All of our blog articles
Every little helps: A list of extra support
It is estimated that over £15 billion worth of benefits are being left unclaimed in the UK. Alongside that, cheaper social tariffs for bills, other grants and discounts are also falling by the wayside. Here are 10 suggestions of services that might be able to help.
Support suggestions by residents for residents
The latest Resident Voice Index™ report, ‘Surviving but not living’ is out, giving results from the Cost of Living survey that many of you answered between March and May this year. Results showed that 33% would […]
The swapper journey – stories from successful swappers
If you’ve been watching the new Channel 5 series, ‘Council House Swap’, you may have noticed some of the residents using HomeSwapper
Swapper Story | Peter’s mutual exchange journey: starting somewhere new
Sometimes a change of scenery is just what the doctor ordered. For Peter and his family, the hustle and bustle of his hometown, London was wearing thin. He was looking for a swap somewhere else in the UK and following a […]
Passphrases | Creating easy-to-remember but impossible-to-crack passwords
As we all become more and more reliant on technology, it’s never been more important to keep yourself and your data safe online! This year we’ve been looking at HomeSwapper and how we can make it as secure as possible for […]
Safety in neighbourhoods
When choosing a new place to live, how safe it is will likely be a big factor. Unsafe neighbourhoods have been linked to greater feelings of unease, anxiety and even poor health outcomes. This week, we’re looking at […]
The 15-minute neighbourhood
In the recently released Resident Voice Index™ report, we took a look at neighbourhoods and communities across the UK. This week, we’re having a look at an interesting town planning approach called the ‘15-minute city’ that sparked some […]
Resident Ambassadors revisited | Exploring belonging and caring
Following the publication of the Neighbourhoods & Communities report our resident ambassadors talk about the outputs.
The Neighbourhoods & Communities Survey: The results are in!
Over the past six months we’ve been speaking a lot about The Resident Voice Index™ project, which launched this year to gather insights into those living in social housing in the UK. Now we are finally able to […]
How to do COVID safe home viewings
Your hours of searching and chatting to other swappers have paid off – congratulations, you might have found the perfect home! To make sure, you’ll need to have a good look around to get to know the place and the neighbourhood […]
Resident Ambassador, Jackie: “Residents are an asset to their providers”
Our Resident Ambassador Jackie had some good ideas of what social housing in the 21st century may look like.
There’s always time to get involved – Advice from our third Resident Ambassador
This week we meet our third Resident Ambassador for the Resident Voice Index™ project, Jim. Living in the North East of England, he’s a no-nonsense stalwart of local activism and contribution. From being on tenant advisory panels, becoming […]
Our next Resident Ambassador: ‘We can achieve great things working together”
Our second Resident Ambassador, Val lives in the North East of England and has been working alongside her housing association and for national resident boards for years. She came forward as a Resident Ambassador for the Resident Voice […]
How mutual exchange helps change lives for the better
A new TV series on home swapping is soon to be made, showing the positive stories in social housing. Would you like to be in it?
Introducing our Resident Ambassadors
Community projects such as changing a public space or building new developments should involve those who actually live in a community.
Resident Voice Index™ workshops: What matters to residents
The Neighbourhoods & Communities survey is the first of a project which aims to get to know what social housing residents in the UK think
What do you think about your neighbourhood?
Understanding an area better means finding out about the people living there and how they feel. Our Resident Voice Index™ aims to do that.
The Resident Voice Index™ project: Have your say
Your voice matters and giving a few minutes to share your opinion can give the people planning improvements to services a real insight into where their efforts can be best placed.
Why your voice matters
We spoke to residents and separately, to housing providers to find out what communication between them was like at the moment and ways in which they wanted to see engagement improved. Now we're launching The Resident Voice campaign.
What are Help to Save accounts and who are they for?
In times like these, it may be hard to find the incentive to start saving. But there are schemes available that can turn this around!
Who is the Social Housing Regulator and why should you care?
The Regulator works with government, Housing Ombudsman and housing providers to make sure that social homes are safe, decent and sustainable.
HomeSwapper Timewasters: what we’ve done
We asked you, of course! And you gave us some great suggestions for changes that could be made to the site.
The census is coming: Why is it Important?
A large-scale data collection exercise, the cencus influences how public services like GPs and green spaces are planned and funded.
Who is the housing ombudsman?
In our last blog post, we spoke about what an ombudsman is and how they can work with you to sort out issues with complaints across most areas of your life. This week we are talking specifically about […]