes in Wales should provide in order to be safe, secure, warm and suitable for tenants. The revised standard, implemented in April 2024, introduced updated requirements and a new assessment approach. Social landlords are required to comply with the new standard by 2034.

This document explains:

• the themes and elements assessed under WHQS
• the assessment codes used
• how overall compliance is determined
• how WHQS aligns with statutory safety requirements such as HHSRS

The standard is organised into 8 themes that describe what a quality home should provide. Under WHQS, a social home must offer:

1. a good state of repair
2. safety and security
3. affordability to heat with minimal environmental impact
4. an up‑to‑date kitchen and utility area
5. an up‑to‑date bathroom
6. a comfortable home that promotes wellbeing
7. a suitable garden
8. an attractive outside space

Of the 44 elements that make up the standard, 39 are measurable and therefore included in the statistical return.

Elements assessed by social landlord policy

Five elements are instead assessed through each social landlord’s WHQS compliance policy:

• specific household requirements (6d)
• reasonable adjustments (6e)
• community spaces (8b)
• biodiversity (8c)
• water efficiency (3g) (removed from measurement this year following measurement issues)

New elements

Some elements continue unchanged from the previous standard, while others are new or have been strengthened. New elements include:

• energy efficiency and decarbonisation requirements (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3f, 3h)
• space for recycling (4e)
• facilities for washing, drying and airing clothes (4h)
• floor coverings (6b)
• noise (6c)
• external storage (8a)

Examples of strengthened elements include:

• structurally stable and free from disrepair (1a)
• free from damp (1b)
• secure doors and windows (2a)
• fire detection and alarms (2c)

Changes in assessment methodology

The new standard introduced three main changes when assessing whether a property meets each element:

• a new set of assessment codes, replacing the former “acceptable fails”
• a shift to property-level data, providing more detail and improving data quality over time and supporting better long-term planning
• a new rule that an element is considered a fail unless there is evidence to show otherwise; missing element assessments are therefore treated as assumed fails for compliance purposes

The new standard includes a wider range of assessment codes than the previous standard:

1. Pass
2. Conditional pass
3. Temporary fail
4. Fail
5. Missing data (treated as a fail for compliance)

"Conditional pass" and "temporary fail" replace the old “acceptable fail” category and allow landlords to explain why an element cannot currently meet the standard.

Assessment of elements

Not applicable

Some elements do not apply to every property.  For example, homes without a garden are not assessed against garden‑related elements.

Pass

The element fully meets the standard.

Reason codes

Social landlords are required to use reason codes alongside an assessment of conditional pass or temporary fail from the list permitted for each element as documented on the data specification. 

Conditional pass

A conditional pass can only be used where the standard allows (WHQS 2023 Appendix 6). It is used when improvements/changes cannot be completed, and this is unlikely to change. Circumstances include:

• physical constraints (e.g., building design prevents improvements)
• heritage or conservation restrictions
• in some cases, cost‑prohibitive situations

Elements covering statutory or regulatory requirements (all elements in section 1: a good state of repair and section 2; safety and security) cannot receive a conditional pass.

Temporary fail

A temporary fail may be used when the social landlord intends to complete the work but cannot do so at the time of assessment due to circumstances outside their control. Examples include:

• tenant refusal
• inability to gain access
• planned work as part of wider programmes, often scheduled within the next few years

Some energy efficiency elements have additional codes (see appendix 6 of the standard).

Missing data

Where no assessment has been recorded this is treated as an assumed fail.

A home complies with WHQS only if all applicable elements are assessed as pass or conditional pass.

The hierarchy for determining overall compliance is:

1. Fail: if any applicable element is failed, the home is non‑compliant.
2. Temporary fail: for all applicable elements, if there are no fails but at least one temporary fail the home is classified as a temporary fail.
3. Conditional pass: if all applicable elements are assessed to be conditional passes (i.e. there are no fails or temporary fails) the home is a conditional pass
4. Pass: if all applicable elements are assessed as a pass homes are compliant with the standard

Missing assessments result in the home being recorded as non‑compliant due to missing data.

The overall compliance assessment reason code for a home is determined by the worst type of temporary fail or conditional pass.

Ranking of assessment codes (worst to best)

• Fail 
• Temporary fail: currently cost prohibitive (decarbonisation only) 
• Temporary fail: programmed works within 5 years 
• Temporary fail: tenant refusal 
• Temporary fail: tenant delay (timing) 
• Temporary fail: tenant behaviour / financial restrictions (damp only) 
• Conditional pass: physical constraint 
• Conditional pass: cost prohibitive 
• Conditional pass: heritage / conservation 
• Conditional pass: other metrics / offsetting (decarbonisation only) 
• Pass

Homes with missing assessments are recorded as non‑compliant due to missing data. It is anticipated that as social landlords improve their data over the coming years this category will no longer be needed.

Elements with multiple components

Where an element contains multiple components, assessment is based on the lowest scoring component. In other words, if any component fails, the whole element is recorded as a fail.

For example, if a home has one window that does not meet the required security standard, the entire external doors and windows element is assessed as failing, even if all other windows and doors meet the requirement.

The Housing Act 2004 introduced the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) (GOV.UK), which assesses 29 categories of housing hazard and replaced the previous Fitness Standard. Since 2004, social landlords have been required to include HHSRS in their inspections and stock condition surveys.

Any element identified as having an HHSRS Category 1 Hazard automatically results in the dwelling being recorded as failing WHQS. This ensures coherence between the statutory HHSRS safety requirements and WHQS compliance assessments.