The UK has been in the grip of a social housing crisis for decades, and AI could be the key to starting to solve it, according to an expert. Cris Beswick, a strategic advisor who is currently working with social housing providers, says staff at the organisations are stretched so thin, they have no time or energy to focus on fixing the systemic problems plaguing the sector.
The thought leader is set to be a keynote speaker at this month’s Housing Innovation Show 2026. He believes the issues with social housing in the UK are far more complex than simply coming down to supply and demand and include problems with the condition of homes, legislative and regulatory pressures and issues with accessing properties to carry out checks and repairs.
Cris says: “The social housing sector is affected by the brittleness paradox – providers are so overstretched and under-resourced that they’re running at 110% capacity. There is no elasticity so they crack when anything extra happens.”
And he says the solution is for organisations to embrace tools like AI to improve efficiency, not so they can cut costs but so they can free up staff for problem-solving. Cris adds: “Tools like AI can help de-brittle the organisation and create slack so people can spend time actually tackling systemic and costly problems.”
Cris, who is the bestselling author of Building a Culture of Innovation, can talk about what he sees as the main issues affecting social housing and why organisations need to create space for innovation to finally address the crisis.
Cris Beswick is a strategic adviser and recognised global thought leader on innovation strategy, leadership, and culture. The bestselling co-author of Building a Culture of Innovation, he works with CEOs and leadership teams to build innovation-led growth capability in the AI era.