Housing sector reform – better to wait it out? Or get a head start?
On 26 February 2023, Housing Secretary Michael Gove announced an amendment to the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill, stating that mangers within social housing must gain professional qualifications under new rules to protect residents and improve standards in the sector.
The amendment advises that managers must hold an appropriate housing management qualification regulated by Ofqual. This can be equivalent to a Level 4 or 5 Certificate or Diploma in Housing, or a foundation degree from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH).
At The Learning Foundry, the housing providers we work with are encouraged to see a re-focus on ensuring their people are properly trained to deal with the challenges and opportunities which working in housing presents. But with so many pressures on the sector right now, including decarbonisation, new tenant satisfaction measures and recruitment, the question on everyone’s lips is ‘when’ will this need to be achieved by?
While some organisations are understandably waiting to find out more about what the new bill entails, and the timeframe they must comply to it by, others have made a head start.
Sean Rothwell, Head of People Services at The Regenda Group, said:
“At Regenda we absolutely want to ensure we’re providing the best service to our residents. Completing CIH training has always been at the top of our agenda, but we have expanded our offer to ensure our staff can adapt to the changing needs of the sector.“The training we have delivered in partnership with The Learning Foundry over the last few years has played a major role in our employee attraction and retention approach. As well as vocational CIH qualifications, we offer leadership and management programmes to existing and aspiring leaders and a range of short courses such as customer service, ED&I and green skills.
“These qualifications ensure we’re operating to the highest standard and show our staff that we value them, and we’re invested in their career with us.”
As Sean and the team at Regenda, plus the other housing associations we work with are already demonstrating, investing in your staff can bring numerous benefits to your organisation. Here are several reasons why it’s worthwhile:
- Enhanced skills and knowledge
Training provides your employees the chance to acquire new skills and deepen existing knowledge. This enables them to keep up with evolving regulation, technology, customer needs and best practice.
- Improved productivity
Training helps staff to deal with situations competently and quickly, giving them confidence to do a great job.
- Increased customer satisfaction
Training means staff can deliver a customer centric approach to identify and address concerns promptly and with empathy, leading to higher customer satisfaction and less complaints.
- Reduce mistakes and mitigate risk
Employees who are knowledgeable about regulation, safety, and compliance are less likely to make mistakes that could result in legal or financial issues.
- Adapt and flex
Housing has always been subject to political, environmental, economic, and social changes – training can improve resilience toward these factors.
- Recruitment and retention
Training opportunities demonstrate your commitment to staff and generate morale and loyalty.
As you can see, there is a lot to be gained from upskilling your workforce - we don’t have to wait for Mr Gove to tell us that! While there are no timeframes in place yet for the new standards, we do know is that there are over 25,000 managers in the sector required to have relevant qualifications, and providers who fall short of the standard, will be sanctioned.
So, are you prepared to wait it out or get a head start?
Chat to our experts to find out how we can support you with training and funding options that can get you off to a flying start!
Find out about our training and development solutions for the housing sector, including CIH qualifications: https://www.thelearningfoundry.co.uk/housing-management