At its heart, DIN is committed to bringing new ideas and new tools to a wider social housing audience.

We need those tools more than ever as the operational challenges just get tougher.
Ministers, legislation, the Regulator, the Ombudsman and customer expectations are shifting the operating environment like never before. Everyone expects better.

The clear conclusion is that what got us here won’t get us there.

So, we have been exploring how best to respond. Our conclusion is that we must practice what we preach - DIN must change too if we are to stay relevant for you.
You have told us you want to go further, faster and deeper into the world of organisational change and you want our help with that.

So, what are we planning?

Currently we have two subscription networks:

• DIN - focusing on organisation-wide corporate innovation in technology, leadership and culture, and
• PIN - focusing specifically on innovation and disruption in how you build, maintain and manage your properties.

These two networks have focused on inspiring members to believe that better ways of doing things exist. This has worked well up until now, but you our members tell us you want to do things differently.

You want more from us than just good ideas.  You want our help to explain to your whole organisation WHY change is relevant, how it can benefit tenants and residents and you want us to work alongside you to help you work through HOW to implement change.

Increasingly, we are finding that DIN and PIN activities cannot be delivered in isolation, they are part of the same ecosystem of social housing.

So, our plan from 2024 is to bring everything together for members under one network, one subscription, DIN, with a consistent linkage across leadership, people, property, data, digital and culture.

Under this single membership, your entire organisation will now have access to free events, briefings, network meetings, study visits, and roundtables.

In particular we will focus on four core areas which we know are critical to driving change in social housing:

• Organisational Innovation – why operating models are going to have to change and how to change them,
• Property Technology (PropTech) – how to get your homes to talk to you, meet your new compliance obligations, deliver net zero, live in healthier homes and why you and your customers will benefit once they do,
• Data and Digital – why successful organisations are going to have to leave their analogue heritage behind, but not be tricked into diving straight into the latest shiny new tech.
• Leadership and Culture – how great leaders tackle the challenges of organisational change and how to bring your culture into the digital age.

We are taking to our members to get their feedback and will be back in touch with our new member offer for 2024 this autumn.

Ian Wright, CEO, DIN

For 2023 we have created the Connected CEO forum exclusively for leaders who want a different type of conversation around change and transformation.

We are pleased to share that Plus Dane Housing has signed up to three of our DINLab projects.

These DINLabs initiatives will enable Plus Dane to test exciting new technologies in real situations in a cost-effective manner.

Plus Dane Housing will trial:

💡 Safecility – a system that automatically monitors emergency lighting (crucial for developments and a legal requirement) and can send instant notifications about any failures of the installed lighting system so that repairs can be made quickly.
This saves time in fixing any problems, and also reduces the need for manual checks and inspections.

🗺️ Hello Lamp Post – a platform that allows the local community to scan QR codes located in public or communal areas which, when accessed, starts a conversation with AI communications bots.
These bots react to prompts and have been pre-loaded with thousands of answers about improvement projects in that area. Using the system increases interaction and allows users to say much more than on a traditional planning notice

🔧 Help me Fix – a solution supporting customers requiring home repairs over a video call where they can receive real-time guidance from a professional when carrying out simple repairs (such as resetting their boiler) via video.
Customers get extra confidence to perform these repairs with the support of an expert, and it removes the need for the customer to make a repair appointment.

DIN has loved working with Plus Dane Housing on these three exciting DINLabs projects. They are demonstrating that their customers are at the heart of what they do by investing into each of these innovative customer focused solutions.

We are looking forward to sharing the findings in the new year!

Find out more about DINLabs, here!

A strategic development opportunity for your top team

Helping your board and senior leadership team ask the right questions and make the right decisions

With so much change and uncertainty we seem to be entering new territory.
It’s not just the pace of change, which is challenging enough, but the radical nature of the change that feels different.

If you are challenging your current approach, revisiting your strategy or at least think you should - then DIN has created DIN Board & Executive Leadership: The Mind Stretch Sessions.  

This is a strategic development opportunity for your top team, to help your board and senior leadership team asked the right questions and make the right decisions.

Our work is informed by what is happening beyond just the world in which social housing operates.
Our ambitions match those organisations which are disrupting and innovating in the world of retail, finance, transportation.
In fact, all those real world experience you your tenants and residents experience every day. 

Tailored to your priorities we create a bespoke event involving experts and thought leaders from DIN and our partners from a half day to a 24-hour lunch time to lunch time sprint.
We can bring the event to you or source venues that are a little different to the norm to create a great back drop for Mind Stretch.

For more information click here

We’re really pleased to announce our brand new joint report in partnership with Campbell Tickell, and kindly supported by our friends at Salesforce: Customer engagement - fresh perspectives!

Following the positive feedback from the our previous joint reports, we thought for our third report we’d tackle a very topical theme - how we can improve the way housing providers engage with their tenants and residents.

The research is framed around innovations happening within the social housing sector, along with external and international perspectives. Some of the findings are challenging and you may not agree with them all. The important bit is we keep how we think about tenants and residents needs and expectations at the forefront of housing operations.

You can read the full report, here.