Anna Highfield and Katharine Swindells discuss the key findings from Inside Housing’s Chief Executive Salary Survey 2025, the introduction of Awaab’s Law, and details of the incoming Competence and Conduct Standard for social housing. 

We also hear from Sarah Lamont, a specialist employment lawyer at law firm Bevan Brittan, about landlords’ main concerns regarding the Competence and Conduct Standard, and what providers can start doing to prepare for the regulations now. 

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The Inside Housing Management Podcast is produced by Lucy Brown.
Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont (https://protunes.net/) | Promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

Anna Highfield, editor of Inside Housing Management, and Katharine Swindells, deputy features editor at Inside Housing, discuss lessons from the Housing Diversity Network’s annual conference – including insightful training on better ways to respond to and tackle hate crime.

We also interview Melonie Wheatle, anti-social behaviour (ASB) officer at Hexagon Housing Association, about what her 13 years in ASB has taught her – including how the landscape of ASB has changed in that time, what the biggest barriers for ASB staff are in 2025, and what makes a good new recruit.



Subscribe to Inside Housing Management by clicking here.

The Inside Housing Management Podcast is produced by Lucy Brown.
Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont (https://protunes.net/) | Promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

This week, we find out how housing providers are changing their approach to repairs to prepare for the implementation of Awaab’s Law at the end of October.

Also in the podcast, hosts Anna Highfield and Katharine Swindells are joined by Angela Manson, place team leader at Bromford Flagship, who talks about how the housing association has taken a fresh approach to boost its on-time repairs by 110% in one part of Bristol. 

Inside Housing news reporter Ellie Brown, who reported live from last week’s Labour Party Conference (28 September - 1 October), also explains how policy changes are set to impact housing providers. 

The Inside Housing Management Podcast is produced by Lucy Brown.
Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont (https://protunes.net/) | Promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

This week, we discuss how housing providers are taking a zero-tolerance approach to rising abuse and assaults against their staff. 

Our guest is Ellie Gooch, neighbourhood and community operations manager at Bromford Flagship, who talks about how the housing association has introduced a new zero-tolerance policy to abuse and aggression against its staff.

Hosts Anna Highfield and Ellie Brown are also joined by Inside Housing intern Kate Callaghan, to discuss how Rochdale Council is making a major change to its housing allocation banding and waiting lists. 

The Inside Housing Management Podcast is produced by Lucy Brown.
Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont (https://protunes.net/) | Promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

Co-hosts Anna Highfield and Katharine Swindells discuss the results of a major investigation by Inside Housing Management into assaults against housing staff – which gathered data from 188 councils and 40 housing associations across the UK. 

We look at the rising levels of assaults revealed by the research, the possible reasons behind the trend, and what housing providers are doing about it, as well as exploring the residents’ perspective.

The Inside Housing Management Podcast is produced by Lucy Brown.
Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont (https://protunes.net/) | Promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

Anna Highfield, editor of Inside Housing Management, and Katharine Swindells, deputy features editor at Inside Housing, discuss the scale of the issue that is rent arrears, and how to take a different approach that might result in better outcomes for organisations, staff and residents.

The co-hosts also discuss new reports into the demand on homelessness services, and the state of government finances.

This week our guests are Catherine Cunliffe, who led the creation of a new income strategy at Lancaster City Council, which has reduced rent arrears to an all-time low, and Sam Jeffery, a member of Lancaster’s income team.

The Inside Housing Management Podcast is produced by Lucy Brown.
Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont (https://protunes.net/) | Promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

Editor Anna Highfield and Inside Housing deputy features editor Katharine Swindells discuss the challenges that housing management staff face when dealing with ASB, and different approaches to managing it.

The co-hosts also discuss an enforcement notice served to a Birmingham supported housing provider by the Regulator of Social Housing.

This week our guest is Cheryl Gledhill-Kucuk, an award-winning housing partner at Accent, who joins us to speak about her experience handling ASB. 

The Inside Housing Management Podcast is produced by Lucy Brown.
Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont (https://protunes.net/) | Promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

Editor Anna Highfield talks to Inside Housing reporter Ellie Brown about shadowing Places for People (PfP) – and what she learned from her day with community housing manager Danny Flannery on his patch in Derby.

The co-hosts also discuss the latest Learning from severe maladministration report from the Housing Ombudsman, in which 12 landlords were named for failings over anti-social behaviour cases.

And guest Jen Radcliffe, head of partnerships at PfP Thrive, comes on the show to talk about housing management’s recruitment and retention problem, and what we can do to fix it. 

How can the social housing sector better support its resident-facing staff? Weighing in on the exclusive discussion is Kirsty Ellis, head of operations at Progress Housing Group, Anne-Marie Bancroft, director at specialist housing consultancy Altair, and Alison Inman, former president of the Chartered Institute of Housing and current chair of tenant engagement specialist Tpas.
The discussion covers topics including the growing remit of a housing officer, recognition, managing workloads, training and career progression, well-being and support, and fair wages. 
The Inside Housing Management Podcast is produced by Lucy Brown.
Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont (https://protunes.net/) | Promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

The results of a major survey are revealed, where we asked housing staff what they enjoy about their jobs, what drives them and how they got into the sector. The episode also features an interview with Stacey Thwaites from housing association Gentoo, where she discusses how she got into the housing sector and why she feels like she can make a difference every day.

What are the dangers of e-bike and e-scooter fires, and how can the risks be minimised? Hosts Anna Highfield and Martin Hilditch, editor of Inside Housing, are joined by Alix Bedford from insurance agency Zurich Municipal, who explains why e-bike and e-scooter fires are a growing issue across the social housing sector. 
The Inside Housing Management Podcast is produced by Lucy Brown.
Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont (https://protunes.net/) | Promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

We discuss tried-and-tested ways to boost tenant engagement. 
Hosts Katharine Swindells, deputy features editor at Inside Housing, and Anna Highfield, best practice editor, are joined by engagement specialist Claire Blacka, who explains how to engage residents in a way that is both fun and meaningful – by turning it into a game. 
The Inside Housing Management Podcast is produced by Lucy Brown.
Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont (https://protunes.net/) | Promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

We discuss the best way to sensitively handle hoarding, the benefits of hiring a specialist mental health worker, and our exciting new campaign, #HousingManagementMatters. The Inside Housing Management hosts are joined by special guest Abbie Peel, a communities and placemaking manager at Home Group. 
We want to hear from you! Inside Housing Management is seeking survey responses from frontline social housing staff, asking which aspects of their work they enjoy and how their role adds value to society. To take part in the survey, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NR56GBM. The survey closes on Friday 9 May.  
Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont (https://protunes.net/) | Promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

In this episode of the Inside Housing Management Podcast, we discuss handling noise complaints, which can have a huge impact on well-being, and supporting residents with complex mental health needs, an issue which frontline staff have told us is the biggest challenge they face in their work. 
Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont | https://protunes.net/
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

In the first episode of the Inside Housing Management podcast, we discuss the research we carried out among frontline social housing staff to find out about the biggest issues they face in their work.   Music credits: Motivate by Wavecont | https://protunes.net/
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0