Housing associations are the main providers of new social housing. There are over 2,000 housing associations in England, currently managing around 1.45 million homes and housing at least twice that many people.

Larger housing associations such as Marches have paid staff, but overall responsibility rests with the Board of Management. These typically include tenants, representatives from local authorities, community groups and business people.

Registered Social Landlord (RSL) is the technical name for social landlords that are registered with the Housing Corporation - most are housing associations, but there are also trusts, co-operatives and companies. Housing associations are run as businesses but they do not trade for profit. Any surplus is ploughed back into the organisation to maintain existing homes and to help finance new ones.

Housing Corporation 2003