Homes England Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report 2024 to 2025 — Second Edition (HTML)
Published 9 May 2025
Applies to England
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Homes England Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report 2024 to 2025 — Second Edition
Published 6 May 2025
We know that a diverse and inclusive Agency enables teams to perform better. Our range of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and ideas provides a richer platform for us to do things differently and challenge the status quo.
We also believe that creating a space where everyone feels they truly belong is a key to unlocking personal potential. By respecting and embracing the unique contribution of each individual we create a workplace where colleagues can bring their authentic selves to work, collaborate freely and achieve success together.
1. Introduction from the Board Sponsor and Chief Executive Officer
Lesley-Ann Nash, Board Sponsor
As Board Sponsor, I am really pleased to introduce the annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report. I will continue to support and build on the great momentum achieved in this area, thanks to the dedication and hard work of our colleagues.
This document is a testament to our collective commitment to fostering an environment where every individual feels valued and respected. The progress we have made is a direct result of the passion, effort, and collaboration of our teams, who continue to drive meaningful change.
On the following pages, you can read more about our successes and how our colleagues’ contributions have brought us one step closer to achieving equality of access and experience for everyone at Homes England. I am incredibly proud of their ongoing commitment to making a real difference.
Eamonn Boylan, Chief Executive Officer
I am delighted to share the financial year 2024 and 2025 Second Edition Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report.
This report reflects our unwavering commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace where diversity is celebrated. The progress we have made would not be possible without the dedication and hard work of our colleagues. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who continues to drive us forward, especially our colleague networks, whose relentless efforts and commitment make a real difference. Their contributions and perspectives are invaluable to us all.
Homes England is making significant strides, improving representation across the Agency. This report not only highlights our achievements but also acknowledges the work still to be done. We remain committed to learning, listening, and evolving, together.
Who we are
Homes England is the government’s housing and regeneration agency. We drive the creation of more high-quality, affordable homes and thriving places so that everyone — no matter their background — has a place to live and thrive.
We work in partnership with thousands of public and private bodies including local authorities, home builders, developers, affordable housing providers, commercial real estate companies and financial institutions to make this happen, helping to support the delivery of the government’s target to create 1.5 million new homes during this parliament.
Constitutionally, we are a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
Our statutory objectives are contained in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008, the legislation creating the Homes and Communities Agency, which in 2018 adopted “Homes England” as its trading name to underpin its mission and purpose.
We recognise that our diversity will enable us to best understand the housing and place needs of the communities we serve and in turn help us achieve our mission to drive regeneration and housing delivery to create high-quality homes and thriving places.
Our mission
We drive regeneration and housing delivery to create high-quality homes and thriving places. This will support greater social justice, and the creation of places people are proud to call home.
Our strategic objectives
We have 5 interconnected strategic objectives that work together to deliver our mission.
We will:
- support the creation of vibrant and successful places that people can be proud of, working with local leaders and other partners to deliver housing-led mixed-use regeneration with a brownfield first approach
- build a housing and regeneration sector that works for everyone, driving diversification, partnership working and innovation
- enable sustainable homes and places, maximising their positive contribution to the natural environment and minimising their environmental impact
- promote the creation of high-quality homes in well-designed places that reflect community priorities by taking an inclusive and long-term approach
- facilitate the creation of the homes people need, intervening where necessary, to ensure places have enough homes of the right type and tenure
2024 to 2025 highlights
Committed to increasing workforce diversity. Our overall workforce and leadership profiles to match or exceed Office for National Statistics (ONS) UK averages by 2028.
Committed to eliminating discrimination in collaboration with our Colleague Networks. We raised awareness of hidden disability lanyards and encouraged their voluntary use across the Agency. We campaigned and succeeded in allowing Disabled Persons Railcards to be expensed.
