Asset Management · Repairs & Maintenance · Customer Experience · Regulatory & Assurance
Multidisciplinary social housing consultancy.
Housing Consultancy Group delivers business transformation, organisational reviews and specialist advisory for housing associations and local authority landlords, from asset strategy and repairs operations to regulatory assurance and customer experience.
Who we are
Built because the sector deserves better advice.
Social housing providers face pressure on every front: ageing stock and decarbonisation targets, repairs services under strain, intensifying consumer regulation, and residents who rightly expect more.
Too much consultancy in this sector delivers familiar conclusions without the practical support needed to turn them into action. We founded Housing Consultancy Group because we knew it could be done better: sharper scoping, senior people on the ground, and recommendations you can actually deliver.
Our consultants combine housing association executive experience with deep local authority understanding. We understand the governance structures, board and committee scrutiny, and financial pressures that shape decisions across both. Whether the challenge is a struggling repairs service, a stock condition data gap or an inspection on the horizon, we bring practical experience and work alongside your teams to deliver improvements.
"We don't just hand over a report and leave. Every commission is staged: review, business case, implementation. That means measurable outcomes and clear visibility on cost at every step." How we deliver
What we do
Four practice areas. One joined-up view of your business.
From short-term reviews and interim support through to longer-term transformation, our services flex to your specific need. And because our consultants work across disciplines, the asset answer, the repairs answer and the regulatory answer always join up.
Asset Management
Long-term strategy for the homes you own, grounded in data you can trust.
- Asset Management StrategyInvestment planning aligned to stock condition, compliance and business plan realities
- Decarbonisation & RetrofitPractical net zero pathways, funding routes and delivery models
- Stock Condition & Data ConfidenceSurvey programmes, data validation and asset intelligence you can stand behind
- Compliance & Building SafetyAssurance across the big six and beyond, including Awaab's Law readiness
Repairs & Maintenance
The service residents judge you by. Designed, benchmarked and run properly.
- Insourced Services & DLOsFeasibility, design and mobilisation of direct labour organisations
- Process & SystemsEnd-to-end repairs journeys, scheduling, mobile working and system selection
- Contract Management & CommercialContract structures, performance frameworks and commercial assurance
- Value for Money & BenchmarkingEvidence-based cost and performance comparison, and what to do about it
Customer Experience
Services shaped around residents, with evidence the regulator recognises.
- Customer Experience Review & DesignJourney mapping and service redesign across repairs and housing services
- Tenant Engagement & ScrutinyInvolvement frameworks and resident scrutiny that genuinely influence decisions
- Complaints Handling & LearningEffective complaint loops that drive service improvement, not just closure
- Tenant Satisfaction MeasuresUnderstanding your TSM results and building the improvement response
Organisational Support
Leadership, technology and insight to carry transformation through.
- Leadership & Interim ManagementSenior interims with executive consultant oversight. Support, not just placement
- Business Cases & Options AppraisalRobust, decision-ready cases for boards and committees
- AI & Emerging TechnologyPractical adoption of AI and new technology across housing operations
- Data Management & InsightData strategy, quality and reporting that leadership can act on
Interim & transformation support
Change is where good plans go to die. We stay for delivery.
We specialise in supporting organisations through change: mobilising new external repairs contracts, transitioning to an internal maintenance service, or standing up new operating models.
- More than a placementWe don't just put people in roles. Every interim assignment is backed by ongoing support from one of our executive consultants.
- Outcomes, monitoredInterim support is measured against the outcomes it was commissioned to deliver, and course-corrected if it isn't.
- Mobilisation expertiseContract mobilisations and insourcing transitions, delivered by people who have run them before.
How we work
Clear stages. Clear visibility. Cost control.
Our flexibility lets you commission in stages, so each phase earns the next, and you're never signing up to a transformation you haven't seen the case for.
Review
A focused initial review of the service, function or challenge in question.
- Scoping workshop and data alignment
- Interviews with leadership and operational teams
- Desk review of plans, performance and evidence
- Findings presented with strengths, gaps and options
Business case
A decision-ready case for the change worth making.
- Options appraisal and evaluation of risk
- Evidence-based analysis and benchmarking
- Cost-benefit analysis and target operating model
- Resource and delivery plan
- Board and committee-ready documentation
Implementation
Delivery with measurable outcomes, not a report on a shelf.
