Improving the quality of homes – finding shared goals and a common drive across the county

In late March, the Good Home Lincs team visited Somerset Independence Plus to exchange experiences and learnings of helping people to stay safe, warm & well at home. Team members from Lincolnshire County Council, District Council and Lincolnshire NHS Foundation Trust set off to Somerset on a 2-day trip, where we met Somerset Commissioners, Operational Service Managers, and officers working directly with Somerset residents.

Over the days we were welcomed, hosted, trained and informed about the history, structure, funding and operations of the service – with two of our team being invited to visit residents who were being supported by the services’ Independent Living Officers in their own homes, to hear directly about the support they had received.  

It didn’t take long for us to feel a strong sense of common objective, drive and shared sense of humour with the team at Somerset. We were greeted by the whole team who gave us an overview and introduction to their roles and past experiences, were provided a brief training session on the importance of positive thinking, celebrating small achievements and strength-based working with residents, and enjoyed an excellent selection of biscuits.

Day one concluded with an opportunity to ask questions, share our stories and develop a deeper understanding of the commonalities between our services, as well as the differences.

After a refreshing night’s sleep at a motorway service station motel, we headed back to Somerset to learn more about the service structure, funding and activities. Sarah (Public Health Officer) and Shona (Head of Housing) were taken by Independent Living Officers to meet two residents with hoarding behaviours, and to see just how much work the team had put in to help people take small steps that make a big impact.  

Sean (Public Health Programme Manager) and Adam (Lincs. Healthy & Accessible Homes Lead) were able to learn more about the service funding, business case and the Lendology home improvement loan service for homeowners, with the Somerset team making time to dig into the detail and share their learning.

Across the two days, the Lincs team were struck by the energy, commitment and enthusiasm for the service both in terms of the similarity to our own team, but also despite the difference in our operating models, focus and resourcing. It was clear our goals were shared, and our attitudes aligned, even if our challenges differed.  

The Somerset team’s ability to be flexible and responsive, not only to residents, but also to strategic priorities, such as supporting Homes for Ukraine, provided a real insight into the opportunity our service has to be an asset for Lincolnshire as a whole (population and system) as well as a testament to just how effective local improvement services can be (locally and nationally) to meet both resident and strategic priorities.

The Good Home Lincs team left with a solidified sense of purpose and inspiration to shape the impact and reach of our own service as a model of good practice.  

In return, Good Home Lincs are hoping to further share our learning and developments with the Somerset team and hope to be able to welcome them to meet our caseworkers and system partners when they visit Lincolnshire, as well as supporting our two teams to shadow and learn from one another in future exchange visits.  

Good Home Lincs are sure that Somerset Independence Plus will join us to encourage other housing authorities, who are developing, delivering or furthering their journeys to help people stay safe, warm and well at home, to take up opportunities to share and learn from others in the Good Home Network. We would both also like to thank the Centre for Ageing Better for their support in funding and facilitating our trip from the East Coast to the West Country.  

The Good Home Network is an England-wide network for decision-makers and practitioners actively engaged in delivering services whose aim is to reduce the number of non-decent homes and improve poor-quality homes in their areas. The network is hosted by the Centre for Ageing Better and Foundations. 

If you’d like to find out more about the Good Home Network and join its growing membership, visit the home page below.