HDN’s consultancy work is tailored to what each organisation needs. We find that people come to us at different stages of their EDI journey, so we don’t offer a fixed menu of services. We listen to what you’re trying to achieve and work out the most useful way to help.
Our work is delivered by HDN staff and a network of Associate Consultants with specialist expertise across EDI practice, housing regulation and governance, research, accessibility, and community engagement. When you work with HDN, you have access to people who know the sector and who will tell you what they genuinely think, not just what you want to hear.
The types of projects we most commonly deliver are described below, but if your needs don’t map onto any of these then a conversation is a good place to start, so get in touch.
A structured assessment of where your organisation currently stands on EDI, covering both staff and customer or resident dimensions. This typically combines a desktop review of policies, procedures and governance arrangements (including compliance with the RSH Consumer Standards and NHF Code of Governance), an anonymous staff survey, focus groups, and interviews with members of the leadership team. The output is a report of findings with clear, prioritised recommendations. The scope can be adjusted depending on what matters most – for example, placing greater emphasis on tenant data and service accessibility where that is the pressing concern.
A more targeted form of review that takes your existing strategic commitments and regulatory obligations as the reference point, then assesses where the gaps are between current practice and where you want or need to be. Useful for organisations that already have a reasonable picture of their EDI work but want independent, evidence-based analysis before deciding where to focus. The output is a report and, typically, facilitated sessions with the leadership team to work through the findings and agree priorities.
Support for organisations developing or refreshing their EDI strategy, whether starting from scratch or building on an existing framework. We are clear that we do not write strategies on behalf of organisations, as an EDI strategy needs genuine ownership and input from board and leadership to be meaningful. What we can do is facilitate the process – from evidence-gathering through to a co-created strategy and action plan – and provide critical friend support to the person or team responsible for drafting it. We can also review and update EDI policies to ensure they reflect current legislation and good practice.
For organisations that want sustained, flexible support over a longer period, HDN can act as an embedded external partner. This works well where there is a substantial programme of work to deliver but the organisation does not have sufficient internal capacity or expertise to carry it alone. A retained arrangement gives you access to HDN staff and Associate Consultants as and when needed, with agreed parameters that can flex as priorities evolve. In practice, this has looked like 12-month commissions combining an initial review, leadership support, facilitated gap analysis, and ongoing consultancy input, but the shape is always agreed collaboratively.
Many of our consultants have extensive experience facilitating strategic sessions for boards and leadership teams, and what distinguishes HDN from a generic facilitator is the depth of sector knowledge we bring into the room. We understand the regulatory pressures, governance requirements, and EDI landscape that housing providers are operating within, which means we can do more than manage a process; we can inform and constructively challenge the conversation.
Sessions can be designed around a range of objectives: building shared understanding of EDI among a leadership team, working through the implications of a review or inspection outcome, agreeing strategic priorities, or simply creating structured space for honest conversation that day-to-day pressures don’t allow. We would typically hold preparatory conversations with participants beforehand and produce a short summary report following the session. This type of work can stand alone or form part of a broader commission.
Well-structured staff networks can be genuinely powerful vehicles for employee voice and cultural change. Poorly structured ones can do more harm than good, creating false expectations, burning out chairs, and becoming disconnected from any meaningful EDI agenda. HDN can support organisations at any point in this journey.
For those setting up networks for the first time, we can help establish the right governance, define realistic objectives, clarify the relationship between networks and the organisation’s broader EDI strategy, and think through how to engage and communicate across the workforce. For organisations with established networks that have lost momentum or direction, we can carry out a structured review, facilitate sessions with chairs, sponsors and members, and help reset priorities. The approach in each case is agreed with the client rather than prescribed.
An in-depth audit of a specific service or operational area, examining how accessible and inclusive it is for customers with diverse needs. This goes beyond policy review to look at how services are experienced: how customers interact with your systems and communications, how staff respond to different needs, and where the barriers are. We work with a specialist partner organisation to assess digital platforms and communications for accessibility, review relevant policies and processes, and undertake internal and external consultation with staff and residents. Findings are prioritised so you know what needs urgent attention and what represents longer-term development work.
For organisations that need rigorous, independent research to understand a specific issue or community, we can design and deliver qualitative research projects drawing on our network of experienced researchers. Past projects have included in-depth interviews with residents to understand diverse service needs, community research into housing experiences and barriers for Black and minoritised ethnic groups, and research into the experiences of hate crime victims and the barriers to reporting. All projects are conducted with robust ethical frameworks and result in detailed reports with practical recommendations.
A standalone review of a specific policy, set of policies or business process, assessed for good practice, inclusivity, and alignment with current legislative requirements. This can be delivered as part of a broader project or commissioned independently, for example as a focused piece of work on recruitment processes, complaints handling, or resident communications.
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