Building more homes and building trust are not mutually exclusive

We have an opportunity to make real progress on delivering new homes and improving existing ones, so let’s make sure we don’t miss it, says Mark Perry, Chief Executive of VIVID.

For years, the housing sector has talked about putting customers at the centre of everything we do. But the real test isn’t what we say, it’s whether people can access a safe, affordable home in the first place, and what their experience is like once they do. Right now, both are under pressure.

Demand for affordable housing continues to outstrip supply, while too many services are still shaped by reacting to problems after they have already caused frustration – fixing issues, managing complaints and rebuilding trust once it has already been dented. If we are serious about trust in housing, we have to tackle both challenges together.

Trust does not start with services alone. It starts with the confidence that there will be a home there in the first place. And it is strengthened, or weakened, by the experience customers have every day once they live in it.

The encouraging news is that we have a real opportunity to make meaningful progress on both fronts. For the first time, housing providers have access to a combination of customer insight, data and technology that can fundamentally change how we operate.

The conversation about AI often focuses on efficiency. But its greatest potential is much bigger than that. AI gives us the opportunity to move from understanding what has happened to anticipating what is likely to happen next. It allows us to spot patterns, identify risks earlier and deliver more personalised services at a scale that simply was not possible before.

Used responsibly, AI is not about replacing people. It is about helping colleagues spend less time navigating systems and more time solving problems, supporting customers and building relationships.

“Over the past year, customers have contributed more than 3,000 hours of involvement, helping to shape policies, service standards and investment decisions. That is not consultation. It is partnership”

At VIVID, we have already seen how technology can improve both customers’ and colleagues’ experience, and we have been proud to receive national recognition through our awards for innovation in this area. But the real value of innovation is not the award itself, it is what customers experience as a result: quicker responses, simpler journeys and fewer problems escalating to the point of complaint.

In short, AI gives us a genuine opportunity to move from reactive housing management to predictive housing management – and that could be transformative for customers.

Technology alone, however, will not solve the housing crisis. Across the sector, there is no shortage of ambition to build, but translating ambition into delivery remains challenging. Rising costs, planning delays and funding uncertainty continue to constrain output. The latest Inside Housing Biggest Builders analysis highlights a sector that retains ambition, but where delivery capacity is increasingly shaped by scale, balance sheet strength and development capability.

That creates a significant opportunity for providers with the confidence and capacity to invest.

At VIVID, partnership has been central to our approach. Strong relationships with local authorities, Homes England, contractors, developers and community partners have helped us continue to deliver at scale. According to Biggest Builders, VIIVID has consistently delivered the sixth-largest affordable homes programme in the country and is among the top three housing associations for growth relative to size.

Those achievements are not simply measures of organisational success. They represent thousands of opportunities for people and families to access a safe, affordable home, put down roots and build their future.

The same principle applies to customer experience. Over the past year, customers have contributed more than 3,000 hours of involvement, helping to shape policies, service standards and investment decisions. That is not consultation. It is partnership.

Customers understand better than anyone where services work well and where they need to improve. Their insight is helping us design clearer communications, simpler processes and services that better reflect the realities of everyday life.

That commitment to listening and learning has also been recognised through VIVID being awarded accreditation from Tpas, the tenant engagement organisation, reflecting the strength of our approach to customer engagement and influence.

But customer partnership should never stand still. That is why we have worked with City & Guilds to co-design and launch our customer credentialling qualification for all VIVID colleagues. The programme underpins our commitment to ensure every colleague understands the customer experience, sees their role in improving it, and is equipped to listen, innovate and improve.

“The most successful organisations will be those capable of combining strong customer outcomes, financial resilience and sustained development programmes”

Together, these initiatives reflect a simple belief: the best organisations never stop learning. Customer influence, colleague development, responsible technology and strong partnerships all have a role to play in creating services that are more responsive, more personal and more effective.

When customer insight is combined with better technology, the opportunity becomes even greater. Instead of waiting for a repair to fail, we can identify warning signs earlier. Instead of responding once frustration has built, we can intervene sooner. Instead of treating every customer interaction the same way, we can design support that better reflects individual circumstances. From a customer perspective, that is what really matters. Trust is not built on how well we fix problems. It is built on how rarely customers experience them in the first place.

Growth and quality are not competing priorities. There is sometimes an assumption that housing associations must choose between building more homes and improving services. From a customer perspective, that is a false choice. People need a good-quality home, and they need more homes to be available. They expect organisations to maintain and improve existing homes while creating opportunities for future generations. The most successful organisations will be those capable of combining strong customer outcomes, financial resilience and sustained development programmes. That requires discipline, but it also requires ambition.

The sector cannot solve the housing crisis by becoming more risk averse. Equally, we cannot build trust if quality suffers. The challenge is to balance growth, resilience and customer experience in a way that delivers long-term value. The opportunity before us is substantial, but realising it requires confidence. Housing is a long-term business. New homes take years to plan and deliver. Major investments in technology, regeneration and development are measured in decades, not political cycles. That is why policy stability matters so much.

As political leadership evolves, the sector will be looking for continuity as well as ambition. A change in prime minister should not detract from the confidence providers need to invest in new homes, new technology and better services. The sector needs a policy and regulatory environment that encourages long-term investment, supports innovation and gives organisations the certainty required to plan ahead. If we get that right, the prize is considerable: more homes, better services and stronger communities. Taken together, this feels like a pivotal moment for housing. For the first time, we have the tools, technology and partnerships to address both sides of the challenge: building more homes while creating better, more reliable experiences for the people who live in them.

At VIVID, our focus is simple: use insight to improve services, use partnerships to increase delivery, invest in our people, and harness innovation to create better outcomes for customers. Ultimately, the future of housing should not be a choice between growth and trust. The real opportunity is to achieve both – building more homes and creating better services to help more people realise brighter futures.

Mark Perry, Chief Executive, VIVID