We shared our ethnicity pay gap for the first time in 2023 for transparency and will use it to focus our equality, diversity and inclusion efforts. As of March 2024, we are proud to have achieved our lowest mean and median gender pay gap since we started pay gap reporting in 2017.
We increase graduate recruitment diversity. Offers made to applicants were:
- 84% female
- 45% ethnic minorities
- 36% with a disability
2. Our approach to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)
Building a Brilliant Place to Work
At Homes England, we strive to be an employer of choice. We actively champion diversity and inclusion through our values.
We are:
- Respectful — as the core principle, this runs through all our values and behaviours
- Impactful — we combine our commercial expertise with social purpose to deliver value for money and maximise our positive impact
- Accountable — we are empowered to lead by example, take responsibility for our actions and speak up for what’s right
- Innovative — we are bold, creative thinkers who embrace change, never stop learning and always look for a better way to do things
- Inclusive — we recognise and value everyone as individuals and draw strength from our differences
- Collaborative — we share information, align priorities, and use our collective knowledge and experience to share great results
Values and behaviours
Our Values and Behaviours Framework ensures we collectively advocate inclusion. We embrace and actively champion individual differences in people, their needs, perspectives and experiences, enabling everyone to bring their whole selves to work in order that we can achieve our full potential.
We commit to challenging our own and others’ biases. We take positive action to build and nurture a diverse workforce, promoting an equitable and supportive environment in which opportunities are equally accessible to all.
Core value — Respectful
Value — Impactful Behaviours — Champion success, Be purposeful
Value — Accountable Behaviours — Lead by example, Hold to account
Value — Innovative Behaviours — Be curious, Embrace change
Value — Inclusive Behaviour — Advocate inclusion
Value — Collaborative Behaviours — Communicate with integrity, Collaborate openly
We know that being a truly inclusive employer with diverse, skilled and highly engaged colleagues is crucial to our success, and that our colleagues are our greatest asset. We also know that a diverse and inclusive Agency empowers teams to perform better. The diversity of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and ideas will provide a richer platform for us to do things differently and challenge the status quo.
We recognise that our diversity will enable us to better understand the housing and place needs of the communities we serve and in turn help us achieve our mission to drive regeneration and housing delivery to create high-quality homes and thriving places. We welcome everyone who believes in our mission and shares our values, regardless of their background, age, belief, disabilities, ethnicity, gender identity, maternity status, marital status, religion, sex or sexual orientation.
We want everyone at Homes England to feel like they can bring their authentic self to work and feel a sense of belonging, knowing they are valued and play an important part in fulfilling our mission.
3. Our vision and strategy for equality, diversity and inclusion
In the last Homes England Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report we committed to focussing on internal development and culture so we are in a strong position to make greater industry impact moving forward. We will continue our focus on these objectives this year.
Our financial year 2025 and 2026 objectives are to:
-
define and assign leadership commitments and outline these in an internal action plan
-
improve colleague experience by increasing our score of KPI 17 — Average colleague rating for Homes England being a diverse and inclusive employer, to Build a Brilliant Place to Work
Our priority areas are:
- gender — representation, opportunities and pay
- ethnicity — representation, opportunities and pay
- disability and carers — improving our support and working environment
- improving our equality, diversity and inclusion culture
Objective 1 — Leadership commitment and action
Objective 2 — Colleague experience — Building a Brilliant Place to Work
Our priority areas are:
- improve gender — representation, opportunities and pay
- improve ethnicity — representation, opportunities and pay
- disability and carers — improve our support and working environment
- improve our equality, diversity and inclusion culture
Our delivery values are being:
- respectful
- impactful
- accountable
- innovative
- inclusive
- collaborative
Core — Age, belief, disabilities, ethnicity, gender identity, maternity status, marital status, religion, sex or sexual orientation.
4. Our progress
We’ve made strong progress since we set out our revised equality, diversity and inclusion objectives in 2024.
Leadership commitment
Leadership accountability is essential to the successful delivery of our objectives.
