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The Fibre Is There. So Why Aren't Homes Connected

Gareth Williams
6 days ago
4 min read
Rethinking the commercial and technical barriers facing social housing. Intelligens Consulting, 2026
Rethinking the commercial and technical barriers facing social housing. Intelligens Consulting, 2026
Rethinking the commercial and technical barriers facing social housing.

The UK has made enormous progress in gigabit broadband: UK Government reports that more than 88% of UK homes had access to a gigabit-capable network in September 2026 [1]. Many social housing blocks are passed by fibre, yet connecting a building is not always the same as connecting every home.


From our work with social housing providers, we have seen residents unable to order gigabit broadband even where fibre reaches their block or estate. The scale of this in-building gap has not been reliably quantified, but the risk of leaving some social housing tenants behind is real.


In this article, we explore why social housing risks becoming a gigabit blind spot, the technical and commercial barriers preventing connections to individual homes, and how innovative investment and delivery models could help housing providers and broadband operators unlock existing infrastructure, improve affordability and accelerate adoption.

Delivering fibre to every dwelling presents genuine challenges.

Social housing ranges from tower blocks and sheltered accommodation to converted properties and dispersed stock. Building access, internal fire breaks, legacy cabling and building-safety requirements can increase costs. Technical challenges are accompanied by commercial concerns about affordability, take-up and bad debt.


The result is the emergence of what might be termed a “gigabit desert”: a building or community that appears connected at a high level, but where individual residents cannot obtain a gigabit service.


And a connection is only part of the challenge. An available service must also be affordable, clearly explained and taken up if residents are to benefit from it.


Some barriers are real, others perceived, but none are insurmountable. Social housing offers a large, relatively stable customer base with long tenancies and opportunities to aggregate demand. Collaboration between housing providers, local authorities and operators can improve the technical and commercial case for deployment.


There is no single solution. In some cases, fibre to every dwelling is best. Elsewhere, properly engineered managed Wi-Fi or Wireless LAN may overcome building constraints, provided service quality and support are adequate. Landlord-provided connectivity or broadband as a utility can also help address affordability and adoption, but require clear funding and operational responsibilities.


These challenges fall into three connected areas: reaching individual homes, making deployment commercially viable, and enabling residents to afford and adopt a service. Figure 1 summarises the choices.


Figure 1 - Barriers and solutions to deploying Gigabit connectivity to social housing. Source: Intelligens Consulting, 2026
Figure 1 - Barriers and solutions to deploying Gigabit connectivity to social housing. Source: Intelligens Consulting, 2026
 Most barriers have more than one solution

High installation costs are not solved by technology alone. Operators need workable access and credible demand; housing providers can co-ordinate access, share building information and assess portfolio requirements. Local authorities can link deployment with digital inclusion, housing and care priorities.


Internal fire breaks and building-safety rules are genuine constraints. Low take-up and bad debt risks may be mitigated through aggregated demand, alternative commercial models and resident engagement.


A further barrier is awareness: thinkbroadband found social tariffs difficult to find or compare on some major providers’ websites [2]. Parliament subsequently reported that only 34% of eligible broadband customers knew about social tariffs and fewer than 9% were using them [3]. Network availability means little if affordable services are not accessible.

Social housing's strengths are often overlooked

PThe sector tends to be viewed through the lens of challenges. Yet social housing offers potentially attractive characteristics for broadband providers:


  • Long housing tenure – social renters in England had lived in their current homes for around 12 years on average, compared with five years for private renters [4]. This is not the same as broadband customer tenure;

  • Concentrated demand – blocks and estates may allow more efficient deployment and resident engagement, although the economics will differ by portfolio;

  • Opportunities for bulk activation – social housing providers could act as a “channel to market”, while safeguarding residents’ choice and service quality.

Turning the opportunity into connected homes

The answer is not necessarily to build more fibre. In many areas, significant investment has already been made, but the infrastructure remains underutilised because individual homes have not been connected.


Housing providers and network operators need a different approach: identifying where infrastructure already exists, aggregating demand across housing portfolios and developing commercial models that make the final connection financially viable. This could involve connecting mode demand points, shared investment, long-term service commitments, landlord-supported connectivity or other approaches that balance commercial returns with affordability and resident choice.


The opportunity is to move from fragmented, property-by-property connections towards coordinated, scalable investment programmes. A well-structured pilot can demonstrate the economics, validate resident benefits and create a model for wider deployment

How Intelligens Consulting can help

At Intelligens, we work with local authorities, housing providers and telecommunications operators to turn digital infrastructure opportunities into commercially viable programmes.


Drawing on our experience across the UK, we can help partners:


  • Identify opportunities – map unconnected housing stock against existing fibre networks and assess potential demand.

  • Develop the commercial proposition – evaluate technical options, investment structures, aggregated demand and alternative funding models.

  • Build the business case – quantify costs, revenues, benefits, economic impact and investment returns for housing providers and operators.

  • Move into delivery – structure pilots, develop procurement and contractual approaches, and establish a scalable rollout model.


If you're a housing provider with homes that remain unconnected, or a network operator looking to unlock greater value from existing fibre investment, we'd welcome a conversation about how we can help turn that opportunity into connected homes.

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