The proposed standard is intended to encourage providers to achieve their objectives by making the most efficient use of every pound and every property to deliver more new homes, make improvements to the existing housing stock, as well as providing better service to tenants without placing an additional burden on the taxpayer.

The proposed VfM Standard is complemented by a code of practice that has been designed to help registered providers understand what the regulator is looking for when seeking assurance against the standard.

The proposals signal replacing the current self-assessment, which is primarily narrative, with more focused reporting of value for money.

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Providers will report against their own defined targets, and against common value for money performance metrics.

The performance guidelines are outlined in a separate Value for Money Metrics – Technical Note, which was also published by the government.

“Since we introduced the VfM Standard in 2012, we have seen improvements in transparency and the delivery of value for money, with registered providers demonstrating much more clearly to stakeholders how they are managing their resources and assets,” said Julian Ashby, chair of the HCA regulation committee.

“But there is more work to be done to demonstrate the effectiveness of the sector’s response to the value for money challenge.”