With an engaged community of members that includes over 60 organisations, ranging from household names to local SMEs, one of my key aims has always been to unite service providers and provide a platform for our members to collaborate and find solutions to common problems.

Sounds easy, right? But with such a diverse membership, I was really keen to ensure our members were driving the agenda and we were genuinely listening to what they wanted.

Structure and Stability

I was fortunate to have inherited a robust structure from our previous Chair, Mike Turner who had laid the groundwork to give me plenty of scope to take it to the next level.

One of the first changes we made was to invite clients to join our sessions. This was a natural evolution which has allowed us to understand the challenges they were facing too and look at things from a different perspective. In terms of outcomes, it’s been hugely beneficial to share insights and create a more open culture that ultimately delivers better outcomes for residents.

Added Value

I’m really focused on listening to what our members want to hear about, acting on their feedback and adding value. One example of how we’ve achieved this is the addition of spin-off sessions focusing on key topics. We’re really lucky to have Lee Maskell and the team from FFT on board, and they have been hosting monthly Procurement drop-ins to give our members the chance to ask a wide range of questions in the run-up to the introduction of the new Procurement Act.

It’s really important that we listen to what our members want to hear about rather than telling them what they should be focusing on. By responding to their requests, we’ve been able to identify where the weak spots are and ensure our members are aware of how everything fits together.

I firmly believe this approach benefits the sector as a whole, by ensuring we are all accountable. We’ll be continuing to focus on this in the run-up to the new Procurement Act coming into force in February, so we’re here to offer support and share lessons learned along the way.

Creating a Legacy

I’m also really proud of the work Amy Boothman (Deputy Chair) has done to capture all the key talking points from our sessions since May. By creating concise one-page summaries that that members can easily access online, we now have a valuable resource that not only distils all our learnings, but also creates a legacy that members can refer back to in future.

What’s Next

With lots of lessons learned from Decent Homes and SHDF, the sector is at a stage now, where we can stop going back to remedy issues and start to absorb learnings from the SHDF guidance, which has provided a longstanding framework to deliver better outcomes for residents. It’s important that we play our part in ensuring all our members are up to speed on how they can integrate asset management into their SHDF programmes. This will take time, but it’s really key that we continue to shine a light on this and provide regular updates and best practice guidelines for our members.

The Future

With so much significant change in the pipeline, it’s vital that we check in with our members regularly to take the temperature.  My goal for the next phase of the SPF is to challenge our members to consider a more holistic approach to asset management, so we can tackle key areas such as sustainability, fire remediation and damp and mould in the round. As a group, we champion innovation and original thinking, so we’ll be leading from the front to explore what this could look like in the future.

In addition to this, data management is also something our members want to hear more about. We have seen firsthand the challenges this presents, especially when housing associations merge and asset management gets put to the back of the queue. Support from central government to fund more research into this could be really useful for both clients and residents, and we’re keen to explore ways to highlight this next year.

In 2025, we will continue to collaborate with policy makers to ensure our members’ views are heard. The team recognise that it’s all about feedback, and because we’re a tightknit group, we can be really nimble when it comes to switching up sessions and pulling in the right speakers at the right time - whether that’s the latest advances in AI, legislative changes or how we can improve the supply chain. We’ve got a voice, and best practice to share - we need to harness that to raise standards and improve outcomes for residents.

We’ll also looking at our role in breaking down the stigma around social housing. In terms of the evolution and moving it forward, having collaborative formats like the SPF is always a good thing to try to reduce the challenge around this, and we are looking forward to hearing how our members from all service backgrounds are tackling this.

Growth

We have exciting plans to grow the Forum in 2025 and recognise that collectively we can achieve more. We are fortunate to have a such a diverse membership and it’s a really safe space for clients and providers to come together. But the more voices that we get, the more innovation that we learn from and the best practice that’s shared - the better for the entire sector. In 2025, the emphasis will be on bringing in new faces and a deliberately different strategy to expand our membership and share our knowledge. I have no doubt 2025 will be another challenging year for the sector, but together, we have a real opportunity to make change and we are here for it!

Meet the team

We look forward to seeing you at the NHMF Conference on 20-22 January in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Join us

If you’re not a member of the SPF, and you want to be among the first to learn about how we can collaboratively tackle the challenges facing us as a sector, now is the time to join. Please click here to find out more.