Where Next for Social Housing After Grenfell and the Hackitt Report?
The Grenfell tragedy gave the social housing world a major jolt. The Hackitt Report analysis of the causes and recommendations for change has led to social housing landlords and their R&M partners to take stock and ask, where do we go from here?
The answer is maybe more straightforward than people think. In our view, the direction of travel is one that social housing should already have been on, and in many areas already was.
The report highlighted the value of a strong resident voice and a proactive repair and maintenance service that puts tenants’ needs at the heart of delivery. These are established features of good practice in social housing.
What Grenfell highlighted is that these principles aren’t just about delivering value and customer satisfaction, they go to the very heart of key issues. We would also add that they go a long way to improving the quality and performance of housing stock over the longer term.
Should it really take a magnitude to drive change?
Constant evaluation should be an intrinsic part of any housing maintenance service. Continuously reviewing standards and improving the enforcement of regulations ought to be normal business.
The Hackitt Report noted that: “Many social housing communities suffer from a huge gulf in communication between tenants and landlords.”
It’s self-evident that this is never going to be the way to deliver an efficient and compliant R&M service, never mind one that residents will truly value.
In the wake of Grenfell, LSE Housing and Communities conducted research with social housing tenants. The messages they got were clear:
- “Tenants want to be respected and listened to”
- “They want to work as partners with landlords’”
- “They want front-line, estate-based management in their communities”
These aren’t outrageous demands. Where these things don’t happen the experience of residents will be, at best, sub-optimal. And Grenfell serves as a stark reminder of the risks when residents aren’t listened to or empowered.
The resident voice is one we’ve always sought out and listened to. Osborne Property Services puts residents at the heart of everything we do, which is why clear lines of communication for receiving feedback and complaints are central to each of our Repairs and Maintenance partnerships.
