Housing professionals across the region are the first to benefit from a new tenant co-created qualification designed to raise standards, strengthen skills and put the tenant at the heart of housing services.
Midland Heart and University College Birmingham have partnered with tenant engagement experts Tpas, to launch a new Social Housing Surveying HNC.
In recent years, social housing providers have seen unprecedent changes in the laws and regulations governing them and fundamental changes in the expectations of tenants. This qualification is the sector’s response, an assurance that its professionals are equipped with the technical skills and behaviours needed to deliver safe, high-quality and tenant-focused services.
Equivalent to a Level 4, the course is the first of its kind to be co-created with tenants, with real insight embedded throughout the curriculum. With modules focused on understanding tenants lived experiences, engagement and communication, to ensure tenants remain central to decision-making.
As the first programme within a growing Regional Housing Skills Academy, the qualification lays the foundations for a long-term, sector-led approach to skills development, with progression to levels 5,6 and 7 planned as the offer expands.
Backed by mayoral‑led skills investment, with match funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority available for all applicants, the programme provides a clear progression route for colleagues without requiring them to leave the sector.
Chief Executive of Midland Heart, Glenn Harris, said:
“We all want the best outcomes for our tenants and that starts with having the right people with the right skills and behaviours working in housing. This course is developed with tenants, employers and academic partners to make sure the people responsible for our homes have the technical expertise and real-world understanding needed to deliver safe, high-quality services.”
Professor Rosa Wells, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at University College Birmingham, said:
“At University College Birmingham, we are committed to delivering the kind of employer-codesigned, higher technical education the region needs.
“Developed in collaboration with employers and tenants, this programme combines technical expertise with real-world insight to help shape a new generation of housing professionals who are equipped to deliver safe, high-quality and resident-focused services.
“It also creates an important progression route for those already working in the sector to upskill and advance their careers.”
West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker, said:
“I’m investing tens of millions of pounds in new social and affordable housing because too many families are waiting too long for the safe, secure and warm home they deserve.
“We are also spending more than £70m giving people the constructions skills they need to build these new homes. But the work doesn’t stop after the last brick is laid. This new gold-standard skills training will produce some of the best qualified housing professionals in the country to look after tenants once they have moved into their new homes.”
Jenny Osbourne, Chief Executive of Tpas, added:
“It is great to see innovation and creativity like this to the problems organisations face. There is a fundamental need within the sector for this sort of work. This course links closely with our tenant engagement standards and what we believe in at Tpas about working within communities and placing customer experience at the heart of services. We’re excited to see where this can go next and what more can be developed.”
If you’d like to discuss further, please contact media@midlandheart.org.uk.
