Wealden District Council’s Housing Service has chosen TPTracker as its preferred solution for a Tenant/Resident Participation IT system, enabling them to contact, manage and record participation with their tenants and other residents in the district.
Why the #ManOnTheMoon advert is relevant to social housing landlords
John Lewis released their eagerly awaited Christmas advert last week, once again taking social media by storm, clocking up an impressive 23,000 online mentions in just two hours (Mail Online). The advert tells the story of a young girl called Lily who brings Christmas joy to a lonely old man living on the moon by finally being able to send him a gift from earth. The advert will undoubtedly be a success for the retail giant however how well will the underlying message be listened to?
Getting ready for Housing Day
Housing providers and tenants across the country are currently gearing up to promote Housing Day 2015 (18th November). The focus of the day is to share stories of why tenants are proud to live in their homes and communities, aiming to counteract some of the bad press and stigma that has plagued the sector. By putting tenants and their personal stories at the heart of #HousingDay a new more positive narrative can be built. The campaign has borrowed the simple ‘Proud to be a Tenant’ campaign from Berneslai Homes and given it a national platform.
Helping tenants to #getonline
From 12-18 October, community organisations took part in Get Online week. Housing associations took up the gauntlet of supporting tenants with learning digital skills, ensuring that they are confident with a range of online activities, such as applying for jobs and setting up e-mail accounts.
The annual Chartered Institute of Housing Conference was held in Manchester this year, and saw hundreds of delegates from across the country networking and taking part in discussions, ‘think tanks’ and fringe events.
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.
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.
