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The Social Housing Round Table: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Matthew Baird
Join Matthew Baird for a free, weekly networking forum discussing anything and everything in Social Housing with a different guest speaker each week.The idea? To challenge the mindset that the sector can’t be changed with small steps as well as large ones whilst giving everyone a free voice for change.
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The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 4 days ago1h 1m
Do Landlords Truly Trust Tenants to Shape Services?
Do landlords truly trust tenants to shape the services they receive? Or is what passes for tenant engagement too often closer to going through the motions? In episode 236 of the Social Housing Round Table, Matt Baird is joined by Alicia Mortlock, trusted advisor for the Customer and Community stream and one of four tenant leads for the National Tenant Alliance, for a session that drew one of the biggest and most engaged audiences of the year. Alicia opened with something that set the tone for everything that followed: a personal history rooted in social housing, stretching back to her father's time as a council plumber and the blue-collar communities that council housing was built for and built by. From that foundation, she traced the arc of how trust between landlords and tenants was lost — through decades of underinvestment, over-promising, retreat from communities, and language that infantilised the very people it was supposed to serve. The discussion that followed was wide-ranging and genuinely candid. It covered what trust actually means before organisations can claim to be building it, the difference between engaging with tenants and talking to them, the very real tension between tenants who want to shape services and tenants who simply want to be left alone, whether tenant board members represent a genuine step toward influence or a more comfortable arrangement for landlords, and whether the growing focus on Tenant Satisfaction Measures is creating a metric-driven culture that mistakes a good score for a good service. Contributions came from housing professionals, tenants, and those who occupy both worlds — including a remarkably honest account from a landlord and private property owner about unconscious bias in her own letting decisions. It was the kind of session where the most valuable moments came not from a prepared presentation, but from the room. Alicia's closing message was straightforward. Let's take the conversation beyond the hour. Let's break down the artificial barriers. And let's make this about action, not just talk. Big thank you to Alertacall Ltd and ASB App by CMSG for sponsoring The Social Housing Round Table, without them, none of this would be possible.
- 1 weeks ago57 min
Awaabs Law - Preparing for Phase Two
Phase 2 of Awaab's Law is coming. And according to Louise Murphy, Partner and Head of Social Housing and Regeneration at MSB Solicitors, the sector is not quite as ready as it should be. In this episode of the Social Housing Round Table hosted by Elaine Middleton, Louise walks through exactly what Phase 2 means in practice — what new hazard categories are being introduced, what organisations need to have in place, and where the sector is most likely to come unstuck. Phase 1 brought damp and mould firmly into focus. Phase 2 expands the scope significantly, bringing in hazards related to falls, excess heat and cold, pests, domestic hygiene, and communal areas. Louise is direct about what that means operationally: triage systems need revisiting, contractor contracts need reviewing, training plans need updating, and cross-departmental working is no longer optional. As she puts it, organisations cannot afford to operate as assets versus neighbourhoods, or repairs versus governance. Everyone needs to be pulling in the same direction. The conversation also covers some of the harder questions the sector is wrestling with — what happens when a hazard stems from a tenant's own adaptations, where liability sits when a third party is involved, how to approach falls risks given that the same window can represent very different levels of danger depending on who lives in the property, and the growing risk of claims farmers exploiting the new legislation. Louise's advice on that last point is simple: know your definitions, apply common sense, and make sure the decisions you are making are clearly grounded in the guidance. Her closing message is one worth writing down. Read the guidance. Make your list. Implement it. Phase 2 is an opportunity to improve homes for customers — and the sector should approach it that way. Big thank you to MSB Solicitors for sponsoring this session and to Alertacall Ltd for sponsoring The Social Housing Round Table, without them, none of this would be possible.
- 2 weeks ago57 min
Data, Tech and Human Touch: Rewriting the Playbook for Modern Tenancy Support
Most housing organisations know when a tenant falls into arrears. Far fewer have a clear picture of what was already happening in that tenant's life before the arrears appeared — the unresolved repair, the health condition, the household income that had quietly shifted. And it is in that gap, between what the data shows and what is actually happening, that tenancy sustainment most often fails. In this episode of the Social Housing Round Table, part of the Policy and Governance stream, Matt Baird is joined by Josh Mallender of Netcall for a practical and wide-ranging conversation about what modern tenancy support actually looks like, and what it would take to move the sector from a reactive, siloed model to something more holistic, preventative, and joined up. Josh draws on over a decade of experience working in and around social housing to explore why arrears are visible and easy to measure but rarely tell the whole story. A tenant who falls behind on rent might also be experiencing fuel poverty, an unresolved repair, or a health change that has affected their ability to work. A tenant who is quietly struggling but still paying their rent may not appear in any report at all. As Josh puts it, the silent sufferers remain invisible in standard workflows. The conversation covers what a full tenant picture actually looks like when income, repairs, complaints, and housing management data are genuinely connected rather than siloed. It explores the technology choices that have left many organisations stuck with a patchwork of point solutions that do not talk to each other, the whack-a-mole problem of buying a new system for every new problem. And it asks the question that ran through the whole session: is technology the answer, or do organisations need to sort out their processes and their culture first? The open discussion that followed was equally valuable, with contributions from housing professionals at different stages of this journey, and an honest acknowledgement that the gap between what the sector knows it should be doing and what it is actually doing in practice remains wider than anyone is comfortable admitting. Big thank you to Alertacall Ltd for sponsoring The Social Housing Round Table, without them, none of this would be possible.
