Making a positive contribution
Tom Miskell, Former Chair, Northern Housing Consortium
Tom Miskell has a wealth of experience in the housing sector having undertaken various roles during his career as a management consultant, working for the Housing Corporation, a local authority, housing associations and as a board member for a number of organisations.
Tom was appointed as Chair of the Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) board in 2015, remaining in the role until 2019.
Here, he shares his insights of what he’s learnt during his career, including some valuable advice for others working in the sector today.
Why did you choose to work in housing?
My career in housing actually came about in a roundabout way. I started my working life in finance in the civil service. However, a job as an accountant at the Housing Corporation was my first encounter with the world of social housing and, from there, I’ve had a variety of roles. These have included being an area manager at the Housing Corporation and I was then invited to complete a secondment at Derby Council as assistant director of housing. My experience has involved working on 30-plus stock transfers for local authorities across the North and the Midlands. I moved to Pennine Housing in 2000 as finance director, at the time there was a stock transfer from Calderdale Council, later becoming Chief Executive.
Since I finished full time work, I’ve carried on in non-exec roles including a further year as Chair of Northern Housing Consortium and becoming Chair of Accent Housing.
I always had an aspiration to help people and I found that housing was a way you could do that. One of my old bosses used to say, if we invest this money in housing stock and we haven’t changed the lives of people who live there, we’ve failed. And I absolutely endorse that. It’s an opportunity to make a positive contribution to people’s lives.
I’ve had some fantastic experiences during my career. It’s been a privilege as well as a wonderful learning curve.
What have been the biggest challenges in housing in the North over the last 50 years?
Right to buy had a massive impact, as the stock wasn’t replaced and, of those properties that have been sold, many have fallen into the hands of private landlords and ended up in bad states of repair.
And demand in different areas is a challenge because we don’t have the right stock in the right place at the right time.
And what’s had a positive impact?
One transformational thing has been the housing stock transfer programme, creating housing associations from local authority stock. This brought investment in decent homes and it’s also been an opportunity to create jobs and change lives within communities.
For example, Wakefield and District Housing have taken time to develop and grow their existing workforce over the years through a range of training programmes that have delivered life changing opportunities for people.
What role does Northern Housing Consortium play in supporting housing in the North?
NHC is uniquely placed because it’s the only organisation that has the common membership between local authorities and housing associations. So it can speak holistically and look across the sector, making the case for the whole of housing in the North.
A really nice thing about NHC is its collaboration. Something I’ve seen change over the years is that, where people used to be competitive, now we see people working together, and I think NHC has played a key role in fostering this collaboration on projects that will ultimately benefit people in the North.
NHC has also been able to play the role of influencer with Government and I’ve seen that massively improve in terms of our voice being heard and amplified through the organisation’s round tables and visits from ministers and senior civil servants. It’s been a real positive shift and that momentum is continuing now, as new people join the board.
Can you share some highlights from your time as chair of NHC?
Firstly, it was a real privilege to be Chair and to work with such great people.
During that time, NHC established the Commission for Housing in the North which I had the honour of chairing and involved working with people like Lord Best and Lord Bob Kerslake. It was a real opportunity to look at what positive change we could make and it’s great to see some of the issues we picked up on, like local authorities not having sufficient resource for planning, now being addressed by the Government. The commission was an opportunity to think positively and see a way forward.
An on a personal level, after I finished full time work, I was asked to stay on as Chair of NHC for another year. There can be self-doubt when you finish full time work but on a personal level, continuing to be involved was reinvigorating.
Do you have any advice for others who are working in housing, or perhaps starting out in their career?
I’ve been really lucky to be involved with lots of different organisations and I’d encourage anybody to take any opportunity to get that visibility of how others are working. You can really shape your own learning and service delivery by being willing to look outwards, and learn from others whether that’s through a secondment, short term roles or collaborating on a project.