Our equality, diversity and inclusion commitments are led from the top.
Our Board and Executive Directors lead the delivery of the strategy and will continue to follow up their commitment with actions, working together to help build belonging.
Improved diversity of our workforce
We are here to build an inclusive culture where everyone feels valued. We believe that diversity makes us stronger. Our colleagues see the value of self-declaration and equality monitoring to help us lay the foundation to better understand the diverse experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. This isn’t about checking boxes — it’s about making sure everyone feels valued and included. To facilitate this, we need the data.
We collect data from our colleagues which helps us understand the profile of our Agency and guides the actions we want and need to take. This data is collected through self-declaration.
When looking at our completion rates, we are pleased to see the diversity of our workforce increased across the majority of characteristics. An overview of our diversity data, during the reporting period, can be found in the ‘What our data tells us’ section.
Our graduate programme
One of the key aims of our graduate programme is to attract diverse talent whilst also supporting social mobility. Our attraction campaign sets a high standard for best inclusion practice.
Applications from underrepresented groups increased significantly from 2023 to 2024, demonstrating our improved reach.
These graduates bring a diversity of thought to Homes England helping us to better represent the communities we serve.
Data Academy
60 individuals enrolled in the academy. 45% of these apprentices are female or identify as female, a figure that more than doubles the national average for women in data roles across the UK and a further 4% identify as neither male or female.
By challenging industry norms and embracing diversity, we are enriching our Agency with a variety of perspectives. This diversity is vital for Homes England, as it widens our problem-solving approaches and enriches our decision-making with further insights, which are essential elements of a data-driven culture.
Our 2024 graduate programme offers were made to:
- 64% female applicants
- 45% ethnic minority applicants
- 36% applicants with a disability
Colleague networks
Our colleague networks are at the heart of our Agency and play a critical role in shaping our culture.
They continuously improve our working environment, policies, and processes by providing advice and guidance.
They also raise awareness of our equality, diversity and inclusion agenda through training, events, blogs, and articles.
They create safe spaces for members and communicate with the wider Agency to help educate, steer equality, diversity and inclusion priorities, and empower colleagues to be allies.
They have been instrumental in driving this agenda forward over the past few years, with some of the achievements including:
-
developing a Workplace Adjustment and Carer’s Passport to support colleagues with disabilities to have meaningful arrangements with line managers
-
formalising feedback mechanisms through our colleague networks
-
contributing to the development of an inclusion calendar to drive ongoing engagement with colleagues
-
sharing lived experiences to raise awareness of issues of difference and promoting inclusivity
-
organising events for colleagues including Black History Month, Lunar New Year and National Inclusion Week
-
supporting the development of mandatory equality, diversity and inclusion training for all colleagues
-
assisting in the review of organisational policies and procedures
-
raising awareness of hidden disabilities lanyards and encouraging their voluntary use across the Agency
-
campaigning for, and succeeding in, allowing Disabled Persons Railcards to be expensed
We are proud of the work our colleague networks do to help us create a healthy, inclusive, and positive working environment where we can all be ourselves.
We have 9 colleague networks and 2 groups within the Agency.
- Origins Nationality and Ethnicity Network
- Build Together and Friends Network
- Dignity and Respect at Work Champions
- Disability and Carers Network
- Early Careers Network
- Faith Network
- Future Leaders Network
- Mental Health First Aiders
- Neurodiversity Network
- Women’s Inclusive Network
- Women in Digital Network
Leadership
We encourage our leaders to be accountable, make data led decisions, and actively lead inclusion initiatives throughout the Agency.
We are committed to having senior sponsors from across the Agency to fulfil the role of senior responsible officers for our colleague networks. Their leadership helps drive engagement, encourage participation, and provide strategic support, ensuring our networks have a strong voice at every level of the Agency.
We incorporate a dedicated equality, diversity and inclusion-focused interview round in recruitment activities for director roles and above, promoting diverse and inclusive hiring practices.
