EDI data tool

Our third iteration of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) data tool has enabled us to collect more diversity data about the housing association workforce than ever before. We have used this data to produce our new report, ‘How diverse is England’s housing association workforce in 2026?’.

What is the EDI data tool?

We launched our first EDI data tool in 2021, with the ambition to make sure our sector can confidently make decisions that have the best outcomes for residents. When housing leaders champion EDI within their organisations, we better understand the lived experiences of a diverse group of people – and can better represent them. This representation provides a solid foundation for building trust in housing associations and their services.

You can download our EDI data tool below to see how representative your housing association workforce is of the communities they serve and how representative your leadership is of staff. The tool supports you to collect diversity data about your workforce, which provides a starting point for conversations about workforce diversity. Once you have this data, it can be further analysed and used to shape action plans and strategies within your organisation – with the aim of improving equality, diversity and inclusion.

NHF data collection

In 2026 we asked members to send their completed tools back to us to build a picture of diversity and representation across the sector. We have published these findings in our report How diverse is England’s housing association workforce in 2026? This was the third time in five years that we collected data from the sector and produced a report on diversity and representation in the housing association workforce.

With accurate data, we can identify what work is needed to create inclusive organisations – where the leadership and workforce of housing associations reflect the diverse communities they represent.

How many reports are there?

We have produced three reports in total, the first in 2021, the second in 2023, and the third in 2026.

This continuation of data and analysis has enabled us to build a comprehensive picture of who works in social housing and how this has changed over the last five years to better represent social home communities.

Each report offers conclusions, next steps and recommendations to improve equality, diversity and inclusion, in order to challenge underrepresentation and drive positive change across the sector.

Why should you use our EDI data tool?

Housing associations represent diverse communities and reflecting this diversity in our leadership helps build trust with those communities and improve service delivery. 

We know from our 2020 insight review that “the starting point (for change) is data. We need to know where we are in order to know where we want to be and measure our progress”. The EDI tool has helped hundreds of housing associations to better understand their workforce diversity, and how representative they are of their local communities. This has enabled them to target change and work towards creating the most inclusive and diverse workforce possible.

By better understanding the diverse characteristics of the population in stock location and how our workforces compare to them, housing associations are forming a solid foundation for ensuring our leadership is diverse, and that our workplaces embrace equality.

What updates have we made for the 2026 EDI data tool?

The 2026 EDI Data Tool retains similar structure and looks to the 2023 version. However, we made some improvements to the usability and functionality of the tool, based on feedback from members. This includes listing the questions vertically in one column, rather than across three columns and an option to tell us that you don’t collect data on a specific characteristic. We also added charts and tables to visualise your data and make it easier to share the results within your own reporting processes.  

For most questions within the updated tool, we used Census 2021 data to tell us the characteristics of the population by stock location. The Census provides a picture of all people and households in England and Wales and using this data ensures the tool is as accurate and up to date as possible. Please see the Notes tab on the EDI data tool for further information about the data sources used for comparison with population by stock location.  

We adapted the wording of some questions to be in line with the latest census results and to ensure we’re asking them in a way that generates the best answers from respondents. To help members prepare for the new questions in the 2026 tool, we published our updated suggested questions to ask your workforce and resource explaining why we suggest these questions and how the data could be used to achieve greater equality, diversity and inclusion. We developed this document alongside our EDI member steering group and with advice from EDI consultants and legal advisors.   

We are continuously looking at the language we use, to make the tool is as inclusive as possible, whilst also enabling us to benchmark against existing data about the characteristics of the wider population.  

We welcome any feedback about how we could improve future tool iterations, please get in touch. 

How does the EDI data tool work?

If you’re a member of the National Housing Federation, all you need to do is log in to our website and download the EDI data tool below. Anyone working for an organisation that is an NHF member can register and login using their work email and our system will automatically grant access.

From there, the following will happen:

• You’ll identify the housing association you work for from a drop-down menu.
• Our spreadsheet will automatically show your owned stock by local authority and summarise the diverse characteristics of people living in those stock locations. This is based on existing national datasets , primarily Census 2021.
• You can then submit your organisation’s diversity data. This will compare your workforce to the communities they serve based on all nine protected characteristics, as well as caring responsibilities and socio-economic characteristics.
• There is also an opportunity to compare the diversity of your executives and boards to staff members – and how these groups compare to residents in your stock locations. This reveals how representative your leadership team is to your workforce, and to residents, highlighting areas of underrepresentation at all levels.
• If you’re collecting your organisation’s diversity data and need more information about your staff, please see our suggested questions. We have explained why it is important you ask these questions, and how you can use the data collected from them to improve diversity and inclusion in your organisation.

You will find more instructions on how to complete the EDI data tool within the tool itself.