Getting the basics right - from the West Midlands to the North East and Yorkshire with the CIH and Voicescape

This week has found me on the road from Birmingham to Durham to Leeds and back but it’s been worth it for the fantastic insight and genuine customer-centric thought leadership shared across the country. Both the Chartered Institute of Housing and Voicescape put on sessions this week that truly got to the heart of the tenant voice, and I cannot applaud them enough for that.

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My other takeaway? So many issues have come about from simply not getting the basics right.

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Whilst Monday involved working on several recruitment projects that successfully concluded this week, I had a great trip to Durham to sit down with the CIH team ahead of the #NorthernHousingFestival. The team at the Chartered Institute of Housing created a brilliant one-day conference just a month after the #HousingCommunitySummit, providing a wide range of topics and discussion while also highlighting the brilliant work being undertaken by Northern Housing providers in the #SocialHousing space.

I also had a chance to meet Samuel Middleton CIHM for the first time, a person whose passion and desire to make a difference shines through, and he opened up the event before introducing the fantastic Crystal Hicks , our host for the day. It was also good to see Michael Coupland who highlighted the work Aico has been doing in the North East to promote the work of the sector.

Trying to undertake this review at a whistlestop pace, the opening keynote entitled “A New Beginning” saw Jill Murray BA FCIH in her final conference as CIH President welcome Gavin Smart , Patrick Murray and Bobbie Hough to the stage. The discussion highlighted how we are 100 days into the new government program, that some things have been received potentially better than others but that the overall feeling is that there is a significant change in tone from Whitehall. Despite record levels of homelessness and temporary accommodation and the desire for a new version of the Welfare Reform Act, we have a government now asking “how” rather than “what”, which gives hope.

Jill then provided the audience with an incredibly heartfelt overview of her brilliant #BEEPIC campaign and it was fantastic to see this being delivered in a place where she has made so much difference to say many people over the course of her excellent career.

After a swift interlude, three concurrent breakout sessions were undertaken, one of which I had the pleasure of Chairing. Our topic was focused on “Attracting and retaining the housing professionals of tomorrow”, and I was honoured to be joined by Chris Garlick , Katherine Hernandez and Rory Fairbararn, who had been so brilliantly nominated by Evie Copland CIHCM . The session could have run on for so much longer than we had time for, covering the changing role of the housing officer, burnout, salaries in development and their influence on the gender pay gap, recruiting from outside the sector, the GEM programme, housing culture and more. I was really appreciative of everyone who joined us for the session and you could never have guessed that the three people on the panel had never presented at a conference before.

It was a shame to miss Diane Carney CIHCM , Sean Lawless , Adam Pearce and Rachel Cox discussing “delivering repairs and maintenance” and Peter Locke , Liam Gregson , Steve M. , Chris Pearson and Helen Ball engaging in an open discussion on the resident journey in decarbonisation but I heard brilliant feedback on their sessions too!

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The rest of the programme continued to excel, with Crystal delivering an incredibly powerful session on whether it was possible to end homelessness in the next 10 years that I know really brought the emotions out in some of the audience. Tracy Guy , Neil Baird (great surname) and Ahmed really hit a home run with this and it’s a session that must continue to be discussed.

I heard equally excellent thoughts were shared in the two sessions running concurrently to this, with Jonathan Graham , Carolyn Wood and Lyndsey Barton Torr pondering the role of the Housing Officer in modern day Social Housing, whilst Louise T. , Leigh H. and Dr Eve Blezard FHEA CIHCM deep-dove into the changing nature of complaints, a topic that is at the heart of so many of us in the sector. Everyone I spoke too had wished they could have cloned themselves to attend multiple talks as the speakers and topics were exactly what the sector needed to be talking about, so I applaud everyone involved in the breakouts for bringing a true breadth of thought to the conference.

The rest of the day allowed the audience to hear from Fiona MacGregor , Caritas Charles , Angela Lomax , Matt Lewer Cert. CIH and Melanie Smith , providing an incredibly thought-provoking insight into whether regulation is all about culture. Once again, the panel were being asked questions beyond the time allocated, but it again showcased that the whole conference was focused on how we can make real change, and how that change can truly change the lives of tenants.

Our Tuesday rounded out, before the Action for Children raffle and dinner, with Paul Fiddaman , Graham Thrower and Dr Charlotte Carpenter showcasing their expertise and offering some invaluable takeaways on how devolution can work for the North. It was a brilliant final session of the day and really showcased why regional conferences are just as necessary as national ones!

On a final note before I share some thoughts on the brilliant conference put together by Voicescape, I wanted to give Curtis Coker , Alex Gibson, Ira Avery , Grace C. Alissia Brown , Sharna Chester, Jill Allcoat , David O’Hara their flowers – you all did an incredible job!

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On to Wednesday and I had the honour of opening the Voicescape Annual Customer Conference, a brilliantly innovative day that truly showcased how, when you get the technology right, it can really make a difference to the customer experience.

I was asked to deliver a “state of the nation” address, and whilst there is a video to follow, what’s clear is the difficulties we currently are facing in trying to engage with customers at the levels expected by the regulator and the ombudsman. Every week on The Social Housing Round Table we get the chance to speak with voices right across the Social Housing space, and we recently held a session that highlighted this better than I ever could. Dr. Hannah Absalom in her recent Home Encounters research gained multiple testimonies that residents were just wishing to be left alone unless there was a basic need having to be addressed – so we’ve quite the conundrum.

Technology is definitely going to lead on changing this, and highlighting how customers were being impacted and supported through technology through this conference really brought home why we need to continually change and adapt.

It certainly helped that the day was full of truly brilliant speakers, with Caroline Harraway , Philip Trickett , Angela Havens and Wendy Swales championing the customer voice at every opportunity. The stats and impact that all of those housing leaders were able to highlight was truly fantastic to see, as was the pride every person was taking in showing to their peers that, if you’re just a little bit brave, you really can make the difference you want to see whilst allowing residents their own autonomy at the same time. Alex Goodall , you did an absolutely brilliant job.

Next week isn’t looking any quieter as you’ll find me working with Green & Burton ASB Associates , hosting their #ASB10 Conference before heading down to London on Wednesday for the #SEC2024 Call For Action event with the South East Consortium ! Here’s to catching up with many of you soon but do reach out if you’d like to find out more about The Social Housing Round Table , the businesses I’m recruiting for, or just want to be connected with any of the speakers I had the pleasure of working with this week!