The sector has stepped up, but there is still a long way to go

This week, we’re also taking stock and looking at how some of that decision-making is panning out – and the state of the sector moving forwards. Thankfully, there’s some relatively positive news to report. Three-quarters of people who responded to a snap survey of the sector feel that their organisation is responding either “very well” or “reasonably well” to the crisis. In a stressful, fast-changing environment, this is pretty good going. Certainly, the individuals I’ve spoken to have all been resolutely focused on the best ways to protect staff, tenants and residents.

The plethora of interest groups and webinars have also shown, for the most part, a genuine openness and desire to learn, which one would hope will continue after the crisis has passed.

Stories abound of landlords redeploying staff to contact residents who are potentially vulnerable to COVID-19 or living alone. Gentoo, to quote just one example, called 14,000 residents from its 29,000 tenancies in a single week. We look at the activities of frontline staff in several other associations elsewhere in Inside Housing this week.

Financially there has been some good news, too – from the various bond deals that have progressed despite the turbulence, to ratings agency Moody’s update that suggested it is not expecting material credit impacts for most housing associations because of repairs being limited to essential works and postponed development programmes.

Before we get carried away, however, we will certainly see a massive backlog of repairs at the end of this – and mothballed sites are pretty much a disaster whichever way you look at it. Organisations are already dealing with high levels of staff absence, up to 20% in some cases, and many are reporting difficulties in obtaining personal protective equipment.

The sector has made a good start, but despite the dramatic changes, we are still in the foothills of the mountain that lies ahead.

Martin Hilditch, editor, Inside Housing