About our Platform

The housing sector relies on an enormous volume of legislation, policy papers, consultations, statistical releases, parliamentary scrutiny, case law and regulatory guidance. These materials are published across dozens of government websites, each with their own formats, archives and update cycles.

Professionals are left navigating a fragmented landscape, struggling to keep track of what has changed, when it changed and how it connects to everything else.

At the Housing Research Library we solve this problem. We gather, verify, structure, link and maintain this information using a consistent methodology designed specifically for quick yet deep research.

At the heart of the platform is The C.A.S.T.L.E. X Standard™, our proprietary quality standard created by Housing Research Library Limited for housing information integrity and structure.

It acts as a primary operating system, integrating principles from established quality assurance and research methodologies to ensure every record is accurate, relevant and reliable. Each principle is a core component in constructing a “fortress of knowledge”, working together to provide a seamless flow from data discovery to final presentation.

The acronym C.A.S.T.L.E. represents the six core principles of the Standard — the input that governs how information is selected, verified and structured. The “X” signifies the output: the point where these principles come together in practice, producing information that is complete, connected and usable. X marks the spot where the work of C.A.S.T.L.E. is delivered on the platform.

This Standard ensures the platform is not simply a collection of documents but a structured, traceable and dependable research engine.

Collated: Correctly selected by topics, housing sub-sector and licence permissions.

Authoritative: Sourced from an approved official body, like a government department.

Sourced: Specified location of the original source, with documented licenses and attributions.

Timely: Specified date stamps for the original publication date, record date, record modification date and scheduled review date.

Linked: Connected to relevant database resources by tags and specifying related records.

Explicit: Summarised with relevant keywords and clear summary of the source document, an objective description of the content and a C.A.S.T.L.E. X Score™.

The Housing Research Library is part document repository, part data engine and part analytical toolkit. It is a reg-tech platform underpinned by Regulatory Infrastructure Technology (RIT), a structured system that organises, validates and links housing regulation information so it can be worked with quickly and confidently.

By treating regulation as data infrastructure rather than commentary, the platform provides a dependable foundation for navigating complex housing information — and there is currently no other technology in the sector that offers this level of structure, clarity and integration.

Our platform serves:

• Housing providers and operators
• Legal teams and advisers
• Local authorities
• Property agents and compliance teams
• Analysts and researchers
• Government and policy professionals
• Universities and housing educators

These users need a platform where the sources are official, the structure predictable, the information trustworthy, the search intuitive and the content up to date. This is exactly what the Housing Research Library provides.

Most information platforms focus on commentary, summaries or editorial interpretation. We don’t. We focus on the source itself.

We find, verify and structure the underlying documents – legislation, guidance, notices, consultations, data releases and sector publications – and present them in a consistent, connected format. You bring the expertise; we give you the clarity and structure to use it effectively.

Where other systems explain information for you, our platform ensures you can access the authoritative material directly, without noise or opinion. This lets housing, legal, policy and compliance professionals work with confidence, accuracy and independence.

We are developing the platform in clear, progressive stages that strengthen both coverage and usability over time.

Content is gathered, structured and verified using The C.A.S.T.L.E. X Standard™, ensuring accuracy and clarity from the outset. Automation tools assist with discovery, monitoring and metadata extraction, helping information surface more efficiently, while human review remains central to maintaining quality.

In future, a more advanced search layer will allow users to ask questions and receive answers drawn directly from verified records, improving speed and supporting deeper understanding.

Our primary focus remains the foundation the system functions upon: drawing solely from primary source information and data.

Our aim is to create the most accurate and dependable housing knowledge engine in the UK.

Housing professionals deserve tools that match the complexity and importance of their work. The Housing Research Library exists to reduce fragmentation, improve understanding, support evidence based decisions, bring clarity to a sector overloaded with information and create a level playing field in access to authoritative housing data.

We are building the infrastructure the sector has never had, but always needed.

Currently, the Housing Research Library focuses exclusively on the rented housing sector and mostly in England. This part of the housing system operates in a fast paced, regulation heavy and operationally complex environment. By concentrating here first, we can build complete coverage, ensure depth and accuracy and apply The C.A.S.T.L.E. X Standard™ consistently across a very large body of information. Once the rented sector in England is fully established, structured and refined, the platform will expand into the rest of the UK and the wider housing landscape.

From March to August 2025, we ran our beta testing phase. The feedback from our testers was invaluable, and over the following two months it helped us refine the platform into a clearer, more cohesive system. Development is always ongoing, but in November 2025 we reached a significant milestone: the platform became fully live for everyone to use.

As you navigate the platform, you may see new areas marked as Beta. This simply means those features are currently being tested with our selected testing group. We make these sections visible to all users so we can observe how they perform in real-world conditions during development. A good example is the Horizon Tracker, which is viewable to everyone, but only in its most basic early form.

We have thousands of publications still to add to the database, covering additional topics across the rented housing sector as well as further historical versions of material already included. This is ongoing work that continues in the background as the Library grows.

Tools introduced in beta, such as the Horizon Tracker and the Renters’ Rights Act toolkit, will develop into their full versions, gaining more structure, clearer filters, and improved functionality. We will also be releasing new research dashboards, more detailed tagging, and expanded publication categories to provide users with a broader and more complete view of the sector.

As new components go live, they may initially appear in beta mode so we can observe how they perform in real-world use. Everything we build continues to follow our guiding principle: a platform that is simple to use, clearly structured, and designed to help users work efficiently and confidently.