Demonstrate your professional experience and practice

The Experienced Professional Route (EPR) is a self-study programme designed for experienced housing professionals who want to achieve chartered membership (CIHCM) and demonstrate that they have the 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.

What does the programme cover?

The programme requires you to reflect on your professional capabilities and how you approach learning to demonstrate your knowledge of housing issues. The programme covers key themes essential for housing professionals:

  • Contemporary housing issues
  • Knowledge, skills and behaviours
  • Reflective practice
  • Professionalism, professional standards and ethics
  • Personal and professional development.

Benefits of the experienced professional route to chartered membership

  • 100% online study - there are no course attendance requirements
  • The first stage of the programme, the assignment, can be completed in four months
  • Relevant topics – designed for professionals in a variety of housing roles
  • Reflective assessment – supports both personal and professional growth
  • Professional interview – engage with experienced housing professionals
  • Chartered membership (CIHCM) – upon successful completion

Eligibility criteria

To apply, you must be a current resident of the UK or Ireland, have relevant UK or Ireland housing sector experience, and meet one of the following criteria:

  1. Five years of experience, with at least two years at a senior management level, and hold either a degree in a housing-related field or a minimum CIH Level 4 qualification.
  2. Three years of experience and be a fully qualified member (Chartered or Fellow) of a related professional body.
  3. More than five years of continuous experience as a senior manager or head of service in a housing organisation.
If you work in an academic setting

If you work in an academic setting 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.

How will you be assessed?

The EPR consists of two stages:

Stage one: the assignment

A 5,000-word reflective assignment, to be completed within four months of starting the programme.

The assignment is broken down into four components:

  1. Three case studies which demonstrate a reflection upon your current role in the housing sector, and your ability to think reflectively, act professionally and behave ethically
  2. Your approach to reflective practice
  3. Your application of professional standards and professionalism, using a case study
  4. An evaluation of your future development needs and future contributions to the housing profession.
Stage two: the professional interview

A professional interview, conducted after the successful completion of the assignment.

You will be required to deliever a presentation in front of a panel of experienced housing professionals. This will be followed by a series of questions, designed to encourage discussion, relating to the programme themes.

Individuals, both inside and outside the UK, will be notified of the arrangements for the interview after successful completion of the assignment. Successful completion of both the assignment and professional interview will confirm that you have achieved the standards for chartered membership.

You are required to demonstrate and present a case on how your professional experience and practice shows that they meet the requirements of chartered membership, which are to:

  • 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.

Support throughout the programme

Although the EPR is a self-study route, you will have access to a range of support resources:

  • Online learning materials that cover the programme’s themes and provide study skills guidance
  • A dedicated tutor to advise on academic requirements and assess your assignment
  • You will be advised to secure a mentor from housing practice who can offer support, guidance and advice from a professional practice perspective.

Cohort dates

The next cohort dates for the experienced professional route:

Application closing date

Start date

25 November 2024

9 December 2024

10 March 2025

24 March 2025

Registration fee

A registration fee of £1430 for UK and Ireland based candidates applies. Candidates outside the UK and Ireland will be advised separately of the fee.

Hear from our members
Farida Aslam

"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."

Michael Braithwaite, CEO, Blue Door

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.

Ben Colman

"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 accreditation 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."

Chris Forrester

Chris Forrester

"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."

Anthony Hearn
Anthony Hearn CIHCM

"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."

Charlotte Johnson – Platform Housing Group

"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."

Other routes to chartered membership
To be eligible for chartered membership, you must meet have either achieved a CIH recognised qualification at level 5 or above, or completed an accredited CIH executive route or experienced professional route.
Chartered membership CIHCM
You achieve chartered status once you complete the course and retain an active membership. Learn more about our chartered membership by following the link below.
Find out more
Terms and conditions
You can read our terms and conditions here.
T&C's

Discuss this route to chartered membership with a member of the team