Social Housing White Paper: Initial Reflections

25 November 2020

The impact on residents of the condition and safety of their homes, and how they are managed by their landlords, are central to The Charter for Social Housing Residents; Social Housing White Paper, published last week. Most of the Housing Sector has welcomed the key initiatives which have been well published and are illustrated here by ARKs pictogram.

Some organisations have challenged the lack of focus on new social homes development and the focus on home ownership. Whilst we at ARK share these concerns and are actively supporting clients in development and sales we welcome the re-focus on investment in existing homes and communities, keeping residents safe and warm in a modern home, and making them fit for the future. In other words getting back to the basics of providing a great home for people to flourish in at a price they can afford to pay. The extension of consumer regulatory compliance to LA’s is a major shift and one which we are ready to support LA’s to implement.

We at ARK have been supporting housing associations, local authorities and ALMO’s for 30 years on Asset Management Strategies, Procurement, Investment Programmes, and H&S and Regulatory Compliance ‘FITness Tests.’ Before joining ARK’s Board three years ago I was a client happy to draw upon ARK’s expertise and did so for over 20 years with three different organisations. We are poised and ready for action to support clients teams to meet the new challenges presented by the White Paper.

We are often seen as primarily ‘property people,’ but we are also passionate about supporting organisations to progression and performance and believe that involving and supporting ‘people’ is key to unlocking that success. That’s why we welcome the Housing White Papers focus on people and the impact on residents lives and their communities successful future. We walk in the shoes of our clients. Building successful relationships with our clients is a key strength of ours, we provide critical strategic and operational advice and support, so if you need some guidance in working through and then implementing the recommendations of the White Paper do please contact us and we would be pleased to have a discussion regarding the impact on your residents and communities.