- 3 weeks ago1h 2m
Truly Assessing Competence & Behaviours in Modern Talent Acquisition
How do we know whether we're recruiting the right people? In this episode of the Social Housing Round Table, host Matt Baird is joined by Dee Roberts-Molloy, Assistant Director for Strategic HR at Birmingham City Council, for an honest discussion about modern talent acquisition and why traditional recruitment approaches often fall short. Together they explore what competence really looks like, why behaviours matter just as much as technical knowledge, how organisations can make better hiring decisions, and what leaders should be considering in an increasingly competitive recruitment market. The conversation also touches on organisational culture, candidate experience, values-based recruitment and the importance of creating recruitment processes that identify potential as well as capability. Whether you work in HR, leadership or operational management, this episode offers practical insights to help you attract, assess and retain the people who will make the biggest difference to your organisation and the communities you serve. A huge thank you to Alertacall Ltd for sponsoring the Social Housing Round Table. Without their continued support, none of this would be possible.
- Jun 30, 20261h 1m
Just How Easy Is It to Actually Report ASB in 2026?
In this Social Housing Roundtable session, Matt Baird is joined by Janine Green, Partner at G&B ASB Associates, and Ben Hunt, Managing Director at CMSG, to explore a key question facing landlords, communities and residents: how easy is it really to report antisocial behaviour in 2026? The discussion looks beyond simply having reporting channels in place and explores what happens after a report is made. From accessibility and digital inclusion to effective triage, communication and ensuring residents are not passed from organisation to organisation, the conversation examines the barriers that can prevent people from getting the support they need. Janine and Ben also explore how landlords can improve the reporting journey, the importance of understanding the root cause of issues, the value of community engagement and why technology must work alongside good processes and human connection. A thoughtful conversation bringing together resident experiences, operational challenges and practical ideas for improving how ASB is reported and managed across social housing.
- Jun 23, 20261h 0m
Transforming The Lives of Residents Through Two-Way Contact
In this episode of The Social Housing Round Table, Matt Baird is joined by Sheree Brooks, Operations Manager for Older People Services at Gateway Housing, for a conversation exploring "Transforming The Lives of Residents Through Two-Way Contact". Sheree shares her personal journey into housing and her passion for supporting older residents to remain independent, connected and engaged within their communities. The conversation explores the impact of small actions, from a simple conversation or welfare check to creating opportunities for people to connect and thrive. The discussion highlights the importance of looking beyond the home itself and understanding the people, relationships and experiences that help communities flourish. Big thank you to Alertacall Ltd and REACT for sponsoring The Social Housing Round Table, without them, none of this would be possible.
- Jun 16, 20261h 1m
Are We As Efficient As We Can Be? And Is Technology The Answer?
Efficiency and productivity often get used as interchangeable terms in housing. According to Rob Fletcher, Director of Digital, Data and Technology at Codi Group, Wales' largest housing association, they are not the same thing at all — and understanding the difference matters more than ever, given the financial pressure the sector is currently under. In this episode of the Social Housing Round Table, part of the Data and Technology stream, Dave Loudon, trusted advisor to the Round Table, guest hosts a conversation with Rob exploring whether housing organisations are operating as efficiently as they could be, and whether technology is genuinely the answer many hope it is. Rob unpacks why operating margins across the sector have fallen sharply in recent years, what genuine process standardisation looks like in practice, and where the real efficiency gains are hiding — not in flashy pilots, but in fixing the repetitive, high-volume processes that quietly drag on services like repairs, voids, and compliance every single day. The conversation also tackles one of the sector's most persistent problems: data collected for its own sake, rather than to actually help residents. From IoT sensors that generate oceans of unused data, to a passionate contribution from a participant on the lack of any shared data standard between the country's 317 councils and 1,600 social housing providers, this session does not shy away from naming where the sector is falling short. Technology, Rob argues, is never going to be a silver bullet. But used well, on top of strong data foundations and well-designed processes, it can be a genuine accelerator. Big thank you to Alertacall Ltd and REACT App by CMSG for sponsoring The Social Housing Round Table, without them, none of this would be possible.
- Jun 9, 202659 min
Overcoming Challenges for Exiting Shared Ownership
Shared ownership was designed as a stepping stone to full homeownership. For many people, it has worked exactly as intended. But for a growing number of shared owners, what was sold as a flexible tenure has become something closer to a trap — with no clear or viable way out. In episode 229 of the Social Housing Round Table, part of the Policy and Governance stream, Matt Baird is joined by Sue Phillips and Jamie Ratcliff of Shared Ownership Resources to explore the barriers facing shared owners who are trying to exit the scheme, and why the sector — and government — still does not have a clear picture of what is going wrong. The timing of the session is significant. On the very morning of the recording, the Housing Communities and Local Government Committee published its long-awaited report on affordable housing, concluding that shared ownership is not a long-term affordable option for many of the buyers to whom it is marketed. The National Audit Office has previously found that data on shared ownership has been incomplete, and that even MHCLG does not fully understand customer journeys and experience. Shared Ownership Resources, which recently registered as a charity and was awarded an MHCLG Social Housing Innovation Fund grant, is working to change that. Their first insights report — on exit routes and buyback — aims to bring together lived experience, sector expertise, and legal expertise to address what Sue describes as a fairly intractable set of problems. The session covers the gap between how easy it is to enter shared ownership and how difficult it can be to leave, the financial and structural barriers to staircasing and resale, the striking lack of standardisation in buyback policies across housing providers, and what better guidance and practice could look like. If shared ownership sits within your world, this is a conversation worth hearing. Big thank you to Alertacall Ltd for sponsoring The Social Housing Round Table, without them, none of this would be possible.
About The Social Housing Round Table
Join Matthew Baird for a free, weekly networking forum discussing anything and everything in Social Housing with a different guest speaker each week.The idea? To challenge the mindset that the sector can’t be changed with small steps as well as large ones whilst giving everyone a free voice for change.
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