Following the Grenfell tragedy in 2017, significant concerns were raised about the competence and conduct of staff working in social housing in England. In response to this and the Housing Ombudsman’s report on the death of Awaab Ishak, the UK government passed legislation to improve standards and knowledge in England. Subsequently, the Grenfell Phase 2 report concluded that this legislation, when enacted, would address the concerns raised by the inquiry. However, for those living and working north of the Border, the question remains – what about Scotland?

We know that culture and systems in Scotland are designed to be different. We rightly place a focus on tenant engagement and consultation, and we don’t have the scale of challenge that was reported after the Grenfell tragedy, whether that is tenants being ignored when raising a complaint, complaints being dealt with incorrectly, or staff behaving unprofessionally. We should be proud of the approach in Scotland’s social housing sector. Most organisations are championing an open culture, inspirational leadership and positive outcomes. But there is still risk and still scope for improvement. So, what can we do to minimise this and make sure we neither over learn, nor under learn, the lessons from the Grenfell tragedy?

At CIH Scotland, we are working with Indigo House to review leadership and culture in the Scottish social housing sector. We want to better understand what improves organisations and how we might systemise this across the sector. We all know great leaders, but we also know that we can’t achieve systemic improvements in tenant outcomes on the basis of individual practice alone. We need to have the right and proportionate structures in place that support improving performance, improving outcomes and creating higher standards for everyone.

To do this effectively, we need your help with this study. We want the views of both housing practitioners and tenants to inform our work. Help us understand where great (and not so great) leadership and culture exists in the social housing sector so that we can understand the changes we need to make to improve housing outcomes across the board. This isn’t about mirroring what has happened in England, it’s about building on the success of leaders, practitioners and landlords in this country to ensure we continue to drive up standards.

If you are a housing practitioner, please complete this survey: https://shorturl.at/OcSZd

If you are a tenant, please complete this survey: https://shorturl.at/0Yave

We hope to report on our work by the end of the year and will share the findings with the sector to inform a new debate on professionalisation. Individually, we all know that good outcomes aren’t determined by the built environment alone. The professionals building, maintaining and managing our homes are just as critical to great leadership, great culture and great outcomes. If we want to improve things for tenants, let’s start by improving things for Scotland’s housing practitioners.

• Callum Chomczuk is national director of CIH Scotland