Welcome to HQN’s weekly update.

In this edition you'll find a briefing on the essential business of developing empathy in customer service and across your organisation, a roundup from the world of welfare reform, and a worrying report from the Kerslake Commission, which is investigating the government's attempts to end rough sleeping. 

We also bring you updates from our Residents' Network and our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Network, along with all the recent developments from our Complaints Hub and Estates Hub.

Don’t forget: the closing date for consultation on the Regulator of Social Housing's draft consumer standards is coming up (17 October). If you want to know more about them, or would like to debate the issues, come along to our workshop with the regulator on 12 October, and our session focusing on the Tenant Satisfaction Measures on 13 October. 

And we'd like to remind you all of our Ask the Members service. If you have a query about your service area, your fellow members are here to help. We always post the latest member questions at the bottom of these weekly updates. If you have question for the members, please click here, login to your account, and post your question.

As always, we’d love to get your feedback.

Briefing of the week: 

Developing empathy: A practical guide

Witnesses told the Grenfell Inquiry that housing staff "lacked empathy”. In this briefing Jane Atherton, Lead for HQN’s learning and organisational development hub,  explores empathy – what it means for customer service and how an organisational culture of empathy can be developed.

Welfare reform roundup 

HQN associate Sue Beasor brings you her latest welfare reform and benefits roundup, featuring news of the DWP's recent universal credit developments and details of the cost-of-living payments.

Event of the week: Rent Income Excellence Network annual conference 2023

The conference will explore: how housing providers are doing their best to maximise income while sustaining tenancies;  the different approaches organisations are taking; and the wider picture – has the shortage of social housing  led to an affordability crisis that goes beyond our current tenant base? 

Training of the week: Additional financial support for tenants

We're in a cost-of-living crisis. Prices are rising at phenomenal rates. Now's the time to ensure you are aware of what’s out there financially for your tenants to help them survive this situation. Our workshop is essential for everyone working in income maximisation. debt recovery, and housing management.

HQN podcast

In a recent podcast, Alistair McIntosh talked to the authors of new research into the information residents in high-rises receive about fire safety.

Report: Rough sleeping

The Kerslake Commission's latest report warns that the government will not hit its target of ending rough sleeping by 2024. Read it below.

Net zero pledge

The NHF has written open letters to the chancellor and the energy secretary urging them to recommit to the government’s net zero manifesto pledge in the upcoming Autumn Statement.

Toolkit: Embedding equality, diversity and inclusion

This edition of the toolkit aims to help registered providers ensure that EDI remains part of all they do, and focuses on: leadership, policy development and implementation, and lots more.

Blog: Inclusive leadership

In this article, Colin Heyman, Lead of the EDI network, explores what it takes to be a truly inclusive leader, citing examples of good practice and pitfalls to avoid. 

The future of older people’s housing – briefing note

A recent HQN event explored the challenges around providing quality housing for older people, with speakers presenting forward-thinking solutions and case studies. This briefing note outlines the key themes.

EDI Network annual conference 2023 (30 November)

This year’s conference will focus on what’s needed to deliver EDI commitments and truly improve the services received by marginalised groups. Despite the debates about the positive statements of support for and the constant spotlight on diversity and inclusion, how much progress has there really been? What more should and could the sector be doing? What are the stumbling blocks and the solutions? The conference will focus on all.

Workshop: Transgender – challenging transphobia and being trans-inclusive

This practical workshop explores the role that housing providers can play both in the workplace and in service provision, and will cover how can you support transgender colleagues, residents, tenants and customers.

EDI WhatsApp group 

We've recently relaunched our EDI WhatsApp group. If you want to join, you can get live replies from people in the same sector as you on any problems you may be having.

Interested? Please email members@hqnetwork.co.uk

Residents'' Network annual conference 2023

We're pleased to announce the date of the Residents’ Network's 2023 annual conference – 5 December. Further details on the themes and sessions will be confirmed in due course, but you can register your interest now by clicking below.

