The Social Housing Round Table

Matthew Baird
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Non-Profit
  • Updated Weekly

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 create a community from the conversations that matter.

  1. 4d ago

    Can Devolution Create Opportunities for Tenants to Influence Housing Strategy?

    Please note that this session experienced some technical difficulties with connectivity. The content and conversation are well worth your time and we appreciate the patience of everyone who joined us on the day. Devolution is reshaping how power is distributed across England. New combined authorities are taking on responsibilities for housing, planning, transport, regeneration, and public services. And TPAS believes this moment represents one of the biggest opportunities for tenants to influence housing strategy since social housing began. In episode 239 of the Social Housing Round Table, guest hosted by Elaine Middleton, Caritas Charles, Head of Policy at TPAS, shares the thinking behind a new paper launching on 3rd September — a proposal for how devolution can be used to embed tenant voices into regional decision-making in a meaningful and lasting way. The proposal centres on a pilot model: starting with one region, focusing on two or three live housing decisions, building a shared regional evidence base, recruiting beyond existing representatives, and connecting tenants directly to the regional decision-makers who hold real power over their lives. Social housing is the natural starting point, Caritas argues, because the infrastructure already exists — consumer standards, Tenant Satisfaction Measure evidence, and established resident networks. But the ambition is broader. A regional housing voice that excludes private renters, shared owners, or people in temporary accommodation cannot credibly claim to represent the communities it speaks for. The open discussion that followed brought in two particularly powerful voices. Alicia Mortlock described the work already underway through Independent East, where a tenant-led panel is setting its own agenda across five housing associations and preparing to present to the Norfolk and Suffolk Housing Partnership — and expressed genuine shock at how much power tenants have when they organise regionally. Daisy, chair of the G15 Residents Group, shared how that group has been actively feeding into the Mayor of London's housing strategy consultations, in some cases as the only resident voice responding to GLA proposals. The paper launches on 3rd September. Caritas's ask is simple: read it, share it, and help build the public enthusiasm that will make this move from proposal to reality. Big thank you to ASB App by CMSG Ltd for sponsoring the Customer and Community stream and of course, to Alertacall Ltd for sponsoring The Social Housing Round Table, without them, none of this would be possible.

  2. Aug 11

    Neurodiversity in the Workplace

    Around 15 to 20 percent of people are estimated to be neurodivergent in some way. That means a significant proportion of both the housing workforce and the residents it serves are experiencing the world differently - and in many cases, working within systems and environments that were simply not designed with them in mind. In this episode of the Social Housing Round Table, Matt Baird is joined by Chloe Tilford, Head of Training and Consultancy at the Housing Diversity Network, for a warm and genuinely accessible introduction to neurodiversity in the workplace — what it means, what it looks like in practice, and what housing organisations can do to better support neurodiverse colleagues and residents alike. Chloe walks through the breadth of what sits under the neurodiversity umbrella, the difference between the medical and social models of disability and why it matters, and the important reality that conditions overlap, co-occur, and present very differently from person to person. She also addresses some of the harder truths — the significant underdiagnosis of neurodivergent conditions in women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds, the eight-year waiting lists for ADHD assessments in some areas, and the persistent media narratives that run directly counter to what the scientific research actually says. The conversation moves into practical territory too — what reasonable adjustments actually mean, how organisations can shift from a place of fear and uncertainty to one of genuine curiosity, and why getting communication right for neurodiverse residents is increasingly something the Housing Ombudsman is paying attention to. HDN's neurodiversity training programme, developed in partnership with Professor Amanda Kirby — one of the country's leading experts in the field — is available to housing organisations, and a comprehensive toolkit will be available via the HDN website. Details on how to access both are shared at the end of the session. Big thank you to REACT App by CMSG Ltd for sponsoring the Data and Technology stream and of course, to Alertacall Ltd for sponsoring The Social Housing Round Table, without them, none of this would be possible.

  3. Aug 4

    A Presidency with Purpose

    What does it actually mean to lead a presidency with purpose? And what does a year at the top of your profession teach you about the sector you love? In episode 237 of the Social Housing Round Table, Matt Baird welcomes back Julie Haydon, President of the Chartered Institute of Housing, almost a year on from her first appearance on the platform. When Julie last joined the conversation, she was just beginning her presidential year. This time, she is reflecting on what that year has actually looked and felt like from the inside. Julie's presidency has been built around a single theme: resilience. Not resilience as a buzzword or a motivational slogan, but as a genuine and pressing need within a sector that is asking more of its people than ever before. Frontline housing professionals are navigating financial hardship, domestic abuse, mental ill health, ASB, and increasing regulatory complexity — often carrying the emotional weight of those interactions long after the working day has ended. Julie's argument, rooted in her own personal experience and her work in NLP and organisational leadership, is that resilience is not something individuals should be left to find for themselves. It is something organisations have a responsibility to actively build. The conversation covers what the presidency has demanded of Julie personally, the moments that have stayed with her, and the real-world impact the campaign has had — including a story of a construction industry leader who took the conversation back to his board and introduced a new wellbeing strategy as a direct result. It also explores some of the harder questions the sector keeps circling: whether the stick and carrot balance is right in how organisations approach staff and residents, the pressure that regulatory changes and mergers are putting on people at every level, and what it will take to shift the stigma that still clings to social housing as a profession and a tenure. Julie's closing message is a generous one. Resilience is not something to leave to individuals to find for themselves. Strong organisations create resilient people. Supportive leaders create resilient teams. And resilient teams deliver better outcomes for everyone. Big thank you to Alertacall Ltd for sponsoring The Social Housing Round Table, without them, none of this would be possible.

  4. Jul 28

    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.

  5. Jul 21

    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.

  6. Jul 14

    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.

  7. Jul 7

    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.

  8. Jun 30

    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.

See All (100)

About

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 create a community from the conversations that matter.

Information

  • Creator
    Matthew Baird
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Social Housing Round Table

You Might Also Like