Housing 21 chief airs concerns about new professionalisation requirements

Speaking at the Inside Housing and Social Housing Regulation and Governance Conference, Mr Moore said he was concerned that the professionalisation requirements would not change the culture of people in the sector.

He also told the event, on 18 October, that the requirements risked leading to people leaving the social housing sector.

“You can do a qualification; that doesn’t actually make you behave in a different way,” Mr Moore said. 

“If you’re in a different environment with a different culture, the danger is it will push a lot of people out of the sector, because people will not want to take on qualifications.”

Referring to the retirement living and extra-care provider and his own experience, Mr Moore said: “We’ve got an older workforce and it [could] push all those people out.

“At a senior exec level, I’ve got no professional housing qualification. I’ve worked in the sector for quite a long time. I’m a lawyer by background, so I’m not sure I qualify for anything. But it’s being concerned and learning and doing the right thing, picking it up.” 

He added: “I really worry that it’s going to have unintended consequences. So we don’t think the regulation is quite clear about where it’s going.”

Mr Moore added that Housing 21 loved apprenticeships, training and support for all its employees.

He said: “You don’t get to invest in people professionally without doing that, but [by] making it mandatory, I don’t think actually it’s going to do what it’s required to do. So that’s the one area that I think is a real concern. It’s a knee jerk. I can see why it’s done, but it’s not the mechanism to achieve the goal that we want to achieve.”

However, speaking on the same panel, Joanne Drew, director of housing and regeneration at the London Borough of Enfield, said that while preparation for the requirements would be challenging and funding was needed to help with this, the structured framework could be helpful for the local authority.

She said: “I think local authorities are having to do more ‘grow your own’ strategies and so I think a structured framework to equip people to meet technical competency requirements is actually quite helpful for us.

“I think the funding and the way in which we do such a large number of staff that will fall in scope potentially – it’s going to be a challenge to operational delivery, and because we do have a revolving door, often it’s going to be a continuous event.”

Ms Drew added: “I think, alongside requirements like this, there needs to be funding, particularly to enable you to get off the ground and do all the development work associated with doing that well. So I’m a little bit more pragmatic about it. You can see the benefits for councils, but we do need some support and help to deliver it.”

Gavin Smart, chief executive of the CIH, told Social Housing that while he understood the sector’s cost pressures, there was more to be welcomed than feared with professionalism requirements.

He said: “At CIH, we welcome the professionalism agenda and the steps being taken by government to support the growth and development of professionalism across the sector.

“However, we do understand the pressures the sector is facing, with added professional requirements now added to the list of issues housing organisations need to pay attention to. As the professional body for housing, we have made it clear that we think professionalism goes beyond gaining a qualification.

“We encourage everyone in housing to demonstrate their professionalism by becoming or continuing to be a member of CIH. CIH members gain access to a wide range of tools and services to help them be the best professional they can be.

“At CIH, we are determined to continue to expand this work to support the sector with the changes coming, to enable our members and the sector easily to demonstrate and take pride in their professionalism, in a way that suits their skills, time and organisation.

“We believe there is more to be welcomed than feared in the professionalism agenda and that it will help to raise the profile of housing as a sector and a career.”

Jo Allen, head of member relations at the National Housing Federation, told Social Housing: “We support the introduction of the competence and conduct standard and believe that it would provide an important national framework to complement the work our members already do, including providing training to staff and promoting high standards and professionalism.

“Some members have raised concerns about the new professionalisation regime’s ability to change the sector’s culture, and the issue of retention and recruitment, which we have shared with DLUHC [the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities].

“We will continue to engage with members and the government about the standard and any potential impact on costs, retention and recruitment, including providing clarity for staff with long-term experience and pre-existing qualifications.”

The DLUHC was contacted for comment.