Introduction
Those working in the social housing sector and involved in examining resident satisfaction will have undoubtedly heard of HouseMark’s STAR (Survey of Tenants and Residents). This was set up in 2011 and provides a framework for landlords to perform periodic perception based surveys of how their residents feel about their organisation and the services they provide.
Using software to enhance mobile working is a hot topic right now and is coming up on many housing conference agendas. For example: The Housing Technology In-depth 2015 mobile working and collaboration conference discussed this in detail last month.
Phil Morgan is an independent housing consultant and former housing regulator. He has been England’s leading authority on resident involvement for over a decade. Arena Partnership’s Helene Beales talks to Phil to find out his views on how resident involvement is developing today and explores the challenges and opportunities housing providers face.
Most social housing landlords understand the potential of social media. However with the multitude of platforms and tools available, many are unsure of the best place to start.
Satisfaction surveys are regularly performed in the social housing sector. Be it in the form of a STAR survey or a survey to gain feedback on a service a tenant has received (e.g. repairs surveys).
SMS text messages are regularly used by GP’s, dentists and hairdressers to reduced missed appointments etc. SMS messages can also have positive applications in the social housing sector. Although it is common place for many housing providers to send repairs appointment confirmations via texts, further more innovative uses of text messaging in social housing are less widespread.
Post introduction of the Social Value Act (2012) the concept of measuring and demonstrating social value is gaining momentum. The potential of this approach is significant however the main drawback seems to be a lack of clear understanding of the topic. This is what motivated us to write our short, simple to understand free '5 Minute Guide to Social Value' in the housing sector.
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Resident Involvement is the term used in the UK social Housing sector to describe a range of activities in which housing providers engage with their residents, to help facilitate improvements to the services they provide.
