Stock condition surveys: a plain guide.

A stock condition survey is a physical inspection of a landlord's homes, inside and out. A surveyor looks at each part of the home, records its condition with photos and notes, and flags anything that needs work. Put together across every home, the results tell the landlord what condition its housing is in and what work is due.

The Regulator of Social Housing calls them the most effective way to understand the condition of homes:

"Stock condition surveys are the most effective way for landlords to have a comprehensive understanding of stock condition, including its compliance with the Decent Homes Standard."Regulator of Social Housing, Focus Report: Understanding the condition of tenants' homes, 17 July 2025

What the regulator requires

Since 1 April 2024, the regulator's Safety and Quality Standard has applied to housing associations and council landlords registered with it. Its first required outcome reads:

"Registered providers must have an accurate, up to date and evidenced understanding of the condition of their homes that reliably informs their provision of good quality, well maintained and safe homes for tenants."Safety and Quality Standard, required outcome 1.1.1

The same standard expects landlords to hold "an accurate record at an individual property level of the condition of their homes, based on a physical assessment of all homes", kept up to date (specific expectation 2.1.1), and to keep homes to at least the Decent Homes Standard (required outcome 1.2.1).

Who carries it out

Surveys are carried out by a landlord's own surveyors or by an outside firm. Either way, the regulator expects the landlord to check the quality of the work: by relying on the supplier's own checks, reviewing surveys it has bought in, or paying a third party to review surveys done in house.

The regulator expects a stock condition survey to include "a physical inspection of homes sufficient to assess all criteria of the Decent Homes Standard, including an assessment of the hazards identified under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System", plus anything else the landlord asks for.

In practice that means a record, for each home, of:

• The outside: roof structure and covering, chimneys, gutters and pipes, walls, windows and doors.
• The inside: kitchen and bathroom (their age, condition and layout), ceilings, walls, floors, stairs and doors.
• Services: heating and the boiler, hot water, electrics, plumbing and drainage, as seen. Testing is for a qualified engineer.
• Safety: smoke and fire alarms, and any hazard seen, noted for assessment under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.
• Damp and mould: where it is, how much, and the likely cause if it can be seen.
• The evidence: a photo of each defect, a note of where it is, and a condition rating for each part, or why it was not inspected.

The 2006 Decent Homes guidance names the parts that matter most. Its "key building components" are the external walls, roof structure and covering, windows and doors, chimneys, central heating boilers, gas fires, storage heaters, plumbing and electrics. A key component that is old and in poor condition can, on its own, make a home fail the standard.

The survey only earns its keep when the results are used. The regulator's focus report expects:

• Investment plans built on it. Planned spending should be enough for homes to reach and stay at the required standard. If a survey changes the picture, the plans change too.
• Quick action on what it finds. Some homes that fail the standard will turn up in every survey round. Landlords should have "a timely and robust approach" to putting them right.
• A record of the outcome. Including the share of homes inspected that did not meet the standard when they were seen.
• Clear reporting to boards and councillors. How the landlord knows the condition of its homes, and what the latest information costs.

When a surveyor cannot get in, the code of practice asks landlords to take all reasonable steps to gain access, and to use other visits, such as a gas safety check, to see inside a home.