Apps – aren’t you sick of them already? Last week on the way to the gym I connected my Sony headphones and was forced to download their app. I guessed I could connect via bluetooth, which I subsequently did, and deleted the little parasite from my phone. I value and use daily: emails, WhatsApp, Google…
Within the next two years, everyone working in social housing will need housing qualifications. Years ago, job seekers had to be qualified to get a Local Authority housing job, but we abolished it. I, and many others, felt being “chartered” appeared to be exclusive, and having a good general education plus life skills was more…
The Regulator of Social Housing is now demanding much greater transparency from social landlords. Here is what they say (from the Requirement of Consumer Standards, the Safety and Quality Standard): Registered providers must This seems to require that social landlords must understand, in detail, their stock holdings, which must be shared, on demand, with the…
For Housing Associations everything starts with strategy and culture. First we need to know what our “primary task” is. That should be something like ” To provide good quality affordable homes for people who cannot afford to buy or rent privately”. The point of this exercise is to rule out mission creep or taking on…
In my White Paper, I laid out how we arrived at the situation where many of the homes we own and let out are in poor condition. I concluded that this is broadly the result of government housebuilding targets. Associations put their profits into building new social homes rather than investing in their existing portfolios….
I read an interesting article last week by Paul White of Bernica Living, focusing on the “retirement” housing sector, or what used to be called “sheltered housing”. Bernica was experiencing lots of voids due the stigmatised sheltered housing concept, and their outdated social offer (Bingo and knitting). So, they changed the language, they marketed better,…
In my life I dislike waste. I get cross about packaging; I scrape the yogurt from the pot and the avo from its skin; I love mending things and force myself to make the most of my day, every day. Politically too – the waste of lives, of human potential and of natural resources motivates…
Everyone who works in a Housing Association seems to be a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Whether they are grappling with building safety; reaching net zero, reviewing complaints or trying to avoid another maladministration ruling, – the demands they face are intense and varied. Looking at it with great empathy, but also with a little…
In relationships – at work and at home – a lot of emphasis is put on trust. Trust, openness, and a willingness to be candid or frank when there is a problem. We value authenticity in our friends and leaders. Even when there is bad new we prefer to know about it rather than being…
I have been researching and thinking about how Open Data could be really useful for the housing association sector. With Steve Dungworth and others, I have become convinced that there would be a huge benefit if social housing providers could get together and publish their key property information online. However, full disclosure, a few weeks…