We are continuing to build the capability and confidence of our leaders to be culturally aware and effectively promote equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives including reasonable adjustments through senior leadership development days.
Learning and organisational development
We provide a range of development and information sources to better understand legal implications and responsibilities of equality related issues.
We have conducted a review into the eLearning modules provided on mental health and wellbeing, providing more intuitive guidance, training and signposting. This improves the experience and accessibility of information for colleagues.
We have introduced new mandatory training and development to educate colleagues about the importance of creating a workplace where everyone feels valued and respected, regardless of their background. It raises awareness of different protected characteristics, identifies potential biases, and provides practical strategies to promote inclusivity and address discrimination in the workplace. Our Inclusion Essentials module saw 18% of colleagues completing in the first 3 weeks. In addition, we have a range of equality, diversity and inclusion self-directed learning interventions to support colleagues. Reporting shows a 59% increase in eLearning modules accessed in financial year 2024 and 2025 compared to financial year 2023 and 2024.
This year we also commissioned a speaker with lived experience of neurodiversity to engage with a group of people managers to explore the myths and misconceptions about working with neurodivergent colleagues. 100% of attendees confirmed that expectations were met, something new had been learned that could be applied, and would recommend the session to others. The recording from part of the session has since been made available to all colleagues to access.
A staple feature of our corporate induction event is a section on the Agency’s commitment and approach to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Led by a colleague with lived experience, this session receives consistently positive feedback from participants; 83% of respondents confirm the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion session was “extremely” or “very” useful.
Recognising the critical role it played in ensuring the Agency selected the right person for roles advertised, we commissioned a series of 10 best practice interviewing workshops. These were designed to support hiring managers in modelling best practice in this field and ensuring all appointment decisions are free from bias and reflective of the Agency’s values, particularly respect and inclusion. 90% of evaluation responses confirm that expectations were met. 100% confirmed something new had been learned that could be applied and would recommend the session to others.
Influencing our supply chain
We have used our position within the sector to encourage our supply chain to do more for equality, diversity and inclusion. We have designed robust diversity and inclusion criteria, which our supply chain must meet or commit to, if they want to access our frameworks or panels.
This was launched as part of our new delivery partner Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). We assess applicants on:
- inclusive policies
- inclusive recruitment
- diversity data — collection, analysis and monitoring
- mandatory diversity and inclusion training
- publishing their equality, diversity and inclusion objectives
- embedding equality, diversity and inclusion criteria into their own supply chain
- community engagement and inclusive design
Where organisations do not currently meet our criteria, we ask for contractual commitments to have these in place within 2 years of becoming a DPS member. We will ask for evidence as the organisations bid for our sites. We will provide support to organisations through supply chain diversity forums where we all share and learn best practice.
Industry presence
We have improved our external presence and have worked towards being seen as a leader in diversity and inclusion matters. This has included:
- sharing our commitments and experiences with our partners and suppliers to support their work
- speaking at external webinars, events and conferences on inclusion
- delivering external training sessions to the property sector on diversity and inclusion and inclusive language, which has received great feedback
- representation on diversity and inclusion advisory boards for 2 major publications — Estates Gazette and Inside Housing
5. What our data tells us
We collect data from our colleagues which helps us understand the profile of our Agency and the actions we want to take.
This is collected through self-declaration and whilst we encourage our colleagues to provide their information or use the ‘prefer not to say’ option, there are still some gaps in our data.
We are pleased to report our data demonstrates an improvement in the Agency diversity profile across all groups and a reduction in not declared results.
We have committed to continue building the trust of our colleagues, encouraging them to share their data with us.
