Why strategic procurement can be the driver behind effective asset management
By Joanne Heyes, Head of Member Services (North)
“Strategic asset management” (SAM) is not just about spreadsheets, stock data, or investment programmes. Rather, it is about how to make smart, sustainable decisions to protect homes, strengthen landlords’ operations and, most importantly, improve residents’ lives.
In social housing, SAM is about managing homes as long term social and financial assets. It becomes the blueprint for balancing financial sustainability with quality services, ensuring that every property and every pound invested in it, contributes to a bigger mission - the provision of safe, affordable, and sustainable homes for people who need them most. SAM helps housing providers connect the dots between asset performance, resident needs, and corporate strategy. It is about being proactive, not reactive. It is focused on future planning, not just fixing past issues. A strategic approach to procurement has a key role to play in making this all happen.
Procurement can often fly under the radar. It can wrongly be simply viewed as the function that purchases materials, signs contracts, and arranges repairs. But if it is done well, then procurement becomes far more than a transactional process. It becomes a strategic tool that underpins the entire asset management plan. Good strategic procurement can translate a housing providers vision, from net zero targets to improved building safety and community investment, into real, tangible, measurable outcomes.
When aligned with long-term objectives, procurement helps housing providers source goods, works, and services in ways that maximise whole-life value, not just minimise short-term cost. Strategic procurement is about understanding that the cheapest option isn’t always the best. This is especially important when we are talking about homes designed to last for generations. Housing associations and local authority landlords are in it for the long haul. Homes are long term assets. The challenges involved in managing a housing portfolio, decarbonisation, building safety, regulation, resident expectations, to name but a few are complex and evolving. To meet them, procurement must be just as strategic as asset management itself. That means designing contracts around whole life costs. This way, you make sure each decision prioritises sustainability, safety, and quality for years to come. It also means building strong, long term partnerships with contractors and suppliers. Frameworks, alliances, and partnering contracts can help foster collaboration, innovation and consistency creating a culture where lessons are shared and best practice established.
Strategic procurement can also deliver wider social value. Every tender and contract becomes an opportunity to create local jobs, invest in apprentices and community initiatives, generating added value within neighbourhoods. It is about making every pound work harder for residents and communities alike.
But procurement is not just about getting things done. It is also about enhancing the operation of the housing provider. A strategic approach to supply chain management can reduce risk, build resilience and help housing providers to be better placed to respond to changes in regulation, funding, or environmental pressures. Diversifying suppliers, testing resilience, and building flexibility into contracts can all help future-proof operations. And by embedding clear performance measures and adaptive frameworks, providers can stay compliant and agile in a rapidly changing housing landscape. The reason for strategic asset management? It comes back to residents.
For housing providers, everything they do comes back to residents. Strategic asset management and procurement therefore both have a direct impact on peoples homes, safety, and quality of life. Being compliance centric ensures housing providers meet legal and regulatory obligations. This is an essential foundation for building trust with residents. Being customer centric means you can design solutions and make decisions based on what matters most to them. This ensures that what providers do genuinely improves residents’ experiences from undertaking efficient responsive repairs through to providing decent, energy efficient homes.
Both can reinforce each other. When compliance actions are designed around resident needs, and when procurement supports both, it becomes possible to deliver safer, better and more sustainable homes. Engaging residents in the process also leads to better decision making. It ensures that investment reflects real needs, not assumptions. It is about understanding how residents live and what they want from their homes, making every pound of planned maintenance or improvement go further. Good strategic procurement partners can add enormous value. They bring market insight, innovation, and commercial expertise to the table. They can help housing providers plan smarter, invest better, and achieve more with limited resources.
They don’t just deliver goods or services (they can, but they can also do more). They become part of the providers team, aligning procurement decisions with strategic goals and resident outcomes. When procurement is embedded into an asset management strategy, it becomes a genuine driver of quality, efficiency, and long-term value. For housing providers, strategic asset management sets the direction. Strategic procurement can provide the traction and together, they can turn purpose into performance. By moving beyond transactional buying and embracing strategic procurement, housing associations can deliver several positive outcomes, including better long-term value, greater resilience, better quality and deeper social impact.
It becomes more than simply managing homes. It becomes about building stronger, fairer, and more sustainable communities.
Because when procurement and asset management work hand in hand, housing providers can do what they do best: provide safe, secure, homes and communities that change lives for the better.
Joanne Heyes | jheyes@chicltd.co.uk
