How should social landlords ensure they are listening to residents?

Two caveats first. I’ll be talking alongside housing activist Kwajo Tweneboa among others, and I must acknowledge that our resident-led model isn’t a natural guarantee that we always get things right. Our complaints performance, for example, is far from where it should be. We’re taking action to address this, involving residents fully in the process as you would expect.

I must acknowledge, too, that landlords come in all shapes and sizes. We feel fortunate that all of Phoenix’s 7,800 homes are contained within roughly a three-mile radius in south Lewisham, and the opportunity that brings for more community-focused services and closeness to our residents.

Having got those out of way, here are some initial areas for possible reflection.

“However persuasive I might be on the day, I know most chief executives and boards aren’t suddenly going to decide to cede control to their tenants (although I wish they would)”

1. Tenants are experts too

The psychology in the sector, I believe, is that there is a clear distinction between independent and resident board members; that there is a risk in not having enough independents on boards as that would represent a lack of expertise.

All tenants are clearly already experts on the front-facing services provided by their housing association, and often community experts too. But it should go without saying that, with the right support, tenants who don’t work in the profession will be able to develop further expertise in time. That is my own experience, having progressed through various Phoenix committees and now being in my eighth year as a board member.

Of course you need board members with particular specialities in areas like finance and IT, but please do not unconsciously write off the potential of the people living in your homes. We’re proud of our record while having a tenant chair and a board containing six residents. And if you have proper resident involvement in decision-making at the top of your organisation, the chances are it will start to permeate below.

2. Set out your stall with staff from the start

We’re clear in our recruitment advertising at Phoenix that we’re a resident-led housing association, and that we feel that’s our greatest strength. Candidates are reminded of this when they attend interview, as they meet trained residents sitting on every interview panel.

New members of staff know they are in a job with Phoenix because they were appointed by a panel that included a resident. As part of their induction programme, they then meet me or our vice-chair Simon Barlow (also a tenant) along with our chief executive Denise Fowler, and we talk through our life stories.

All of this helps to generate mutual respect and trust between staff and our residents. Our resident interview panellists also value the experience as an opportunity to learn and develop and to monitor the progress of those they helped to bring into the organisation.

It’s very simple to include residents in recruitment interviews, especially as more interviews take place virtually, but hardly any landlords do it. I think that should change.

“New members of staff know they are in a job with Phoenix because they were appointed by a panel that included a resident”

3. Involvement can be very simple

We have a committee structure that is underpinned by a central resident body, the Phoenix Gateway, which acts as a sounding board with different resident voices. But of course involvement and engagement extend far beyond governance.

If you go out onto our estates of an evening, there’s a chance that you may see a gathering of people around a fish and chip van. These are our Chat & Chips events, where residents are asked to give their views on a number of consultation topics and as reward can enjoy a fish and chip dinner. Their feedback then informs our future policies and plans.

But it goes further than that. Residents who might not otherwise wish to get involved get to meet our staff face to face in a fairly informal setting. That creates a relationship far different from the relationship with a faceless voice in a contact centre. They also get to meet their neighbours, helping to cement more of a sense of community and all the benefits that brings.

I look forward to expanding on all of this at Housing 2023 and to meeting some of you at the conference. Please do come over and say hello!

Carmen Simpson, chair of Phoenix Housing Association, is speaking at 10am on 27 June at Housing 2023, at the Keynote Theatre, in a session called ‘Listening first: how can landlords ensure their organisations are listening to tenants in a respectful and meaningful way?’. The session is open to all.