Housing Management: Back to its roots

Read the HPA Headline Report Sep 2020

On the 30th September 2020, the Housing Plus Academy hosted its first online workshop, exploring how social landlords have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it had changed their housing management offer.

We discussed:

• how the frontline has changed because of the pandemic and whether these will be long-term changes
• what challenges social landlords have faced and how staff have reacted to the challenges
• how social landlords have engaged with tenants during lockdown in a safe way

The two-hour workshop was attended by 45 representatives from social landlords across the country.

This workshop highlighted the excellent work that social landlords have been doing to support their tenants and staff during the crisis.

COVID-19 has created a unique set of challenges with staff working from home and limited face-to face contact.

Organisations had to respond very quickly to lockdown restrictions and to get procedures in place to ensure continued contact and engagement with residents, despite the restrictions on the frontline.

The pandemic has forced housing management "back to its roots" by increasing direct contact with tenants through phone calls, digital communications, estate walkarounds, and a more supportive environment for residents who may be struggling with arrears, finances, and unemployment.

Both tenants and staff have valued this the increased contact. The pandemic has taught landlords how useful regular engagement with residents is and how much it is valued by residents.