By Simon Bernstein, Coach & Trainer in Customer Experience & Leadership for Social Housing The Social Housing Ombudsman recently reported a +474% increase in repair complaints. That’s not just a statistic—it’s a clear signal that something is broken. And it’s not the plumbing.  Housing Associations are under increasing pressure from the regulator to reduce these complaints, and understandably so. Repairs and maintenance form the backbone of the landlord-resident relationship. When they go wrong, trust erodes fast.  Most repairs are technically straightforward. What makes them go wrong is when teams don’t share the right information at the right time. And too often, [...]

By Simon Bernstein, Coach & Trainer in Customer Experience & Leadership for Social Housing Ask a group of 14-year-olds what a career in social housing looks like, and you’ll likely be met with blank stares. Not because they’re disinterested—but because they simply don’t know it exists. As a sector, we’ve done far too little to raise the curtain on the diverse and meaningful careers that social housing offers. From skilled trades to HR, customer service, community engagement, marketing, finance, and leadership—housing isn’t just bricks and mortar, it’s people and potential. But if we don’t plant that seed early, someone else will. [...]

Rent arrears, complaints, customer satisfaction – challenges that all housing associations regularly face. But just as dripping tap is a symptom of an underlying problem, these common housing association pain points are usually a symptom of a deeper issue. And that issue is often related to customer vulnerabilities. Last year the Housing Ombudsman released its 'Relationship of Equals' report calling for a Royal Commission to create a long-term plan for social housing after finding that current approaches for the sector are not working for residents with a vulnerability. The report found that 68% of customers with a vulnerability said their landlord [...]