Puneet Rajput
Puneet Rajput Director of Governance and Regulation

It's admirable how our residents have risen to those challenges to support us in being 'large and local' and by being our critical friend, whilst also being patient and persevering whilst our two legacy organisations integrate.

We co-created the new structure with our residents by establishing a resident governance working group, formed of residents from each legacy organisation in a 50:50 split. The working group heard from various organisations, not just within the social housing sector, about how they are seeking and acting upon feedback from their residents or customers. Using these best practice examples as inspiration, the working group then went about designing a new resident governance framework, which was approved by Board.

Our highlights in year one

  • Our recruitment campaign received nearly a thousand applicants. We doubled the number of involved residents to approximately 90, demonstrating how residents are as keen as ever in wanting to be involved.
  • We improved the diversity of our involved residents which underpins our commitment to having a broad and representative customer base. 59% of our involved residents are female, 37% are from an ethnic minority background, 34% are living with a disability, 12% are LGBTQ+ and ages range from 24-71. 
  • Residents and colleagues worked at pace to develop and implement our new involvement framework. This meant that every panel within our new framework, whether it was a regional panel or service specific panel, was established and had met within the first three months of merger. Panels have been instrumental in shaping and influencing a range of policies and strategies for Southern Housing, including anti-social behaviour, pets, electric vehicle charging, fire safety and sustainability.
  • We benchmarked our six-month Tenant Satisfaction Measures with our G15 peers which identified us as top for the measure on ‘Satisfaction that the landlord listens to tenant views and acts upon them.’
  • A year on from merger members of our Resident Strategy Group, Board, Executive Team and operational colleagues had their first away day as Southern Housing. It was a rewarding day and a good opportunity to build our ‘one’ Southern Housing team, and to understand where best to focus our attention in 2024-25.

My top five tips for effective resident governance

  1. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable: Healthy tension is a good thing, be comfortable with constructive, fair and honest challenge and feedback. A good friend tells you what you need to know, not what you want to know.
  2. Openness: Be transparent and share all relevant data and information, tell it as it objectively is.
  3. Diversity: Diversity is crucial in reaching better quality informed opinions and decisions. We are fortunate enough to have residents with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. This helps to enrich discussions and keeps us grounded in reality.
  4. Resources: Supporting effective resident governance is hard but rewarding work. We‘re lucky to have a team that is dedicated, passionate and driven. They are key to genuine engagement, building capacity amongst our involved residents and getting the best out of our panels.
  5. Top level commitment: Each of our resident panels has a Board member linked to it which keeps the Board connected with the voice of the customer. We consult residents on the decisions that affect them and this is promoted and supported by senior colleagues within the organisation. We have also reserved four of the twelve places on our Board for residents, a figure we believe is unsurpassed in the sector.

Looking ahead

We know that every regulatory problem case is, at root, about governance. Governance is also our strongest line of defence. So I’m keen that our resident governance framework continues to remain fit for purpose and is in good shape for the new regulatory landscape from April this year. That’s why we’re going to be working with our residents and the Tenant Participation and Advisory Service to review our framework one year on (a merger promise), build on what works well and ensure we’re match fit to support really effective resident scrutiny and oversight across our organisation. 

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

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

P49 Social Paul Hackett2 1
  • 18 December 2023

Blog: The first 12 months of a merger

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