Demonstrate your professional experience and practice
The Experienced Professional Route (EPR) to chartered membership (CIHCM) draws upon your practical experience to enable you to demonstrate you have the skills and knowledge required to lead people and manage change.
This route is an experiential programme and recognises your professional capability, previous qualifications, and commitment to maintaining up-to-date knowledge of housing issues.
Benefits of the experienced professional route to chartered membership
- No course attendance requirements.
- The reflective statement and the interview provide you with the opportunity to engage with experienced housing professionals.
- You progress in your membership grade as per the CIH exemplar career development framework, demonstrating your commitment to continuing professional development, and professionalism.
- You enhance your credibility as a housing professional – remaining current and competitive in a rapidly changing sector.
- Interview dates are available throughout the year.
- You will achieve CIHCM and receive confirmation that you achieved CIHCM status through the EPR route.
- When you successfully complete the interview stage, you may use of the designatory letters CIHCM after your name.
- When you successfully complete the programme, the first year of your CIH chartered membership fee is free.
Eligibility criteria
Candidates must meet one of the four eligibility criteria below:
- You have worked in a housing organisation or the residential built environment for five years, two of which are at senior management level working either as housing manager, asset manager (regeneration, property development, compliance audit, surveying, construction) or resources manager (policy & strategy, HR, finance).
- You have worked in a housing organisation or the residential built environment for five years and you have a degree level qualification or a minimum CIH Level 4 qualification.
- You have worked in a housing organisation or the residential built environment for five years and you are a fully qualified member (chartered member/fellow) of another relevant professional body.
- You have more than five continuous years’ experience working as a senior manager or head of service in a housing organisation.
If you work in an academic setting, and hold a degree, you can access the programme providing you can evidence practical understanding/experience of housing through some or all of the following:
- You might have worked in housing practice before you became an academic or are currently a board member of a housing association or a similar organisation
- You have researched and published on an aspect of housing practice
- Through your teaching, you disseminate information on housing practice, and how skills, competencies and behaviours to work in the housing sector can be developed and enhanced.
Please note: Canadian, Hong Kong, and international candidates must contact their local CIH office to apply. Contact information can be found here.
The structure
If you meet the eligibility criteria, the process consists of two stages:
You need to submit your completed application form with your reflective statement, your CV, and copies of your qualification certificates (where appropriate). A non-refundable administration fee is required at this stage.
Following successful completion of stage one of the programme, the programme administrator will contact you with the details of the next set of scheduled interviews. The fee for the interview stage is payable prior to your interview.
The professional interview requires you to deliver a presentation in front of a panel of experienced housing professionals. The presentation is a key opportunity for the panel to assess your appreciation of contemporary housing issues, and how you:
- Function as a reflective practitioner.
- Take a reflective approach to your professional practice.
- Utilise theoretical perspectives in your professional practice.
You are required to demonstrate how you meet the chartered membership criteria:
- Maximise the positive impact of your work with individuals and communities.
- Deliver services that are designed to maximise the positive impact on customers.
- Work with partners to improve effectiveness.
- Contribute to the profession, sharing experience and supporting innovation.
- Communicate effectively – taking care to select the right style and method for the audience.
- Apply the professional standards framework to the daily role, embracing a reflective practice to contribute to the professionalism of the organisation and the wider sector.
- Have an ethical approach to your work - using the CIH ethical framework when faced with dilemmas.
- Ensure that you have the right skills and knowledge for the job – scanning the horizon to predict future challenges and preparing effectively.
- Embrace non-discriminatory practice and challenge behaviour which works against equality and diversity principles of good practice, reflecting on steps taken and improvements needed for equality, diversity and inclusion.
- Support initiatives for delivering services which are socially responsible.
- Promote and engage with policies and processes which conserve resources and support sustainable development.
It should also demonstrate how your professional experience and practice shows:
- Your contribution to the housing profession.
- The strategic direction of your organisation and how it meets government housing policy.
- Your experience in managing resources (people and/or teams).
- A reflection on your professional experience and the importance of professionalism and professional standards.
- Your practice of continuing professional development, working to the code of conduct, code of ethics and the CIH professional standards.
- How you continue to influence policy and practice agendas locally, regionally and nationally.
Registration fees
- Non-refundable fee upon application: £200
- Interview stage fee: £1200 payable prior to the interview
"The Experienced Professional Route offered me an independent, online virtual learning experience that I could manage around my work and home-life commitments. It focused on housing theory and context, professionalism and conduct, and reflective practice.
"As part of the program, I developed a practice portfolio to capture the breadth of my work, critically examining it through the knowledge gained in the course. Additionally, I created a personal development plan to help me grow and develop for future roles.
"Undertaking the Experienced Professional Route was both challenging and highly rewarding. This route is ideal for anyone working in a senior role without a housing-related qualification."
Watch our video from Michael Braithwaite, CEO at Blue Door, as he talks about his experience with the CIH's experienced professional route (EPR) to Chartered membership CIHCM.
"CIH membership has been a long-held ambition of mine but seemed out of reach until I secured the Head of Development & Delivery role at West Midlands Combined Authority.
"The prospect of securing membership has meant committing to a challenging and thought-provoking programme which, for somebody who hasn’t studied for many years, presented its own obstacles!
"The assessment really confronted me with a deep assessment of my professional development over the years, how this has influenced me as a senior manager today together with the behaviours and values expected from an experienced housing professional. Chartered Membership will open a range of opportunities for me. It’s been so worthwhile."
"The Experienced Professional Route programme to chartered status gave me time to reflect on my decade in the sector.
"It was great to reflect on my career to date and formalise my learning over that time.
The programme also allowed me to see gaps in my learning and put together an action plan on how to build up on these areas.
"I was also encouraged to spend some time thinking about my future career plans.
Overall, it was a challenging but very enjoyable process and I am very proud to have passed and to have been awarded chartered status."
"Taking the executive route to chartered status enabled me to take time to reflect on my own career, professional experience and practice, and set this against the clear professional standards and ethical decision-making frameworks.
"I was naturally relieved to realise that my experiences, skills and behaviours already aligned with these frameworks, but of course there is always room for development. To this end, I had some really helpful conversations with peers and a mentor and spend a lot of time reflecting on my practice and approach.
"This allowed me to more consistently articulate those experiences against the frameworks and have given useful tools for developing wider professional practice across my organisations.
"It has been a really interesting (as well as challenging) opportunity to pause and evaluate my personal contribution to delivering professional standards."
"Becoming a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Housing has been a transformative journey. It's not just a title; it's a symbol of dedication, expertise, and professionalism in the field of housing.
"The rigorous process has enriched my knowledge, expanded my network, and elevated my career to new heights. As a chartered member, I aim to deepen my expertise, expand my professional network, and contribute meaningfully to addressing housing challenges.
"Being recognised as a chartered member signifies my dedication to upholding the highest standards of professionalism and ethics in the industry."
