How to build in the tenant voice: Six key takeaways from our virtual event

As the sector prepares for new consumer standards and wider efforts to improve tenant engagement, we explored what social landlords can do to successfully harness the tenant voice.

The Regulator of Social Housing’s new consumer standards and Better Social Housing Review are just two examples of how the sector is striving to boost tenant engagement and involvement. 

It was amid this backdrop that we held a virtual event – which was hosted by our head of policy and external affairs, Rachael Williamson – exploring how social landlords can successfully build in the tenant voice and better engage with residents.

Attendees heard from a range of experts on a variety of approaches to delivering a more equitable tenant-landlord relationship. 

Here are the six key takeaways. 

Consider co-creation 

Southern Housing’s Lewis Kinch shared insight into the work his team are doing around co-creation, which Southern Housing opted to adopt in 2020. 

Southern Housing defines co-creation as “residents, staff, and stakeholders coming together as equals to design brilliant services”, with Lewis explaining how the concept differs to resident involvement. 

According to Lewis, co-creation enables shared decision-making to design services that meet the needs of all stakeholders, values lived experience and learned knowledge equally, and aims to redistribute power among residents and operational staff. 

He added: “None of this works unless the people making those decisions are bought into the process, they understand why you’re doing things, and they believe you can deliver that process credibly.” 

Create inclusive spaces 

Facilitating an inclusive space in which to meet with tenants is a key part of delivering effective co-creation. 

While physical accessibility is important, Lewis clarified that an inclusive space is one in which participants – such as resident groups, staff, and other stakeholders – feel comfortable and able to contribute to discussions. 

Lewis shared tips on how to creative an inclusive space, including: 

• Use neutral, familiar venues such as community centres, cafes, even pubs (avoid formal environments such as boardrooms) 
• Don’t use job titles if they’re not relevant (long and complicated job titles can be off-putting) 
• Dress casually to promote approachability, as being “suited and booted” can again be off-putting for some 
• Sit around a table and avoid ‘town-hall’ style meetings.

(TL-TR) Kai Jackson, Rachael Williamson; (BL-BR) Sian Coulton, Darren Hartley, Lewis Kinch

Keep it simple 

Community Gateway’s Sian Coulton shared insight into Community Gateway’s approach. 

As Community Gateway is tenant led and follows a gateway model, it ensures tenants are involved in decisions about their homes and neighbourhoods. A key part of this work involves regularly going out in the community, knocking on doors, and meeting people face to face. 

“We’ve gone ‘old-school’,” Sian said. “It’s just about being out there, speaking to people...and being present in communities.”

According to Sian, this simplified but proactive approach has allowed the team to improve the diversity of tenants getting involved with the organisation and ensure all areas of the community are represented. 

As a result of this engagement work, Sian said her team has been able to: 

• Provide cost-of-living support 
• Resolve local community issues 
• Deliver targeted activities 
• Support partners 
• Provide accessible opportunities 
• Enable a louder tenant voice 
• Deliver tailored communications 
• Increase overall satisfaction. 

“It’s really just about getting out there and listening,” Sian said. 

Don’t ignore digital 

As part of its revised approach to tenant involvement, Community Gateway decided to put a particular focus on digital engagement, which has turned out to be “one of our most successful changes”. 

This work saw the creation of a dedicated digital engagement officer post, tenant-only Facebook groups, a ‘Tenant Hub’, as well as a concerted effort to deliver more online content such as informative videos. 

For every in-person event her team facilitates, Sian said they also try to provide a digital element, thereby increasing the number of ways tenants can engage. 

Sian said digital services such as the Tenant Hub and tenant-only Facebook groups provide several benefits for tenants, including a ‘safe space’ in which to ask questions and quick and easy access to information, advice, and guides. 

As a result of its digital push, Community Gateway currently has: 

• More than 500 active tenants on its Facebook group 
• More than 1,100 active tenants on its Tenant Hub 
• An 85 per cent open rate for its monthly newsletter 
• Increased engagement from younger demographics.

Credit: Community Gateway

Be mindful of individual experiences

Taroe Trust’s Darren Hartley spoke of the increasing tendency among landlords to “get a bit obsessed” with trying to ascertain how a particular tenant’s experience might be reflective of other tenants’ experiences. 

“There is definitely a place for that; it provides important and useful insight,” he said. “But if it’s only that, there is the potential to miss what sometimes might be really important individual issues.” 

Darren explained that, without seeing an individual and understanding their personal experiences, landlords might fail to see the whole person. The corollary of this is that the landlord’s services might then fail to properly consider the needs of each individual tenant, resulting in missed opportunities for service optimisation and lower overall tenant satisfaction. 

As an example, Darren said: “If you are allocating a property, but this is a specialist scheme for women who have experienced domestic violence...being given that property and just being left within those four walls...those four walls might represent a place of danger. They may well not be seen as a safe and secure environment.” 

He added: “What we’re talking about is understanding [each individual’s] emotional responses.” 

The tenant’s view 

After Lewis, Sian, and Darren had delivered their presentations, it was the turn of Kai Jackson – an associate of the TPAS Scrutiny Group and member of the Black Country Housing Group Scrutiny Panel – to share her thoughts with attendees. 

She began by reflecting on some of Lewis’ points around co-creation, which is “one of the best things”. 

“It actually does work,” Kai said. “I do it and implement it all the time in my organisation when it comes to reviews, looking at services, going through policies...” 

She added: “The collaboration with staff and tenants is exactly what the sector needs to do more of, and what the regulator wants to see as well – and the ombudsman.” 

For those organisations just starting their tenant-engagement journey, the first thing they should do, according to Kai, is to think about how exactly they will go about building a tenant base. 

Part of this, she said, is to regularly communicate with tenants, including by post, for purposes other than to inform them their rent has risen or they are in arrears. 

“A lot of the time, residents always complain, ‘the only time we hear from our housing [association] is when the rent has gone up, once a year, or when we’ve done something wrong,” Kai said. 

Kai’s presentation included a reminder that “tenants are always going to be your biggest asset”. 

• Watch the full recording 
• Sign up to our next virtual event: The Procurement Act: What Can We Expect? 

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