All colleague data
Age
96.5% of our colleagues are aged between 25 and 64. The age groups with the most colleagues remain 35 to 44 years (30.8%) and 45 to 54 years (26.7%).
| Age | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Under 25 | 3.0% | 2.3% |
| 25 to 34 | 21.5% | 22.8% |
| 35 to 44 | 30.1% | 30.8% |
| 45 to 54 | 26.7% | 26.7% |
| 55 to 64 | 17.3% | 16.2% |
| Over 65 | 1.4% | 1.1% |
Disability
Within our Agency, 8.1% of colleagues declared a disability, which is higher than the 7.5% reported in 2023.
| Disability | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| No | 81.5% | 81.8% |
| Yes | 7.5% | 8.1% |
| Prefer not to say | 2.3% | 2.4% |
| Not declared | 8.7% | 7.7% |
Ethnicity
10.5% of our colleagues declared ethnicity other than White with a further 1.8% preferring not to say.
This compares with 11.9% and 1.8% in 2023. Not declared reduced from 8.6% in 2023 to 7.7% in 2024.
| Ethnicity | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Asian or Asian British | 6.3% | 7.3% |
| Black, Black British, Caribbean or African | 2.0% | 2.5% |
| Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 1.9% | 1.8% |
| Other ethnic groups | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| White | 79.2% | 78.6% |
| Prefer not to say | 1.8% | 1.8% |
| Not declared | 8.6% | 7.7% |
Gender
Our records show there is higher balance of females at 52.5% compared to males at 47.5% in our Agency.
| Gender | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Male | 48.4% | 47.5% |
| Female | 51.6% | 52.5% |
Gender identity
We know that gender is not binary and we encourage our colleagues to share their gender identity in our self-reporting system. The proportion of declared gender identity is:
- female — 45.4%
- male — 39.9%
- non-binary — 0.3%
There has been an increase in colleagues sharing their gender identity, with ‘not declared’ decreasing from 15.6% in 2023 to 13.7% in 2024.
| Gender identity | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Female | 43.8% | 45.4% |
| Male | 39.6% | 39.9% |
| Non-binary | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Other | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Prefer not to say | 0.6% | 0.5% |
| Not declared | 15.6% | 13.7% |
Gender identity same as at birth
83.4% declared their gender identity as the same as the sex they were assigned at birth and 0.5% declared their gender identity as different to the sex assigned at birth.
| Gender identity same as at birth | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| No | 0.3% | 0.5% |
| Yes | 81.2% | 83.4% |
| Prefer not to say | 1.4% | 1.3% |
| Not declared | 17.1% | 14.8% |
Religion or belief
48.9% of our colleagues declared their religion or belief and 32.8% declared no religion, with not declared decreasing from 13.3% in 2023 to 11.8% in 2024.
| Religion or belief | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Agnostic | 1.1% | 1.2% |
| Atheist | 2.3% | 3.3% |
| Buddhist | 0.6% | 0.5% |
| Christian | 36.5% | 35.4% |
| Hindu | 1.9% | 2.2% |
| Jewish | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Muslim | 2.9% | 2.9% |
| No religion or belief | 31.8% | 32.8% |
| Other or prefer to self describe [footnote 1] | 1.9% | 1.8% |
| Sikh | 1.0% | 1.5% |
| Prefer not to say | 6.6% | 6.4% |
| Not declared | 13.3% | 11.8% |
Sexual orientation
Of our colleagues, 78.5% declared their sexual orientation as heterosexual. 5.5% stated they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or another sexual orientation, an increase from 4.7% in 2023. We also saw a reduction in not declared from 14% in 2023 to 12.2% in 2024.
| Sexual orientation | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Gay, lesbian, bisexual, self-described | 4.7% | 5.5% |
| Heterosexual | 77.9% | 78.5% |
| Prefer not to say | 3.4% | 3.7% |
| Not declared | 14.0% | 12.2% |
Senior leadership data
This data shows the profile of our senior leadership, this includes colleague grade 19 and above (Executive Directors, Corporate Directors, Assistant Directors and equivalent).
