Housing Associations/Social Housing

The BPG ‘Optimise’ Method is evidenced from over 500 complex supplier relationships. It shows there are 8 characteristics present in every successful complex relationship. We can help you successfully implement these quickly to improve service innovation, supplier relationships and drive down BAU costs.

Click here to see how the ‘Optimise’ process can help you drive maximum value in your strategic supplier relationships.

We’ve dealt with optimising over 500 complex supplier relationships. More than 50% of complex supplier relationships experience misunderstandings between client and supplier over requirements and expectations.

If the right foundations are not in place to drive maximum value, you may experience:

• Additional charges and costs for ‘misunderstood expectations’
• A lack of understanding of contractual roles and responsibilities
• Governance and performance escalation not clearly delineated
• Senior client executives not being clear on their expectations and dynamics of the relationship
• Not enough investment by senior executives in the resourcing or skills of the client supplier management team
• Loss of key in-house expertise to the supplier (inadvertent staff poaching)
• Employee resistance to new working methods from the supplier
• Clashes of culture between client and supplier staff and so forth.

A lot of positive progress is being made in the Social Housing sector and needs to be continued to be built upon. The tragic fire in Grenfell Tower resulted directly in an increased government focus on social housing.

In a positive move, the government has confirmed that funding for all supported housing will continue to be covered by the welfare system. Prior to this, many organisations had been calling on the government to re-think its plans for funding short-term supported housing for the more vulnerable – including those with mental health or homelessness issues. Having this certainty means that a number of supported housing schemes can continue to operate.

Some of the challenges Social Housing landlords still need to overcome are:

• Impacts of Social Abuse. Supporting residents (and staff) from the threats and impacts of domestic abuse
• Improved Strategic Partnerships. Getting better working relationships in strategic partnerships – such as Homes England and landlords
• Local Authority Collaboration. Working more closely with local authorities in view of the government’s scrapping of the Housing Revenue borrowing cap
• National Housing Crisis. Collaborating with other Social Landlords and lobbying government to work towards overcoming the national housing crisis.

Strategic Supplier Partnership Working

The bulk of rental and other and income needs to go into building new homes, improving the condition of existing homes and keeping up maintenance to a satisfactorily safe level. In order to do this, internal operating overheads need to be minimised, but provide appropriate health and safety compliance. There have been many IT and technological innovations by strategic suppliers in the Social Housing sector that significantly reduce the operating cost of maintenance, repair requests, building operating regimes and so forth.