𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 The Social Housing Safety Network Scotland?

It’s a dedicated network for colleagues across Scotland which was established a year ago to support local authorities, housing associations and housing co-operatives focus on tenant and resident safety in Scotland. The network provides information, guidance and opportunities for getting together with like-minded colleagues to learn and sharing knowledge and good practice; we encourage our members to tell us what they would like to see and the topics areas where they would like a focus.

The benefits of joining the Network continue to grow as we expand into our second year with around 40 members; these include:

• Self-assessment checklists, legislation tracker and KPI scorecard
• ‘Big 6’ policy and procedure sense check
• Dedicated resource website
• ‘Quick Guides’ and briefings
• Free and discounted webinars and events/get togethers
• 10% discount on training from Housing H&S Compliance UK Ltd & HHSC Learning
• Self-study ‘Knowledge Builders’

Take a look at our flyer for a snapshot of how our members have benefited over the past 12 months.

Our co-founders

A small group of social housing practitioners, who have, between them, worked within the social housing sector for a combined 60 years plus, came together to establish The Network.

Their extensive knowledge has enabled them to develop a range of documents that will support organisations to gain assurance as to their legislative compliance with all elements of tenant and resident safety that are also a key focus of the Scottish Housing Regulator.

They are supported by a team of subject specialist associates who between them cover all of the key compliance areas including asbestos, damp and mould, fire safety, water hygiene, gas… and so on!.

You can find out more about the co-founders here.

Our events

Over the last twelve months, we have hosted five free webinars in our ‘𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬’ 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬; these webinars take a look at a specific safety-related subject and tell you what you should be doing to comply with the Regulations and standards – sometimes, it’s about more than holding a certificate or assessment and ticking a box…

We also have ‘𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬’, our free, interactive sessions, which give members the opportunity to meet up and discuss a chosen topic, facilitated by one of the network co-founders. We’ve recently hosted our first of these, which was exceptionally well received, and have more planned, on topics including district heating and an FRA masterclass.

The highlight of our year was our sell out two-day 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 held last November at the impressive Merchants House of Glasgow.

We also hold 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭… last month was our ‘Legionella in Social Housing: The Practical Approach’ event; this received excellent feedback and attendees found the day very informative and a place to learn and share ideas and good practice with like-minded colleagues in the sector.

We’re busy planning more free webinars, ‘Get Togethers’ and events; to keep up to date with our what’s coming up, you can visit the events page of our website (updated regularly).

The highlight of our year is our annual conference in November where we bring together a mix of subject experts and colleagues to focus specifically on workstreams relating to tenant and resident safety. The conference is for EVERYONE working within tenant and resident safety in social housing, from chief executives and directors to frontline compliance staff and maintenance administrators. Look out for the conference programme coming soon!

Our Network members

What really makes our Network is our members and the diversity they bring to the Network – we’re proud they chose to join us, and without them we simply wouldn’t exist!

Our members are a mix of housing associations, housing co-operatives and councils across Scotland. These include organisations as far north as Inverness and Aberdeen, down to the border in Berwickshire and out on the West Coast in Oban, as well as lots based in the towns and cities in between, including Edinburgh, Paisley, Motherwell, Glasgow and across Fife.

If you would like to be part of our growing Network, please visit the website for more information.