23 Jun 2025
Top tips for entering CIH housing awards
CIH hosts three housings awards through the year and no matter which awards you are entering the tips below can help you to create an award-winning application into your category. Watch our video where national director Callum Chomczuk takes you through the tips, or carry on reading below.
Read everything
Make sure when you’re applying for an award that you are entering in the right category - what does your project best shine in, does the project meet the award criteria?
Be clear and explicit in everything that you are writing, our judges don’t know your work as well as you do, so make sure you’re taking the time to make the best possible case about the impact that you’re making.
Answer all the questions as best you can
The word count is there for a reason, use it to convince the judges about why you are a deserving winner. Focus on quality over quantity, but you can still use that word count to your advantage to get as much detail in the application as possible.
Data and evidence
If you have any research, case studies, data, or anything else that shows the impact of your work make sure you include it. Evidence like this can bring your application to life, but remember any evidence does contribute to your overall wordcount.
Work as a team
The chances are that the project you are entering into the awards wasn’t just delivered by you alone; work together with the people who actually delivered the project to ensure you are writing the best possible application to bring it to life.
It also helps to have some extra eyes on your application to have a proofread before submitting.
Read last year’s Good Practice Compendiums
We’ve got lots of good practice across the sector, not just last year but in many previous years which can help guide you in your application. See how previous winners set out their applications.
