Why tenant engagement is a “must do” for housing associations in 2026

In the housing sector, we know you’ve spent years talking about “engagement.” It’s a word that appears in every strategy document and board report. But what this actually means for you has shifted.

Between the introduction of Awaab’s Law and the heightened scrutiny of Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs), engagement has moved from a “nice-to-have”, to an absolute must-have of safety and regulatory compliance.

However, there is a massive difference between engagement that ticks a box and engagement that impacts a community. The best housing associations are those that treat residents as partners, not just passive recipients of information.

The shift in regulations has redefined the relationship between a landlord and a tenant. With a huge focus on safety and transparency, housing associations are now under a microscope.

While TSMs provide a helpful framework, simply hitting a target percentage isn’t enough. True future proofing comes from understanding the why behind the numbers. If your satisfaction scores dip, do you know why? If they rise, can you replicate that success?

To stay ahead, we have to move beyond a “box-ticking” mindset. The goal shouldn’t just be to pass an inspection, it should be to build a culture where listening shows just how much you care about your residents wellbeing.

One of the biggest hurdles in tenant engagement is the echo chamber. Often, the feedback housing associations receive comes from the same 5% of highly engaged (or highly dissatisfied) residents.

So, what about the other 95%? These are the residents who don’t attend community meetings or fill out surveys. Yet, their voices are vital for improvements that will impact every resident for the better. 

To reach them, you have to meet them where they already are, whether that’s on social media, community forums, or local review sites. By diversifying how you listen, you’ll be able to move away from guesswork and toward a partnership where both you and the residents can work together.

In 2026, we are often drowning in data but starving for insight. What do these numbers actually mean? It’s easy to measure how many repairs were completed, but it’s much harder to measure if a resident feels safe, happy and healthy in their homes.

To make real change, housing associations need to look at three types of feedback:

• Direct: Surveys and direct messages.
• Indirect: Understanding what is being said about you in the wider community.
• Inferred: Spotting patterns in data before they escalate into complaints.

When you combine these, you move past the normal metrics to more of a human strategy that builds genuine trust – as long as you take that feedback on board, and do something about it.

In 2026, we are often drowning in data but starving for insight. What do these numbers actually mean? It’s easy to measure how many repairs were completed, but it’s much harder to measure if a resident feels safe, happy and healthy in their homes.

To make real change, housing associations need to look at three types of feedback:

• Direct: Surveys and direct messages.
• Indirect: Understanding what is being said about you in the wider community.
• Inferred: Spotting patterns in data before they escalate into complaints.

When you combine these, you move past the normal metrics to more of a human strategy that builds genuine trust – as long as you take that feedback on board, and do something about it.

So how do you actually engage with tenants in this way?

Because these challenges are complex, we’re bringing together the people who are tackling them head-on. We are thrilled to be hosting a webinar featuring the team from Accent, an organisation that is doing resident engagement really well.

The details you need to know

Title: From Feedback to Future-Proofing: How can housing associations leverage the voice of their communities to drive customer engagement in 2026?

The panel:

• Host: Sam Walker, Digital Community Engagement Consultant at Orlo.
• Guest: Jo Gallagher, Head of Customer & Community Engagement at Accent.
• Guest: Callie Lancaster, Customer Engagement Manager at Accent.

What we’ll cover:

This isn’t just another webinar about tenant engagement. We’ll be talking about practical advice and tips on exactly how you can improve your residents’ experiences.

Topics could include:

• How to move beyond a ‘compliance-first’ mindset to build a genuine culture of listening.
• Strategies to ensure every voice (not just the loudest) shape your services.
• How to transition from asking for opinions to truly partnering with your communities.
• Moving past simple metrics to measure resident trust, safety, and belonging.

How Orlo can help

During the session, we’ll also touch on how tools like Orlo’s Voice of the Community (VOC) are helping associations bridge the gap. By capturing feedback from hard-to-reach groups and using sentiment analysis to understand the “mood” of a community in real-time, VOC allows teams to make data-led decisions and respond to concerns faster than ever before. It’s about turning “noise” into actionable intelligence.

Register today

The housing sector is under more pressure than ever, but within that pressure lies an opportunity. By listening to the voice of your community, you don’t just meet your legal requirements, you build a more resilient, financially sustainable, and trusted organisation.

Sign up today to receive priority access to this conversation, and get the on-demand recording sent directly to your inbox before everyone else.