Sharing C1 success insights from our NEDwork

This January saw our first quarterly NEDworking event of 2025. These collaborative forums are an opportunity for Chairs and aspiring Chairs from across the sector to share best practice, and to build networking opportunities with other likeminded professionals.

It’s also an opportunity for us as a national housing recruitment specialists to give something back to the sector. We do this in a number of ways, including using our extensive Executive and Directors network to share key learnings and to help drive innovation where it’s needed most.

For this event we were joined by guest speakers Kim Newman (Founder and Managing Director at PML Group Holdings Ltd & Group Chair at Saffron Housing Trust), Callum Gillespie (Digital Strategist at Littlefish & Chair at Nottingham Community Housing Association) and Sue Sutton (Chief Executive at Salix Homes).

This tenacious trio shared their experiences and learnings from receiving a C1 rating at their most recent inspections, offering some valuable takeaways along the way.

The session was introduced by Barry Forsythe, Greenacre’s Associate Director and Executive Recruitment guru, and chaired by Zoe Wortley, Managing Director at Soar Consulting. It was a fantastic turnout, with great engagement and a collaborative, energised atmosphere.

The dreaded C word

With so much noise being generated around the recently implemented Consumer Standard, or ‘C’ ratings, we’ve had a number of requests from our NEDwork to cover this topic.

From April 2024, Landlords across the UK have been subject to inspections by the Regulator, to assess their compliance with consumer standards. These standards are now part of the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023. The C ratings are based on four key standards: Safety & Quality, Tenancy, Transparency, Influence, & Accountability and Neighbourhood & Community.

We wanted our delegates to gain some valuable insights from those organisations who have been successful in achieving C1 status for their organisations. Our guest speakers were also  happy to share their stories and learnings to help other organisations improve their ratings.

Authenticity, honesty and preparation

When the ratings were first implemented, most organisations did not really know what to expect. One housing association decided to adopt a pragmatic approach, feeling they had nothing to prove but their authenticity. Positively, they’d already decided to adopt a customer-first strategy long before the standards had come into play – and it paid off.

Using a consumer standards draft to assess themselves in the run up to their inspection, the team worked with their board to get a clear picture of what a C1 rated organisation would look like. This approach has since helped them to support several other organisations in achieving their own C1 rating. Eager to share their successful outcome with others across the sector, they felt it would be a win-win for everyone, and help to drive collaborative values.

Being transparent throughout their inspection highlighted not only what they’d got right, but also that they were not afraid to admit they were not infallible, and sometimes got things wrong. Although each housing provider has their own unique set of challenges, a key piece of advice was that positive engagement and a willingness to adapt early on goes a long way.

The NEDwork delegates were offered several more strategic tips from the CEO during the session, including around the all-important customer engagement strategy, and the various   approaches which had helped the organisation to become a benchmark organisation for C1 rating.

Ther overriding theme was that honesty, authenticity and self-scrutiny should be a top priority for any organisation being assessed, and that customer influence should be a key factor when showcasing decision making. Another solid takeaway was the importance of not forgetting the financial and governance side of the inspections, as well as focusing on the consumer rating.

Following the golden thread

A different organisation’s approach was to engage openly with their board, giving little to no preparation beforehand to ensure complete authenticity. It was also noted that there is a bigger focus on customer experience and tenant engagement compared to past inspections. Whereas before they tended to focus more on finances and assets, there appears to now be more of an equal balance.

Their CEO shared with the delegates some of their key inspection focus areas, as well as some of their unique challenges that were picked up on by the inspectors, along with highlighting the importance of an active risk management strategy.

A greater emphasis on EDI

One question that came out of left field, and that the organisation were not prepared for, was a question around EDI strategy, and how their board sets targets in these areas. It became apparent that linking EDI strategy back to the customer voice is now given a far stronger emphasis, and housing leaders would be wise to consider the importance of EDI measuring and monitoring when to comes to their inspection.

The key piece of advice was to make sure that in every areas of service delivery and outcome, organisations are following the golden thread which leads back to customer experience and the customer voice.

Openness, honesty and collaboration

Another organisation was already well prepared for their inspection, as it had been long overdue. This had given them time to explore any gaps that might need to be addressed from studying the draft standards. Their CEO advised that being self-aware as an organisation helped to land them in good stead.

It was emphasised that the inspectors are not anticipating a perfect organisation, but they are expecting you to acknowledge where you may have room for improvement, and to be honest about this, as well as what you are doing to address the gaps. It was also advised not to take anything for granted, even if you are fairly confident that you will meet expectations. Preparation, due diligence and continued self-assessments are key.

Some team members from this organisation had actually reported that they were enjoying the assessment process, and felt it was a really collaborative process. Rather than feeling like they were in the spotlight, it felt more like they were having a grown up, open transparent conversation.

Having a tenant board member included in the interviews was another a welcome aspect for the inspectors, which helped to convey tenant involvement and to broaden the discussion in terms of tenant-led scrutiny. Encouraging them to be open and share whatever they felt important for the inspectors to hear went down well.

It was again highlighted that organisational transparency is appreciated and helps to cement the inspectors trust, as they are then unlikely to uncover something that hadn’t already been acknowledged and addressed.

The CEO then went into more thorough detail with the group on the specific areas they had successes and challenges in, and the more granular aspects of the inspection. This gave delegates an in-depth insight into the overall inspection experience, as well as key strategic advice for gaining a C1 status.

The group found the session a valuable process, with a diversity of approaches, experiences and perspectives.

The biggest overall takeaway was that you don’t need a perfect organisation to achieve C1 status. What you do need is honestly, self-scrutiny and a demonstrable commitment to address any individual organisational challenges.

We’d like to thank those who took part in our first NEDworking session, and to our guests for sharing such valuable insights with other organisations who might be facing an upcoming inspection.

For details and a chance to join our next NEDworking event, please contact Barry Forsythe on 07715 409001/ barry@greenacre-recruitment.com.