- Programme and change management
- Interim leadership where capacity is needed
- Benefits tracking against the business case
- Knowledge transfer so improvements stick
Regulatory & assurance
When the regulator is coming, experience is everything.
Our regulatory practice is led by people currently working in the regulated environment, including serving executive experience of in-depth assessments under the new consumer standards.
Regulatory Preparedness Health Check
An independent, forensic review of your internal self-assessment against real-world regulatory thresholds, validating accuracy, mapping blind spots and building third-party assurance ahead of inspection.
Consumer Standards Review
Structured evaluation across all four consumer standards (Safety & Quality; Transparency, Influence & Accountability; Neighbourhood & Community; and Tenancy) through the lenses of governance, data quality, customer involvement and learning.
IDA Preparation & Mentoring
One-to-one executive mentoring for in-depth assessments: how to present, what to submit, and how to triangulate one consistent story across every document the regulator reads.
Critical Friend & Board Support
Standing challenge on oversight boards and improvement groups: are the plans knitting together, is the governance operationally focused, and is the evidence strong enough?
Leadership
Senior people. On your project. Personally.
No pyramid of juniors. Every engagement is led by sector specialists who combine commercial scale with local accountability.
Paul Reader
Co-founder · Director
Paul brings almost 40 years of experience in social housing repairs and maintenance, spanning client, contractor and board-level roles. He currently directs his own consultancy practice providing commercial, strategic and operational advisory support across social housing R&M, and holds non-executive positions on Peabody's Investment Committee and the board of South Essex Property Services.
His executive career includes nearly a decade at Morgan Sindall Property Services, latterly as Regional Managing Director, and senior business development leadership in social housing at Mitie, having previously built and led a regional housing maintenance business through to its acquisition. His experience reaches back through the Housing Forum, where he contributed to the Local Government Task Force for Rethinking Construction, to a client-side M&E and housing strategy role at a London borough.
Paul's particular strengths lie in business, operational review and design, asset management, and contract and commercial models, bringing our clients advice grounded in what has actually been delivered on both sides of the contract.
Chris Ewart
Co-founder · Director
Chris brings 28 years of experience in staffing, recruitment and consultancy, with a strong track record in the social housing sector. He founded Resourcing Group in 2003 (sold in 2008) and has led Build Recruitment, a specialist social housing, construction and facilities management recruitment business with a turnover of £15 million, as CEO since founding it in 2010. He is also co-founder and co-CEO of Alliance MSP, a joint venture managed service business providing large-scale temporary labour with a turnover of around £20 million.
This gives HCG deep, current insight into the sector's labour market, contractor landscape and commercial dynamics, intelligence that directly strengthens the quality of our procurement, resourcing and commercial advice.
Emma O'Shea
Non-Executive Director
Emma brings over two decades of senior experience in housing operations, asset management and organisational transformation. She is currently Chief Operating and Technology Officer at Aster Group, leading operational and customer services across more than 34,000 homes, spanning income, housing management, repairs, estate services, care and support, and property investment.
Her earlier executive roles include Director of Operations and Transformation at Peabody and Director of Service Delivery (Asset Management and Housing Operations) at Family Mosaic, complemented by a management consulting background in performance improvement and transformation and senior transformation roles in local government. Emma holds an Executive MBA from Henley Business School and a Chartered Management Institute qualification, and also serves as a Non-Executive Director of Hyperion Housing, giving her live, board-level insight into governance and regulatory compliance.
In her role as Non-Executive Director of HCG, Emma provides independent oversight of our quality and governance standards and manages any conflicts of interest transparently, giving clients assurance that our advice is shaped by their interests alone.
Talk to us
Start with a conversation, not a contract.
Tell us about the challenge, whether it's a repairs service under pressure, an asset strategy that needs rebuilding or an inspection on the horizon, and we'll tell you honestly whether and how we can help.
- Emailchris.ewart@housingconsultancygroup.org
- Phone07771 883 607
- AddressCrowne House, 56-58 Southwark Street, London SE1 1UN · Working nationwide
Book an initial conversation
A free, no-obligation call with one of our directors. We'll listen to where you are, share what we're seeing across the sector, and outline what a scoped first stage could look like for your budget.
Request a call