Redefining neighbourhood management: a commitment to building and fire safety

As the social housing sector adapts to evolving safety regulations, our Chief Operating Officer, Neal Ackcral, explains why putting trust, transparency and customer voices first is key to safer, stronger communities.

As a social housing landlord with a commitment to neighbourhood management, our priority has always been to create safe, decent and energy efficient neighbourhoods – communities that our customers are proud to call their home.

In recent years, the social housing sector has faced a renewed sense of urgency to address building and fire safety issues. From tragic fires, structural failures and regulatory changes, the consequences of neglecting safety standards can be devastating. These events have underscored the need for a proactive and comprehensive approach to ensuring the safety and well-being of customers living in our buildings.

For social housing providers, this has brought about a critical shift – not only in compliance but in redefining neighbourhood management operating models. It’s our responsibility, as caretakers of these buildings to improve the way we manage neighbourhoods by making fire safety and building safety a priority.

True safety and effective neighbourhood management in today’s landscape comes from fostering a culture of trust and accountability where every stakeholder understands their role and works together to mitigate risks. This means not only adhering to regulations but going beyond them, setting new benchmarks for excellence in safety standards.

Redefining neighbourhood management starts with adopting a proactive approach. At Hyde, we introduced a new neighbourhood operating model over the last 18 months which has brought us closer to the communities and customers we serve. We restructured how we deliver front line services following feedback from customers, putting them at the heart of everything we do.

We’ve also brought some compliance checks and repairs and maintenance services inhouse. Delivering these services through our own teams enables us to better manage our homes and deliver a more consistent level of service.

Safety should be the number one priority of all landlords and housing providers. The introduction of the Building Safety Act and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations has placed an emphasis on clear and consistent engagement with customers. But it should be a shared responsibility, and we must ensure customers also understand their responsibility while feeling empowered to play an active role in maintaining and challenging safety standards.

Empowering customers starts with fostering open and clear communication and engagement practices and building trust. Whether it’s through steering groups or on resident boards, reporting issues promptly or collaborating on local initiatives - customers can become partners in safeguarding their communities, ensuring they feel informed and listened to.

Ensuring that regular building inspections are carried out and effectively recorded is crucial to redefining neighbourhood management and technology plays a pivotal role here. From digital platforms that streamline reporting of safety concerns to real-time monitoring tools, innovation is helping housing providers to respond faster and more efficiently.

At Hyde, we’ve taken steps to improve our digital solutions to address past challenges with record keeping. These improvements are helping us build more efficient systems and give our customers easier ways to get in touch with us about the things that matter most to them, raise repairs and report safety concerns in their neighbourhoods.

Our front-line colleagues are empowered and trained to identify safety risks, report concerns and raise repairs right from our neighbourhoods, cutting down admin time which allows them to spend more time on delivering the services that matter to our customers.

Using improved IT functions, supported by our new customer service centre has helped us to provide more streamlined services, giving customers more choice in how they get in touch with us

Redefining neighbourhood management is about so much more than just compliance – it’s about creating a culture where safety is at the heart of thriving communities and ensuring those that live in them are, and feel safe and heard.

Now more than ever, the social housing sector has the opportunity and responsibility to redefine what it means to manage neighbourhoods. It means we must prioritise transparency, invest in robust safety measures and reporting mechanisms, and nurture customer engagement. By doing so, we can maintain safety standards and create homes and neighbourhoods that customers can be proud of and deliver the services they need, in ways that matter to them.

This article first appeared in Inside Housing on 18 June 2025.