IT is with great pride and a chunk of surprise that I find myself the new Chair of the NFA Board. I firstly want to recognise the contributions of Mike Ainsley, for so many years a steadfast champion of all that our members do and stand for, and of all the other previous Chairs who have helped steer the NFA since its inception in the early 2000s. I know I am stepping into impressive shoes and hope to do justice to the legacy of my predecessors.

It was exactly 20 years ago, in spring 2005, that I applied for a job that took my social (or, as I prefer to call it, community) housing career in an entirely new direction. I joined Cheltenham Borough Homes, one of the newly minted ALMOs, and stayed there until my retirement in 2020.

I have sometimes asked myself why, after 20 years in the housing association world, I was drawn to switch horses, as it were, and move into the ALMO version of the council housing management sector? Simple, really. It was already clear that the ALMO model’s focus on customers, community and local partnerships would be able to deliver the kind of services customers needed, and I wanted to be part of that.

That same focus and drive remains part of our DNA two decades later and, I believe, provides us with a uniqueness which other providers cannot fully replicate.

Since I retired, I have been very fortunate to have been appointed Chair of Homes in Somerset – its new name since April this year, formerly Homes in Sedgemoor. That change of name is directly linked to the continuing evolution of this ALMO which first opened in 2007 and now has a pan-county role in providing development and regeneration services for Somerset Council. This is a great reflection of the trust and partnership shared by ALMO and parent council.

Our principles will remain customer-focused, as always.

Obviously, there are plenty of challenges ahead. We await the outcome of government’s June Spending Review and potential operational changes in both finances, new supply and service delivery.

Nevertheless, our sector will keep its drive and focus on supporting our customers and communities while providing great services, as the first year Tenant Satisfaction Measures results have clearly demonstrated. We also continue to provide excellent governance functions and, as a collection of 15 ALMOs, we continue to punch above our weight in many aspects of our delivery and impact.

We also see future opportunities for NFA work and the expertise built up over the last 20 years by its members in best-practice sharing and continuous improvement initiatives as the policy landscape changes – and we will carefully consider how best to respond and react. Our principles, however, will remain customer focused, as always.

My thanks go to everyone  across the NFA involved in this year’s annual conference, to organisers, participants and delegates, for the togetherness I have always experienced in my many years of involvement with our national federation. Members’ consistent willingness to provide support and advice to each other never fails to impress.

Going forward, I am very much looking forward to working with NFA members in a rather different capacity to my past role as Cheltenham’s representative. I have great confidence that we will continue to be the small federation in council housing management that nevertheless packs a big punch.