You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Clarion rejigs executive team roles after critical report into estate conditions
Clarion, the country’s largest housing association, has made changes to its executive team in an effort to improve the way it interacts with residents following a wave of coverage highlighting issues at one of its estates in south London.
The move will see the 125,000-home landlord change the roles of two of its executive team members.
Its chief operating officer Michelle Reynolds will become its chief customer officer, and Rob Lane, currently group commercial director, will be Clarion’s chief property officer.
The details of the changes came in an all-staff email, seen by Inside Housing, from Clarion’s chief executive Clare Miller. In the email she admitted that recent events had shown that the organisation “needed to do better” at engaging with its residents.
She said that while the association has a long track record of providing housing to those desperately in need and delivering a good service to these residents, it was “clear that a minority of residents found dealing with the organisation frustrating and for some very challenging”.
She added that in the case of its Eastfields Estate in Merton, south London, some residents had not reported repairs because they assumed Clarion would not be interested in helping – a situation she described as “terrible”.
READ MORE
The email was sent this week after Clarion published a ‘lessons learned’ report into what went wrong at its Eastfields Estate after an ITV expose revealed that residents were living in terrible conditions, including chronic black mould and a major vermin infestation. Eastfields is one of the Clarion developments that has been earmarked for regeneration but progress has been slower than on other development sites.
The report into the estate revealed that Clarion had missed several opportunities to consider what steps may be needed to maintain the homes, and as a result the condition of some homes fell below the standard expected.
At the time, Ms Miller said that the association was “distraught by what it found” and that it is now putting effort into a national drive to talk to its residents and understand how the organisation could better engage.
In the email to staff, Ms Miller said that she had chosen Ms Reynolds to lead this work by listening to residents and shaping a new approach to resident engagement. As part of this approach, Ms Reynolds has been given the title of chief customer officer.
The email also explained that the new approach would bring together the different parts of the business that deal with the lifecycle of the organisation’s stock. This new integrated unit will come under the leadership of Mr Lane.
Inside Housing has asked Clarion whether Ms Reynolds and Mr Lane will continue carrying out their existing duties, or whether there will be additions to the executive team.
Ms Miller added that as part of the changes, Clarion will have two members of the group executive team with responsibilities focusing on customers, including customer and asset strategies.
The email also said that some staff members would have questions about the impact of the changes, but that the executive team still had more work to do before making final decisions. However, it did say that there would be some line management changes within the organisation.
The Regulator of Social Housing cleared Clarion of a standards breach following an investigation into the issues, but in a letter to the landlord it said the problems were “disappointing” and warned of risks to the sector’s reputation.
The issue of disrepair in social housing has grown in recent months following national coverage from ITV, with residents living in homes managed by social landlords such as Croydon Council, L&Q, Bromford and The Guinness Partnership all featured.
Speaking to Inside Housing last month about the coverage and issues of disrepair in social housing properties, Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said that while the stories were unacceptable, she does not believe it is the norm, and that she thinks housing association homes are, on the whole, better quality than other tenures.
Clarion has declined to comment.
Sign up for our asset management newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
