CHIC Team Reflections

By Joanne Heyes, Head of Member Services (North) “Strategic asset management” (SAM) is not just about spreadsheets, stock data, or investment programmes. Rather, it is about how to make smart, sustainable decisions to protect homes, strengthen landlords’ operations and, most importantly, improve residents’ lives. In social housing, SAM is about managing homes as long term […]

We sat down with CHIC Chief Executive John Fisher to discuss why separating materials procurement from labour should be the next major shift in housing investment, helping landlords deliver more and better outcomes for residents. The Original Vision When we established CHIC in 2010, the intention was always to procure materials separately from labour, both

By Martin Radbourne, Senior Business Intelligence Manager, CHIC “Data rich but intelligence poor” is a phrase that comes up repeatedly across the social housing sector and for good reason. Most organisations are not short of data. In fact, many landlords are surrounded by it. They have data on repairs, voids, building performance (and safety), stock

By John Fisher, Chief Executive Housing Horizons Conference CHIC hosted the Housing Horizons Conference jointly with the Housing Forum in March. I presented my thoughts on strategic asset management alongside Jenny Danson, CEO of the Healthy Homes Hub, who promoted the importance of good housing conditions to residents’ health. Online Debate Jenny has recently shared

By Sarah Davey, Head of Development, CHIC The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026 are the latest attempt to tackle a system we all know has been under pressure for a long time. For registered providers of social housing, this is not just another policy update to note and move on from.

By Sarah Davey, Head of Development, CHIC The National Housing Bank (NHB) is a new government public finance institution with the ambition to accelerate the delivery of new homes and communities, whilst also enabling the regeneration of towns and cities across England. Backed by the UK government, the National Housing Bank will work with house

20 Years on – Haven’t we heard all this before? By Liam Gratty, Director of Strategic Services Health and safety within the social housing sector has long been framed as a matter of compliance; a statutory obligation to be met, evidenced and defended. Yet the homes managed within the sector are not simply assets requiring

By Joanne Heyes, Head of Member Services Housing is a complex and complicated sector. Many of you reading will have heard of the “housing crisis” that the country is facing, but what exactly is this? Is it a lack of homes? Is it about the quality of our homes? Have we got a damp and

By Emma Baskeyfield, Technical Manager What’s Changing in the EPC System The UK’s Energy Performance Certificate system is entering a major period of reform, designed to give the housing sector clearer, more accurate and more practical insight into how homes really perform. EPCs have historically provided only a limited picture of energy performance, often failing

By Luke Hurd, Chief Operating Officer The Procurement Act 2023 (PA23) fundamentally changes procurement from being a predominately cost driven process under the old principle of Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) to one that has a much broader evaluation, and therefore greater focus on quality, performance, transparency, social value and competency under the UK centric