Last month, we hosted the first of a programme of CHIC roundtable discussions. We are keen to bring together our members, with our partner contractors, consultants, manufacturers and other suppliers which make up our CHIC supply chain.

CHIC had been hearing some ‘noise’ from many members about disrepair. Not only had national television news coverage shone a light on examples of disrepair horrors faced by some tenants, but the issues had been examined by the Housing Ombudsman and social landlords were reporting an increase in claims. So, we thought we should examine the views of various stakeholders through roundtable discussions.

The event was well attended by a great cross section of organisations and we were able to host four separate ‘round tables’, each mixing social landlords (housing associations and local authorities), contractors, consultants, lawyers and manufacturers/specialist suppliers. Discussions were constructive and reflected real ‘on the ground’ knowledge and experience.

Our groups considered two key questions:

• Q1: Is disrepair more of a nightmare for the tenant or the landlord?
• Q2: How do third parties hinder or help the landlord to avoid disrepair?

These questions were enthusiastically debated and we have published the conclusions reached in a short report you can find HERE.

CHIC will be hosting a series of roundtable discussions on other topics over the next few months – details will be published in CHIC CHAT and on our website. All stakeholders are welcome to attend.