Making Informed Decisions About Your High-Rise Housing Stock
An Options Appraisal for high-rise blocks (HRBs) is a structured, evidence-based review of your housing assets designed to support long-term decision-making. For councils and housing associations, these appraisals help determine whether high-rise blocks remain suitable for continued use, or whether alternative approaches—such as targeted investment, refurbishment, fire safety remediation, redevelopment, or disposal—should be considered.
By analysing stock condition, building safety, compliance, and financial performance, an options appraisal provides clarity on which high-rise blocks can be sustainably maintained and which may no longer meet organisational, regulatory, or resident expectations.
Supporting Informed Decisions on High-Rise Assets
Managing high-rise blocks comes with unique pressures, including:
- Building safety compliance and fire defect remediation
- Meeting Decent Homes or national housing standards
- Achieving energy efficiency and net zero targets
- Managing maintenance, funding, and operational costs
- Responding to changing housing demand and resident expectations
Our high-rise block options appraisals provide a defensible, auditable framework that enables landlords to target investment where it delivers the greatest long-term social, financial, and safety benefits. Recommendations are clear and suitable for use by senior leadership, boards, elected members, and regulators.
Our High-Rise Options Appraisal Approach
We begin by reviewing and validating the data you already hold for your high-rise stock. This typically includes:
- Stock condition surveys and maintenance records
- Fire safety and building safety compliance data
- Energy performance and EPC ratings
- Rental income, operational costs, and long-term funding projections
Where data gaps or uncertainties exist, these are clearly identified, so decisions are made with full understanding of risk and assumptions.
Using this baseline, we develop and test a range of realistic options for each high-rise block or group of blocks. These may include:
- Continued maintenance and lifecycle management
- Targeted investment to meet future safety or performance standards
- Major refurbishment or remodelling, including fire defect remediation
- Regeneration, redevelopment, or change of use
- Partial or full disposal
Each option is assessed against your wider asset management strategy and organisational priorities, ensuring a holistic, high-rise-specific perspective.
Financial, Risk, and Feasibility Assessment
Each option is evaluated for:
- Financial viability – including capital investment, future maintenance liabilities, and impact on business plans or Housing Revenue Accounts
- Deliverability – programme risks, funding constraints, and sensitivity to future cost or policy changes
- Regulatory compliance – fire safety, building safety, and housing standards
- Planning and operational considerations – resident impact, service continuity, and statutory obligations
This ensures that recommendations are practical, proportionate, and aligned with long-term strategic objectives for your high-rise portfolio.
Outputs You Can Act On
Our options appraisals produce clear, decision-ready reports that:
- Set out the rationale for each option and identify a preferred course of action
- Include robust evidence and plain-English explanations
- Support board papers, cabinet reports, internal approvals, and regulator submissions
- Bridge the gap between technical data and strategic decision-making, giving you confidence that your high-rise asset choices are justifiable, defensible, and deliverable
Why Work With Us?
We have extensive experience supporting councils and housing associations with high-rise asset decisions. Our advice is independent, objective, and grounded in a deep understanding of social housing finance, building safety, and operational realities.
We focus on providing practical, transparent recommendations that withstand scrutiny and support long-term sustainability and safety of high-rise residential buildings.