Age
96.6% of senior leadership are aged between 35 and 64 with 0% under the age of 25 and 1.7% over 65. We saw an increase of 1.7% in 25 to 34.
| Age | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Under 25 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 25 to 34 | 0.0% | 1.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 30.5% | 32.8% |
| 45 to 54 | 40.7% | 37.1% |
| 55 to 64 | 27.1% | 26.7% |
| Over 65 | 1.7% | 1.7% |
Disability
6.9% of senior leadership are disabled in 2024, from 5.1% in 2023. 8.6% chose not to declare or ‘prefer not to say’ in 2024, a reduction from 11% in 2023.
| Disability | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| No | 83.9% | 84.5% |
| Yes | 5.1% | 6.9% |
| Prefer not to say | 1.7% | 1.7% |
| Not declared | 9.3% | 6.9% |
Ethnicity
86.2% of senior leadership are from a white background with 8.6% not declaring or preferring not to say. 5.2% are from an ethnic minority background, significantly lower than the 10.5% ethnic minority population across the Agency.
| Ethnicity | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Asian or Asian British | 1.7% | 1.7% |
| Black, Black British, Caribbean or African | 0.8% | 0.9% |
| Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 1.7% | 2.6% |
| Other Ethnic Groups | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| White | 84.7% | 86.2% |
| Prefer not to say | 2.5% | 2.6% |
| Not declared | 8.5% | 6.0% |
Gender
52.2% of senior leadership identify as male which is higher than the 47.5% in the overall Agency. There are currently 44.8% of our leadership that identify as female, an increase from 43.2% in 2023.
| Gender | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Male | 56.8% | 55.2% |
| Female | 43.2% | 44.8% |
Religion or belief
54.4% of our senior leadership declared their religion or belief and 29.3% declared no religion, with not declared decreasing from 11% in 2023 to 10.3% in 2024.
| Religion or belief | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Agnostic | 2.5% | 2.6% |
| Atheist | 0.8% | 0.9% |
| Buddhist | 0.0% | 0.9% |
| Christian | 47.5% | 45.7% |
| Hindu | 0.8% | 0.9% |
| Jewish | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Muslim | 1.7% | 1.7% |
| No religion or belief | 27.1% | 29.3% |
| Other or prefer to self describe [footnote 1] | 2.5% | 1.7% |
| Sikh | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Prefer not to say | 5.9% | 6.0% |
| Not declared | 11.0% | 10.3% |
Sexual orientation
3.4% of senior leadership identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or self-described which is lower than the overall Agency at 5.5%. 13.8% did not declare or prefer not to say, a reduction from 15.3% in 2023.
| Sexual orientation | December 2023 | December 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Gay, lesbian, bisexual, self-described | 2.5% | 3.4% |
| Heterosexual | 82.2% | 82.8% |
| Prefer not to say | 1.7% | 1.7% |
| Not declared | 13.6% | 12.1% |
Our gender pay gap
As of March 2024, we are proud to have achieved our lowest mean and median gender pay gap since we started pay gap reporting in 2017. Our mean gender pay gap is 10.83% and our median gender pay gap is 7.30%.
This represents a positive change and a decrease of 1.69% mean and 3.20% median from March 2023 and a decrease of 7.6% mean and 12.3% median since March 2017, and recognise that in order to continue to close this gap it will require consistent focus.
Mean and median pay gap (hourly rate) comparison
| Date | Mean | Median |
|---|---|---|
| March 2017 | 18.4% | 19.6% |
| March 2018 | 18.2% | 17.5% |
| March 2019 | 18.0% | 15.5% |
| March 2020 | 16.9% | 15.3% |
| March 2021 | 13.2 % | 7.9% |
| March 2022 | 11.59% | 7.74% |
| March 2023 | 12.52% | 10.5% |
| March 2024 | 10.83% | 7.3 % |
Our ethnicity pay gap
We voluntarily reported on our ethnicity pay gap for the first time in 2023. This is a core aspect of our ambition and ongoing commitment to fostering a brilliant place to work and inclusive workplace. We have chosen to do this so we have greater insight and understanding of what factors are driving any pay gaps. Enabling us to identify meaningful actions that reduce the gap over time.
