Understanding and unlocking the power of resident engagement

In 2010 the coalition came to power with a commitment to build a “bonfire of the quangos”.

One of the first quangos to be chucked on the flames was the Tenant Services Authority and with it consumer regulation went up in smoke.

All of a sudden our approach to resident governance with its formal structures, scrutiny projects and mystery shopping looked out of step.

However, we were determined to keep the faith that co-regulation should be a three-legged stool – comprising the regulator, the board and involved residents.

By the time the government cut housing association rents in 2015, we had a mature relationship with our involved residents and we were able to ask for their help in reducing our operating cost.

By this point we’d seen that resident engagement was good for the bottom line as well as being good for resident satisfaction.

However there were still some who questioned the value and others who suggested data and customer insight would replace the need for resident involvement.

“Developing the skills to co-create will become even more important as the sector seeks to automate services”

We rejected this notion – we saw how combining qualitative and quantitative techniques avoided wasting time and money on initiatives that residents didn’t value. We’d seen how using data to inform the debate – with residents involved in sense-checking, piloting, testing and co-creating solutions – proved a highly effective way to drive service improvement.

It was clear to us that data alone would never give the full picture – housing is a people business and successful change management is about taking people on the journey.

Developing the skills to co-create will become even more important as the sector seeks to automate services and asks residents to do more of the work themselves through self-service.

So far, so good – but what was missing was a compelling evidence base to prove this stuff wasn’t just ‘fluffy’ or ‘nice to do’.

The breakthrough came in 2015 when the Department for Communities and Local Government (now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) funded the University of Westminster to carry out the most in-depth study ever conducted into the relationship between resident engagement, cost savings and improved satisfaction.

Success, satisfaction and scrutiny: the business benefits of involving residents drew on five years of data from Optivo predecessor organisation Amicus Horizon and found that resident involvement had saved the association £2.7m annually in operating costs.

A new academic book, Affordable Housing Governance and Finance: Innovations, Partnerships and Comparative Perspectives, published last month by the University of Delft and the European Federation for Living, further develops this argument and includes a peer-reviewed chapter on resident engagement at Optivo, bringing much-needed rigour to the debate.

Having seen the positive impact of resident engagement, I’m delighted that the National Housing Federation (NHF) is launching ‘Together with Tenants’.

This speaks to the central ‘ask’ of the residents I’ve spoken to around the country – a conviction that ultimately this is about leadership and culture.

“Where improvements are needed, executive teams will rightly be held to account”

Yes, key performance indicators and league tables have their place – and will hopefully give residents the information they need to be able to hold their landlords to account – but the thing that makes the biggest difference is a commitment from the top.

Together with Tenants starts with boards and a change to the NHF’s code of governance – making boards explicitly accountable for ensuring residents’ voices are heard and their influence is felt.

These commitments will be enshrined in a new ‘charter’ and residents will scrutinise landlords and hold them to account.

In the same way that boards must satisfy themselves of compliance with regulation and sign off the annual accounts, they will also be accountable for the quality of resident engagement. And where improvements are needed, executive teams will rightly be held to account.

Having seen the power of resident engagement first hand, I’m delighted that Optivo will be an early adopter of this new way of working.

Paul Hackett, chief executive, Optivo; and chair, G15