Is this year the year you start to prioritise EDI in your organisation? Chief Executive of Manningham Housing Association, Lee Bloomfield, joins us in this episode to take a deep dive into building bridges within communities and how the organisation has levelled up its EDI approaches. We find out about Lee’s journey into housing that left him in charge of bringing Manningham Housing Association up to a compliant level again. He shares the steps they took to do so and to becoming the first housing association in the world to achieve the global Standard for Diversity and Inclusion in HR Managem ..read more

Tina Barnard spent her early career as an accountant before moving into the housing sector. She’s now Chief Executive at Watford Community Housing and in this episode, we discover her journey into housing and get her expert insights into funding, joint ventures and more. Watford Community Housing has established joint venture companies with local authority partners. We get a behind-the-scenes on how these partnerships came about and how Watford Community Housing has been leveraging them to create a win-win situation for all parties, as well as the challenges that had to be worked through to m ..read more

When Clare Budden joined ClwydAlyn Housing Association as Group CEO, she knew that change was sorely needed. Clare believes that social housing is a people-first industry, but staff satisfaction wasn’t where it should have been. Since joining, the organisation has increased its housing stock by nearly a thousand and turnover from 40 million to 64 million. Staff satisfaction has also increased and the refreshed values of the organisation have been cemented throughout. Clare shares with us the key changes that she made within ClwydAlyn that brought the organisation into the present day and hel ..read more

In this episode, former healthcare professional, Debi Marriott-Lavery, now Chief Executive at Magenta Living, shares with us the skills that she brought to the sector and her journey so far. Magenta Living is a Wirral-based housing association that owns, manages and provides support to thirteen thousand homes across the region.  Debi previously saw herself as a ‘great number two’, as opposed to leader material. We speak about why this mentality can hinder progress and how she broke free from it. Debi also speaks about her podcasting ventures. She currently hosts her second podcast, Bey ..read more

To kick off The HIP for 2024, we sit down with Mark Howden, Chief Executive of Peaks & Plains. Peaks & Plains is a social housing provider based in Macclesfield which Mark joined as Interim Chief Executive after his tenure with Balfour Beatty. Mark shares with us his interesting path into housing and his experience transitioning from the private sector to the public sector. We speak about the regulatory challenges that Peaks & Plains faced in the past, and how Mark was able to galvanise the organisation during this time and eventually regain its G1 status. We speak about Mark’s m ..read more

By fostering an environment that prioritises honesty and encourages people to ‘speak up and challenge’, without fear of being ‘wrong’, organisations can benefit from a wider breadth of knowledge and skills. Jamie Ratcliff, Chief Communities & Sustainability Officer at SNG joins us in this episode to share his passion for having an impact on people’s lives through his work. Jamie has spent nearly 20 years in housing and it’s his passion for human rights that drew him in. Sovereign and Network Homes merged to form SNG this October (2023). Jamie gives us a look into the merger and their go ..read more

CEO at Circle Voluntary Housing Association, John Hannigan joins us in this episode. Circle is Ireland-based, but John has had extensive experience in the housing sector in the UK, as well, and we discover how he got ‘hooked’ on housing and reached his position. We dive deep into the major differences between the Irish and UK housing markets in terms of the size and number of HAs and their long-term housing plan. With about 3000 homes owned and managed, Circle is in Ireland's top 5 largest HAs. They’ve managed to retain a consistent general satisfaction rating of 94% from tenants, and John gi ..read more

We are facing an unprecedented rate of change and new challenges in our industry. It takes bravery and resilience to weather the storm and stay focused on the outcomes. We sit down with Fiona Fletcher-Smith in this episode. Fiona is the Group Chief Executive at L&Q Group and is the current chair of the G15. She also held a 10-year role working with the Greater London Authority. We discover how she got into the industry and the changes that she’s seen in her 35 years of service. We speak in depth about the biggest challenges that the UK faces today. Fiona gives her views on what we should ..read more

Regeneration specialist, RE:GEN Group has been working with Durham based housing association, believe housing on a project that’s so far resulted in 1186 properties becoming more energy efficient across the North East. Two guests join us on The HIP in this episode. Ruth Dent - Director of Assets and Compliance at believe housing and Brian Bedford - Sustainability Director at RE:GEN Group. We discover how the two companies came together to deliver this outcome and the future plans for the project. We also dive deep into how the project has impacted residents and the local community. Communica ..read more

Achieving net zero targets and making our homes more comfortable in the process is a net gain for everyone. Even so, it’s not always an easy sell. In this episode, we speak with Tom Sowerby, Customer Relationship Director at Wates. Tom has a passion for sustainability, which comes across in his work with Wates. Tom goes into three key focuses - reaching net zero targets, fire safety and damp & mould. We discover how Wates is tackling these focuses. We dive deep into the net zero agenda. We speak on the drivers for net zero carbon and how they relate to social housing. Unlike the more imm ..read more