As of March 2024, our ethnicity mean pay gap is 14.80% and our median pay gap is 19.04%. This represents a fractional increase of 0.08% from 14.72% mean pay gap and increase of 0.28% from 18.76% median pay gap from March 2023. These results reaffirm the importance of our efforts to monitor and take action to reduce the gap over time. Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan supports us in making a collective impact to improve our ethnicity pay gap.
Mean and median ethnicity pay gap (hourly rate) comparison
| Date | Mean | Median |
|---|---|---|
| March 2023 | 14.72% | 18.76% |
| March 2024 | 14.8% | 19.04% |
6. What our people tell us
Our 2025 Let’s Talk colleague engagement survey uses the measure of scores out of 10.
While some of our colleague survey scores have improved, there is still work to be done to ensure an inclusive and supportive workplace for all. The action plan supporting our Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Report will help us build on this progress, driving meaningful change to make Homes England a truly brilliant place to work for everyone.
The latest results tell us that we are improving across 6 areas measured since last year.
The overall survey average score increased by 0.1 to 6.7.
The Engagement Index increased by 0.2 to 6.6.
The colleague response rate increased to 86%.
The number of ‘colleagues who feel they truly belong here’ has increased from 6.5 to 6.6.
There has been an increase in ‘colleagues that feel we value diversity’ and ‘colleagues who feel we demonstrate a commitment to an inclusive workplace’ — from 7 to 7.1.
When it comes to ‘being able to bring their whole self to work’ the score increased from 7.2 to 7.3.
The score for ‘in the last 12 months I have not experienced bullying and harassment in the workplace’ remained at 8.3.
The score for ‘I have not experienced discrimination in the workplace’ remained at 8.5.
7. Looking ahead to financial year 2025 and 2026
We want to continue to improve the representation of diversity across the Agency and more prominently our more senior grades. Our ambition is to ensure our senior leadership more closely reflects the diversity of the customers we serve, creating a leadership team that is representative, inclusive, and better equipped to meet the needs of the communities we support.
We will continue to support our colleagues to have access to the same opportunities, regardless of any protected characteristics. We have made great progress in some areas; however we know there are other areas where we still have a lot of work to do.
This year, we want to continue to do the basics right internally with a one year plan that focuses on our internal Equality, Diversity and Inclusion progress. We can collectively go on to improve Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the wider industry in the following year and beyond.
Our financial year 2025 and 2026 objectives are to:
- define and assign leadership commitments and outline these in an internal action plan
- improve colleague experience by increasing our score for Key Performance Indicator (KPI) 17 — Average colleague rating for Homes England being a diverse and inclusive employer, to Build a Brilliant Place to Work
Our financial year 2025 and 2026 priority areas are:
- gender — representation, opportunities and pay
- ethnicity — representation, opportunities and pay
- disability and carers — improving our support and working environment
- improving our equality, diversity and inclusion culture
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan for financial year 2025 and 2026 (for internal audience)
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan outlines specific steps and initiatives that we will take to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion within its workforce, aiming to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and has equal opportunities to succeed, regardless of their background or protected characteristic.
Budget and resources
We acknowledge that budget and capacity were a contributory factor in the slower delivery across our equality, diversity and inclusion objectives. We therefore understand that our commitment to improving our equality, diversity and inclusion landscape must be matched with suitable budget and capacity in line with other key areas of delivery.
Governance
We use our governance process to ensure our objectives for the year ahead are achieved. This will include reporting progress on the action plan as follows:
- reporting to Executive Leadership Team
- reporting to Nominations and Remuneration Committee and the Board
- updates through our internal communications channels for our colleagues