We really want to shape the conference around members’ priorities, and would really appreciate it if you could spend a couple of minutes to answer a few short questions, so please take our survey here. 

Response to the Regulator of Social Housing's draft consumer standards

We're currently compiling a response to the RSH's draft consumer standards consultation, and we'd really like your input. If you have any views on the regulator's proposals, please forward them to us for consideration in our response. Please respond by 15 October and send to damian.roche@hqnetwork.co.uk

Building better relationships with residents and improving visibility

A recent HQN event asked how staff can build better relationships with residents and improve visibility. The below article covers the key takeaways from the workshop, which featured a wide range of speakers that presented from different perspectives – residents, practitioners and academics.

Best practice groups

We're pleased to announce the network's latest duo of best practice groups. The residents BPG will be held on 4 October (10-12pm) and the staff session will follow on 11 October (10-12pm). The topics for the meetings are the new consumer standards (currently out for consultation) and the new regulatory regime. Lydia Dlaboha and Damian Roche will facilitate the sessions. They’ll provide an overview and there’ll be lots of time for questions and answers as well as a discussion about what it means for tenants.

Residents' Network Advisory Groups – September 2023

We held officer and tenant advisory groups in September. The groups, which meet quarterly, were created to gain insight from members to ensure we're delivering what they want from HQN. Below you'll find a write-up covering the key details of the latest meetings.

Briefing: Guidance on time frames for accepting and investigating social housing complaints

This briefing provides guidance to landlords on when to accept complaints that have been made belatedly, how far back to go when investigating historical events, and the timescales applied by the Housing Ombudsman.

Housing Ombudsman workshop: Getting knowledge and information management right

According to the Housing Ombudsman, getting Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) right is the “the closest thing the sector could get to a silver bullet”. This interactive session is essential for everyone working in social housing – whether in an operational role, responsible for data and information, service improvement or complaints handling.

Managing complaints about repairs

Complaints about repairs account for around 40% of the cases received by the Housing Ombudsman. 
This course looks at the most common causes of complaints about repairs and provides tips on how to prevent them from arising and from escalating. The trainers draw on their wide experience, spanning over 25 years’ working at the Housing Ombudsman Service, and use real-life examples to put best practice tips into context.

Complaint handling failure orders: Highest level of non-compliance

The Housing Ombudsman’s latest Complaint Handling Failure Order report shows the highest number of non-compliant landlords with the orders since the data was first recorded. Find out more below.

Ex-offenders: An untapped labour force

In this article Natasha Jenkins, Social Impact Manager at L&Q, outlines the ‘CleanStart’ project, which began hiring ex-offenders in 2008 to help improve communities.

Preparing for winter hazards

Proposed changes to the Consumer Standards from the Regulator of Social Housing are set to put more emphasis on safety requirements for communal areas, homes and across estates. Our coming event on 29 November will examine how to deal effectively with some of the hazards and safety issues that can arise in winter months.

Estate Services Hub best practice group

The next session on 21 November will focus on fly tipping. The groups are free to members and are a fantastic opportunity to hear about what’s happening in the sector and network with fellow housing professionals. This session will be facilitated by Bobbie Hough and take place via zoom.

GDPR and Right to Acquire

A member would be interested to know, under GDPR, what retention periods do you set for former and current tenancy data? In particular for the purpose of confirming Right to Acquire eligibility discounts for both your own tenants and requests from other providers.

If you can help, please respond to this post directly.

Tenancy visit forms

A member is reviewing their routine tenancy visit form for secure tenants.

With the new Social Housing Regulation Act, draft consumer regulations for social housing and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, there is so much information to capture during visits and they are keen to strike a balance between paperwork and building rapport and trust with tenants. 

If you have a document you’d like to share, please forward to members@hqnetwork.co.uk

If you’d like to ask the members a question, see our video guide on how to do this here.

We're delighted to welcome the latest members of the Network, LiveWest Homes Ltd. Thank you for joining – we're looking forward to working with you.

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