What do we want in updates?

I think you are opening up a can of worms.

Let's go fishing. Remember that you need a rod license.

Timely and accurate (or precise) can sometimes be mutually exclusive.  Do we want them to tell us as soon as they get some information, or to wait until they can confirm facts / make sure they have the full picture. 
If we want to be informed as soon as scanty information arrives at SS, then we need to expect for quite a bit of it to be clarified / amended / retracted at a later stage once more information comes to light.

i expect updates to be ...up-to-date

Not my wish to offend but this is a bit of a pointless thread. All it has done is provide a generic list of what constitutes good communication. I'm sure the SS team have been on the same HR courses as many of us have.
may as well just have listed the 5 Cs. 

The five Cs of effective communication...

• articulate Clearly
  
• speak Correctly
• be Considerate
• give Compliments
• have Confidence
  

I'll leave it to others to decide how they best fit SS updates...

If we're going Bulls*** Bingo acronym on it, then I'd have said SMART (as in objectives)

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Timely

If a borrower has been trying to arrange development funding for a plot of land I've helped them buy and has been unsuccessful for months, then I'd like to know before the remaining term goes negative.

If a borrower is has been trying to arrange a longer term, more permanent, refinance of a building I've helped them buy and has been unsuccessful for months, then I'd like to know before the remaining term goes negative.

If a borrower is has been trying to build a project that I've helped provide the development funding for and the project is running late, or over budget, or both, then I'd like to know before the remaining term goes negative.

All of these situations could have an impact on whether the interest on the loan will be paid once any pre-paid interest is used up.  And the third option additionally could affect whether the loan capital could be repaid -- principally because of the way the value of a development project is estimated as funds are spent on the project.  (In simple terms, it usually is assumed that if half of the development cost has been spent then the value has increased half of the way toward the GDV.  If anything hasn't gone according to plan, the result usually is an overestimate of the value of the part-finished project and an underestimate of the actual interim LTV.)

If I have this info, I can make an informed decision whether I'm willing to continue to hold onto the loan or whether to try to sell my parts and put my money into another investment.

The status of PP applications can have a significant impact as well, so I'd like to have timely updates on those as well.