Smaller housing associations

How the National Housing Federation (NHF) will support smaller housing associations in the best way possible to serve local communities and build the homes this country needs.

The NHF’s mission is to create an environment in which every single one of our members can thrive and deliver on their social purpose.

Smaller housing associations have always had – and will always have – an incredibly important role to play in our housing offer to the nation.

Our offer to smaller housing associations was developed in conjunction with our smaller members and was designed to support them through tailored resources, networking opportunities, and providing a prominent voice in our influencing work.

This work will form the basis for how we work together, and how the NHF supports smaller housing associations in the best way possible to serve our local communities and build the homes this country needs.

National Smaller Housing Associations' Conference 2024

Join us for the only event in the market that examines the housing sector through the lens of a smaller housing association. This virtual event takes place on Wednesday 4 December.

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What's in the offer?

Relevant resources

We will:

Ensure that our practical policy guides and briefings are relevant to smaller housing associations.
Provide you with access to HR, legal and health and safety support.
Commission guidance and support on key issues such as the new consumer regime and governance (including a new consumer standards toolkit).
Tailor our content and communications more effectively to meet your needs and concerns.
Provide a single point of contact so you can reach us easily.

Accessible networks

We will:

Continue to address the cost barrier to accessing conferences by introducing discounts for smaller members for all of our conferences.
Respond to your time and resource constraints by committing to do more virtual conferencing and webinars.
Develop our online networks that enable you to connect with your peers.

Increase your recognition

We will:

Continue to build on the National Smaller Housing Association Network – making it bigger, more diverse and more accessible.
Always encourage, promote and support smaller housing associations, including identifying platforms and opportunities for smaller housing associations to be represented in key policy debates and at national events.

Get your voice heard

We will:

Always recognise your interests and issues that affect smaller housing associations in our influencing work at a national and local level.
Showcase your best practice and stories within and beyond the sector.
Actively seek your input for consultations via the National Smaller Housing Association Network roundtables and webinars.
Ensure that smaller housing associations are represented on all our national working groups.
Facilitate access to politicians via roundtables and other appropriate forums.

How to get involved

You can get involved in this work by joining our National Smaller Housing Association Network, which supports the NHF in developing and testing new policy ideas, engages smaller housing associations in our work, informs our responses to the government and other stakeholders and facilitates collaboration and information sharing between smaller housing association members.

The Network meets virtually and is chaired by Helena Evans, Chief Executive of Westfield Housing Association. Get in touch to find out more about the group and how to join.

We also have a National Smallest Housing Association Network for organisations with less than 200 homes.

Get in touch

If you have any questions about our offer to smaller housing associations, or you’d like to find out how you can get involved, you can reach us through our dedicated contact point.