The first challenge is one we hear repeatedly from development teams:
"We're relying too heavily on spreadsheets and don't have clear visibility across our development programme."
It's an understandable problem. Development teams are under huge pressure to deliver more homes while managing rising costs, tighter regulation, increasing governance requirements and more board scrutiny.
At the same time, demand for social housing continues to rise. There were 1.34 million households on housing waiting lists in England in 2025.* That’s the highest figure for more than a decade. Against this backdrop, every development decision matters.
The problem with spreadsheets
Most housing associations didn't set out to manage their development programme using multiple spreadsheets. It’s often something that creeps in over time - like Japanese knotweed. Before you know it, you’ve got a project appraisal sitting in one workbook, cashflow forecasting lives somewhere else, and your funding assumptions are held by another team. Development managers are using separate programme trackers, while the Finance team are busy building their own reports for those all-important board papers.
The problem is tying all these spreadsheets together to provide programme-wide visibility. One report may answer questions about individual projects, but another might be required when organisations need answers to those big picture questions, like:
- Which projects are underperforming?
- What happens if the build costs increase again?
- How much grant funding have we committed versus secured?
- How financially exposed are we across all our current developments?
Finding answers often requires manual reconciliation across multiple versions of the truth.
The hidden risk
For many organisations, the challenge isn’t just about operational efficiency, it’s about governance. Boards are increasingly being asked to make significant investment decisions based on information compiled from multiple sources. That means development teams can spend days preparing reports, rather than analysing what the data is telling them. This often results in decisions that are based on historic snapshots rather than real-time information.
In an environment where build costs, interest rates and regulatory requirements can change rapidly, being unable to respond to those changes quickly can become a significant risk.
Increasing complexity
Housing associations are also delivering increasingly complex programmes. Mixed-tenure developments, Section 106 acquisitions, grant-funded projects, regeneration and remediation projects and partnerships with local authorities all create additional reporting requirements.
At the same time, government housing ambitions remain high. The Affordable Homes Programme 2021–26 was designed to support delivery of up to 180,000 affordable homes, while wider government targets continue to place pressure on the sector to increase supply.†
The challenge isn't a lack of data.
It's bringing that data together in a way that supports informed decision-making.
The real question
Ultimately, the question isn't whether spreadsheets still have a place in development management - they almost certainly do. It's whether they're being used in a way that provides the visibility, consistency and confidence that housing providers rely on. By bringing spreadsheets together into a single, standardised and auditable model, organisations can retain the flexibility they value while benefiting from one trusted source of information. As development programmes continue to grow in scale and complexity, having a connected approach will be key to making informed decisions, managing risk and delivering successful outcomes.
In part two, we'll be asking: Are housing associations right to be confident in their viability appraisals?
