Southern Housing walkabouts with residents
REVIEW
Walkabouts enable us to speak directly with Southern Housing on site and in person, giving them a clearer idea of unaddressed and reoccurring problems and pointing out specific issues.
DECEMBER 2023
In December 2023 a group of senior Southern Housing representatives, including the Director of Repairs and Estate Transformation conducted walkabouts on the estate. The Director communicated that the walkabouts went well, with good engagement from residents.
The team involved has compiled a list of outstanding works and has met to review and agree next steps. We’re awaiting a copy to be published here on the website, along with timescales for completion.
MARCH 2024
Southern Housing representatives included the new maintenance contracts manager, our estate’s surveyor, estate management and landscaping management. 10 residents attended, who were able to ask challenging questions about problems within their homes and in our communal areas, and point out particular issues.
Concerns were also raised about financial details including service charges, breakdown of costs and Southern Housing profits relating to large projects. We will be asking that somebody who is able to answer specific queries around costs to attend our meetings or walkabouts.
APRIL 2024
Thanks to everyone that attended the April walkabout. Residents were able to speak with George Downing estates surveyor in attendance, the estate manager, the leaseholders property and service manager (who deals with service charges) as well as the head of landscaping.
JULY 2024
Generally the walk-around went well. Both residents and Southern Housing representatives commented on the benefits of being able to communicate in person about problems, which can be directly looked at and better understood. The estate surveyor was able to raise some jobs to be actioned while on location.
We were glad to be seeing an increase in estate issues being actioned and resolved.
That said we would like to see more progress going forward. As we walk around it’s clear how many of the estates reported issues are still going unaddressed.
SEPTEMBER 2024
At this walkabout, only one of the invited Southern Housing representatives - the estate’s surveyor - was able to attend.
Although it was still useful and she was able to action a couple of our issues; it is disappointing not to have the level of representation that was initially recommended.
Again, we will be feeding back to Southern Housing to ask that we still get the full set of 12 walkabouts promised, and that they can facilitate a significant improvement in representation.
OCTOBER 2025
Earlier in 2025, Southern Housing introduced the Local Link model, an area-based housing team intended to improve communication and provide more consistent on-the-ground support. We were able to arrange an initial meeting with the new manager to discuss long-standing concerns across the estate.
A panel of residents met with our Local Link manager, Jemma Robertson, to outline the wide range of unresolved issues affecting different blocks. It quickly became clear that a more comprehensive approach was needed, and we collectively agreed to carry out a full estate-wide review to document ongoing problems and prioritise action.
NOVEMBER 2025
In November, a panel of estate residents joined the Local Link manager, Jemma Robertson, alongside Contracts Manager John Culleton, Services Manager Dean and Muhammad, Tennant Services for a full walk-around of the estates communal spaces.
We documented issues across the estate, spanning repairs, condition of communal spaces, waste management, lighting, security, landscaping, gardens and other long-standing maintenance concerns. The walk-around provided Southern Housing with a much clearer, first-hand understanding of the ongoing challenges residents experience across different blocks and outdoor areas.
The meeting was constructive and collaborative, with a shared recognition and acknowledgement from the Southern Housing representatives that more structured oversight is needed to prevent issues from being lost, delayed or repeatedly escalated. Following the visit, Jemma has implemented and shared with us a central spreadsheet to catalogue, track and manage the full list of outstanding items.