Decent Homes Standard Guidance Lead / Social Housing Energy Efficiency Lead

£45,773

The salary for this role is £49,352 (London) or £45,773 (National).

For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. More information can be found in our 'How to Apply' section further down on this page.

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Alongside your salary of £45,773, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £13,260 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Staff Benefits Scheme, Childcare Vouchers, and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

The Social Housing Quality and Residents division leads on work to improve the quality of social homes and landlord services, and to empower residents to have a strong voice and hold their landlord to account. The division sponsors the Housing Ombudsman Service and also manages a Resident Panel through which residents engage directly with officials and Ministers. We are recruiting two SEOs to deliver this work. The first position will be for the guidance lead of the Decent Homes Standard. The Decent Homes Standard is being updated to reflect modern expectations of the minimum standard of rented housing. We are looking for a high-performing, autonomous, and well-organised individual to oversee inputs into this publication. They will also be responsible for the policy development and drafting of specific elements. This will be a stretching role working on a ministerial priority that will materially impact both the lives of renters and the ability of landlords to deliver good quality homes.

The second position is for a Senior Policy Advisor focused on energy efficiency in the social rented sector. This is a rewarding role which will involve leading the development of guidance to support social housing providers make homes cheaper to heat, more comfortable and less susceptible to damp and mould. The Government has published new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), setting long term ambitions to make homes warmer and cheaper to heat with lower carbon emissions. This will form part of an updated Decent Homes Standard (DHS).

Social housing providers will only have a few years to bring more than a million homes up to the new standard and they urgently need advice about how to meet it, what government ambitions mean in practice, where homes will be exempt from parts of the standard and how it will be enforced. This will help landlords to begin work on improving their stock more quickly develop investment plans for the next decade. You will need to work quickly to develop a package in tandem with social housing providers and other housing stakeholders, working closely with DESNZ and other teams across MHCLG.

• Act as the primary owner of the Decent Homes Standard guidance, ensuring the delivery of a high-quality product that enables landlords to provide better quality social housing with greater certainty and consistency.
• Lead the coordination and management of contributions from internal and external stakeholders, ensuring the guidance reflects the latest policy thinking, evidence and expertise from across government and the housing sector.
• Monitor progress against delivery plans, identifying risks and issues early and taking action to keep development on track.
• Lead the drafting of key sections of guidance that will help shape housing standards across England and support the effective implementation of future regulatory requirements.
• Lead the implementation of policy relating to Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) within the social rented sector, developing guidance and supporting materials that provide clear and practical advice to social housing providers.
• Develop and refine policy positions on complex and cross-cutting issues, drawing on evidence and stakeholder engagement to address implementation challenges and support informed decision-making.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across MHCLG, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), and the Regulator of Social Housing to ensure policy proposals are aligned, deliverable and achieve intended outcomes.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders across government and the housing sector to support the successful implementation of energy efficiency improvements in social housing.
• Prepare high-quality briefing and advice for Ministers and senior officials, clearly setting out options, risks and recommendations, and drawing together complex and sometimes conflicting evidence.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders to support policy development and delivery.
• Work at pace to deliver high-profile ministerial priorities while managing competing demands and tight deadlines.
• Contribute positively to the culture and performance of the team, supporting continuous improvement and undertaking corporate responsibilities to help maintain a collaborative, inclusive and high-performing working environment.

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Bristol, Darlington, London, Manchester, Wolverhampton

Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 8th November 2026

487580

Senior Executive Officer

Permanent

Policy

2

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

National Office: BPSS

London Office: BPSS + CTC

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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