Better Social Housing Review calls for national audit of sector’s stock

Repairs and maintenance

 

The report recommended that housing associations should partner with tenants, contractors and frontline staff to develop and apply new standards defining what an excellent maintenance and repairs process looks like.

 

The review said this is because there are widespread and growing concerns about the way in which many housing associations manage the maintenance and repair of their housing stock and respond to concerns and complaints raised by tenants.

 

It said each housing association should ask tenants, frontline staff and contractors to work together to review how the organisation deals with maintenance and repairs.

 

They should develop new standards together, to be used to review the organisation’s performance, and then develop an annual plan for continuous improvement, the report added.

 

A system under pressure

 

The review also said that “social housing is a system under pressure”, with providers struggling to manage growing external demands and expectations with the resources they have.

 

In this system, housing associations need to go back to test their performance against their core purpose of providing decent, safe homes for those who can’t afford the market.

 

The review recommended that housing associations should work with all tenants to ensure they have a voice and influence at every level of decision-making across the organisation, through both voluntary and paid roles.

 

The report said: “There are widespread concerns that tenant voice, and the diversity of that voice, can get lost in a sector under pressure, where leaders can be distanced from the realities of tenant experience. Tenants should be recognised as key partners in delivering sector purpose.

 

“All housing associations should assess their performance against tenants’ experiences by empowering them to lead investigations and reviews and should expand the roles they can play across organisations.”

 

Tenants should be recognised as key partners in delivering sector purpose, the report said.

 

It said housing associations should work in partnership with tenants at all levels of the organisation, assessing their performance against tenants’ experiences and empowering tenants to lead investigations and reviews as standard.

 

Community hubs

 

The review said housing associations should develop a proactive local presence through community hubs that foster greater multi-agency working.

 

It recommended that housing associations should seek to create more community-based hubs, either by engaging with existing ones or setting up new ones.

 

These hubs should reflect the needs and aspirations of the community and be based on the principle of ‘go where the tenants are’.

 

The report said that too many tenants are concerned about reduced face-to-face contact with landlords. Internal silo working and a lack of commitment to external multi-agency working can reduce the efficiency and impact of associations.

 

Recruitment and staffing

 

The review recommended that the CIH promote the traditional housing officer role as a supported and valued employment opportunity with a CIH-recognised programme of training and continuing development.

 

It said that exceptional pressures and demands on frontline staff working directly with tenants are contributing to very high turnover rates at this level, which make it difficult for tenants to communicate with their landlord.

 

The review called for housing associations to increase investment in recruiting, developing and supporting the retention of more housing officers to enable them to re-establish more manageable patch sizes.

 

It said housing providers should go further and provide tenant apprenticeship schemes and volunteering roles to provide pathways to employment.

 

It recommended landlords recruit and support tenant peer mentors in paid roles, to represent and help other tenants through complaints processes, and sit on newly created peer complaint-resolution boards.

 

The report said housing associations should support tenants and frontline staff to undertake an annual review of the progress each organisation is making in implementing this review’s recommendations.

 

For these recommendations to have real impact, housing associations should work with their tenants and frontline staff to examine how well they are doing in terms of implementing recommendations and find ways to overcome the challenges and barriers they face in doing so.

‘House in order’

 

The Better Social Housing Review urged the sector to take immediate action on the issues it raised. It would like to see its recommendations built into sector-wide, as well as organisation-specific, plans within six months.

 

The review said: “With its ‘house in order’, the sector will be in a far stronger position to create a powerful collective case for targeted support from, and active engagement with, government.

 

“The government and the sector should seize the opportunity to work together on delivering a shared vision for high-quality social housing and its power to transform lives.

 

“This country must be more ambitious for social housing, for the tenants who live in it, the employees who work in it, and the communities it forms such an important part of.

 

“After all, this doesn’t just have the potential to ensure that every housing association provides homes where its tenants can thrive. It also has the potential to positively and profoundly benefit the health and well-being of communities up and down the country. That is a sector with real purpose. True ambition. That is a world-class vision of ‘levelling up’.”