Preventing Undiscovered Tenant Deaths Round Table

This round table, hosted by Matt Baird, will share ways in which social landlords are using technology, systems and processes, combined with human contact, to save lives, keep people safe, combat loneliness and avoid future tragic deaths of innocent children and vulnerable residents.

Matt Baird, Founder of the Social Housing Round Table

Matt has specialised in recruiting for and supporting the Social Housing sector across the UK for many organisations. Aiding registered social landlords, local authorities, charities, developers and investment businesses, Matt has always understood the importance of the relationship between social purpose and commerciality.

Supporting businesses aiding the homeless, the elderly, young people leaving care, anyone with mental health needs or learning difficulties, Matt genuinely cares about the businesses he supports because of the value they give back. From front-line customer service, maintenance and teams of assistants through to Heads and Directors of Services, Project Managers and niche                                                             specialisms, Matt will ensure he delivers on what individual client’s needs are at every turn.

We’re delighted to have the following guest speakers at the event:

Chris Holloway, Executive Director, Greatwell Homes

Chris has worked in housing for over 15 years and has held a number of senior positions across local authorities, ALMO’s and registered providers. In recent years, he has built up a reputation for making practical use of data to create innovative solutions that deliver better business outcomes and more positive resident experiences in tenancy sustainment, homeless prevention, void   management, safeguarding and arrears.

Jude Cross, Director of Specialist Housing, A2Dominion

Jude is responsible for the overall management of non-accommodation support services and specialist housing provision at A2D. She is also responsible for group-wide safeguarding services and is the Nominated Individual for Ofsted. Jude has worked in the field of Housing, Care and Support for over 24 years, gaining a wealth of experience in designing, delivering and commissioning quality services. Prior to joining A2D, Jude worked as Head of Care and Support at Metropolitan Thames Valley (MTVH), leading and developing provision across the East Midlands, East Anglia and South Yorkshire. Other roles include Head of Homelessness and Transitional Services and Head of Business Improvement at Peabody, and Director of Operations for London and the South East at P3. Jude is also a Trustee at Cosgarne Hall Ltd and Harbour Housing Services Ltd.   

Kevin Bennett, Director of Localities and Customer Contact, Bromford

Kevin joined Bromford in 2022 as Director of Localities and Customer Contact, bringing with him extensive experience in delivering high-quality customer service and operational leadership. He has overall responsibility and accountability for customer engagement with neighbourhoods and communities, customer contact and complaints, retirement living and community investment teams.

Prior to joining Bromford, he was Executive Director of Customer Transformation at Solihull Community Housing where he was instrumental in implementing a revised engagement model, Inclusive Services and transformational change around technology.

Please register your interest for the event by clicking here.

Roundtable Synopsis

Undiscovered tenant deaths are one of the most tragic, yet under-reported, issues in the UK today, despite some high-profile cases in the media.

In social housing alone data shows that there could have been up to 1600 people who have lain undiscovered for more than two days in the past five years. 500 of these could have been undiscovered for more than 5 days.* 

This could be one of your customers.

Like Natalie Kane and her 14-month-old son Harry, whose bodies were found in a social housing flat in West Cumbria just after Christmas 2021. Harry’s mother, Natalie, struggled with addiction and depression throughout her life. However, his birth seemed to give her a renewed purpose. Natalie was last seen in a supermarket in her hometown of Whitehaven on Christmas Eve. Police were called when she failed to collect her methadone prescription on December 30th. They entered her flat to find Natalie’s body next to a pile of unopened Christmas presents. Harry was found in the bathroom. He had succumbed to dehydration over several days while she lay dead.

Or Sheila Seleoane, who was found in her housing association flat in Peckham, in 2022. Her body had gone undiscovered for more than two years, despite neighbours’ concerns.

Unfortunately, tragic events like these are just the tip of the iceberg. They affect our most vulnerable and marginalised and are a symptom of chronic isolation. They are widespread in social housing and beyond. Could they be relatively easily avoided?

How many people are waiting to be found right now?

Social landlords are waking up to the reality that this could happen to one of their customers, in one of their properties. They already recognise the need for regular two-way engagement with their residents, but can this be repurposed in some way also to prevent these tragedies? The combination of a growing ageing population in general needs properties, the increase in the number of vulnerable residents and the impact that an undiscovered tenant death has on the community, colleagues and reputation means this is too big an issue to ignore. 

*based on Freedom of Information Act requests by an independent journalist