P49 Social Paul Hackett2 1
Paul Hackett CBE Chief Executive at Southern Housing

"Merging two large organisations at a time when the operating conditions we face are among the toughest I can remember has been one of the biggest professional challenges that I’ve undoubtably faced in over 30 years in housing.

Yet as I reflect on the first anniversary passing of when Optivo and Southern Housing Group merged – I find myself still extremely excited about what the future will offer under Southern Housing.

The major driving force for coming together was the opportunity to create a resilient organisation that enhanced the service offer for residents by leveraging our scale and density. To that end, we’ve been working tirelessly to integrate systems, workforce and improve processes over the past 12 months.

We co-created an extensive new resident governance structure to involve residents in scrutiny, decision-making and the shaping of services. To ensure residents’ voices are embedded into the heart of our new organisation we’ve appointed an unprecedented four residents to our Board. Co-creation projects prioritising service improvements and complaints handling are already under-way with residents and our first pieces of co-created work such as the Building Safety strategy are out for consultation. 

Dockley Street View CGI

We’ve invested more in existing homes to ensure they are safe, energy efficient and up to the Decent Homes Standard, and will have built over 1000 new homes this year – several of which have won awards for design and affordability.

Our people change programme is 83% complete and has been driven by the premise of retaining skills while we also add resources to front line teams such as Repairs which is of such importance to resident satisfaction.

Importantly 95% of our colleagues have been through our Southern Service training programme which underpins our commitment to delivering amazing customer service.

Annual Review Web Crop (1)

I’m enormously proud that we’ve also placed a comprehensive commitment to diversity and inclusion at the heart of Southern Housing. We believe that a diverse workforce will enables us to better serve our residents and communities. We will continue to drive this at every level of Southern Housing.

We’ve also made significant strides in integrating legacy systems while investing in a new data roadmap and the technology that will make our decision making quicker, resident access easier, and ultimately the services we offer more effective in the future.

In the wider world we’ve also not been shy in talking to government about the importance of long-term financial certainty for our sector so we can continue to deliver new homes and great service to residents.

There are many other elements to share that I am equally proud of, so I am going to ask my colleagues over the next few weeks to share their year one stories with you too.

Southern Housing was built on a shared commitment between two organisations to building homes and communities that people feel proud to live in.

We’ve begun our journey towards that goal in very turbulent times, but I could not be more grateful to the colleagues, residents, contractor partners and others who have helped us achieve so much during our first 12 months."

Our news

All Articles
G15 Logo
  • 19 November 2024

Southern Housing features prominently in latest G15 “Room to Grow” report

P49 Social Dave Harney2
  • 14 November 2024

Using coaching and insight to improve resident experience

Lewis Kinch (1)
  • 25 September 2024
  • Careers

Blog: Our seven principles for successful co-creation

Southernhousing
  • 28 August 2024
  • Announcement

Southern Housing upgraded to highest governance rating by Regulator

P49 Social Vikki Waker2
  • 12 August 2024

Blog: The housing crisis - Is Shared Ownership the key?

Shg 26A (1)
  • 30 July 2024
  • Careers

Blog: Residents and colleagues working together as one

Karin Wildlife
  • 16 July 2024

Blog: We must all take responsibility for our local wildlife

P49 Social Karin Stockerl2
  • 27 June 2024

Blog: Investing in our homes - a call for collaborative action

Richard White 1 (1)
  • 12 June 2024

Blog: Housing associations are key partners in solving the housing crisis

Election Campaign 1B
  • 03 June 2024

Blog: More than 140,000 children are living in temporary accommodation

P49 Social Chris Middleton2
  • 28 May 2024

Blog: Transforming homes through strategic investment

P49 Social Lily Monk2
  • 22 May 2024

Blog: The journey towards a single contact centre

P49 Social Paul Hackett2 1
  • 14 May 2024

A response to the Ombudsman’s Paragraph 49 report

P49 Social Kara Tomas Meek2
  • 03 May 2024

Blog: Contributing to a sustainable world

P49 Social Tina Edwards2
  • 19 April 2024

Blog: Navigating cultural integration - Building a unified identity at Southern Housing

P49 Social Amy Singh2
  • 11 April 2024

Blog: Using data to improve customer services

P49 Social Jane Campbell2
  • 21 March 2024
  • Careers

Blog: Diversity in the Legal Services team

P49 Social Paul Hackett2 1
  • 19 March 2024

Blog: Improving services for residents

P49 Social Troy Francis2
  • 12 March 2024

Blog: A Simple Approach for Better Services

P49 Social William Miller2
  • 07 March 2024

Blog: Social Impact - a financial ally for our residents

P49 Social Vanessa Biddiss2
  • 04 March 2024

Blog: Helping residents to sustain their tenancies

1708966909647 7D18188f Db2a 48E4 8957 C386dbe81160 1
  • 29 February 2024

Blog: Investing in our homes

P49 Social Paul Day2
  • 26 February 2024

Blog: Mapping out the future

Douglas Silverstone
  • 16 February 2024

Technology: the engine of a merger

Puneet Rajput
  • 08 February 2024

Blog: Delivering effective resident governance

Helena Ingham
  • 06 February 2024

Blog: A merging opinion -  they work best when residents are at their heart

Jenny Poore
  • 28 January 2024

Blog: Reflecting on the successes and challenges of the merger journey

Brea Attrill
  • 26 January 2024

Blog: Hoping to achieve a balance in the relationship of equals

Colin Lydon (1)
  • 23 January 2024

Blog: Delivering an effective ASB handling service

Mij Rahman
  • 16 January 2024

Blog: Improving our data input

Dave Burton
  • 09 January 2024
  • Resident Involvement

Blog: The Resident Scrutiny Panel – our year one journey

Naomi Keyte
  • 09 January 2024

Blog: Listening to and acting upon residents’ feedback to shape our care services

Yvette Carter
  • 21 December 2023

Blog: Repairing trust

Image00009 Flipped
  • 18 December 2023
  • Sustainability

Our new Environmental Sustainability Strategy

IMG 1168 (1)
  • 30 November 2023

Our annual review 2022-23

Featured in the photo (from left to right): Bunmi Atta (Director of Construction at Southern Housing), Mike Link (Chair of the ABE CLT), Cllr Michael Warden (Chair of Aldingbourne Parish Council) and Steve Underwood (Development Manager at Southern Housing).
  • 25 October 2023

New homes delivered at Wings Wood development in Chichester

2DLP8969
  • 19 September 2023
  • New developments

Final brick laid at New Kent Road development

Milestone At Southwark Development
  • 15 September 2023
  • New developments

Milestone at our Southwark development

Rosemary House
  • 18 July 2023
  • Sustainability

Topping out at The Green Quarter

The Mannings
  • 11 July 2023
  • Sustainability

Topping out at new low carbon housing project