It’s never felt more important to be a PlaceShaper; our communities facing hard challenges as the economy tightens, a deepening housing crisis, political uncertainty and profound sector challenges.

But as the PlaceShapers network, we are ambitious for our communities, committed to long-term solutions, united in our purpose, and firmly in it for the longer term.

As the Chair, I am delighted to share our new three-year strategic plan with you, which is firmly based on what our members told us they wanted us to focus on. This plan sets out the outcomes we’re aiming to achieve and how we will do this.

The impact of what members do locally is at the heart of PlaceShapers. I am lucky enough to have been on several member visits this year, seeing first-hand the impact of decades of work and effort that has completely transformed lives and communities.

When you see what members like Poplar HARCA are doing in east London, or Karbon on Newcastle’s Byker Estate, it is hard to believe the government isn’t putting housing-led regeneration at the heart of their strategy for levelling up. For some reason, the message about the difference we can make, with the right support, still isn’t hitting home. Through the delivery of our new plan, with a new campaign and a robust evidence-base, we hope to start to address that.

The continuing commitment of our members to place-shaping, particularly in the face of so many challenges, is impressive to see. But I know it isn’t easy. As organisations with deep roots in the places where we operate, I think we approach these challenges differently. Part of our role is to connect you with organisations who share your ethos and commitment, and to facilitate conversations that will help you tackle these challenges and learn from the experience of others.

Despite how difficult it can feel sometimes, I am optimistic about the future. The interest in the place-based housing association model is growing all the time and there is a real opportunity to harness that interest and turn it in to policies and support that will enable us to do more.

By working together, we can put place-shaping at the heart of decision-making and ensure our communities thrive. We are committed to connecting, communicating, and collaborating for greater influence, and can’t wait to see where the next three years takes us.

When I joined PlaceShapers in March 2023, I was deeply impressed by what the organisation achieves. Early on it was clear that ‘by members, for members’ was not just a strapline but a genuine description of how a small organisation delivers impact and value for its members.

However, being small means having to continually evaluate what we do to make sure we are making the most of our resources, not least during a period of significant change for our members, with a general election on the horizon. So, I took the opportunity to ask members what they want from PlaceShapers. These conversations have shaped this new strategic plan and its outcomes.

The most resounding feedback was that the government still does not understand what we do as place-based, community-focussed, housing associations and politicians underestimate the impact of our work. This means government policy often hampers our ability to do more of the work that we know would hugely benefit residents, communities, places, and the country longer term. Building an understanding of, and support for, the place-shaping ambitions of our members is therefore the first outcome.

I also heard strongly that delivering place-shaping ambitions is becoming more difficult in the environment we operate in, and members value the opportunity to discuss this with others. Facilitating connections between housing associations and providing support to our members to help them overcome the challenges they face is the second outcome.

PlaceShapers has established a reputation for engaging and involving residents in our work and ensuring our asks of government are genuinely influenced by the views of those who are living in social housing. Members identified this as an important aspect of what we do and so this is the third outcome in our new strategic plan.

I am really looking forward to working with our members to deliver this new plan, so please get in touch to find out how you can get involved.