Building Safety Resident Engagement Programme (The Guinness Partnership)
A Partnership Between The Guinness Partnership and NewmanFrancis (2026)
Executive Summary
As one of the UK’s largest housing providers, The Guinness Partnership (TGP) commissioned NewmanFrancis to deliver a comprehensive Resident Engagement Strategy under the Building Safety Act 2022. Focusing on high-rise residential buildings across TGP’s national portfolio, this programme guarantees compliance, transparency, and active resident participation in building safety governance.
Operating independently, NewmanFrancis bridges the critical relationship between residents, landlords, and regulators. By combining grassroots engagement techniques with rigorous compliance analytics, the partnership has established a national benchmark for higher-risk buildings, proving that statutory duties and genuine community trust can be achieved simultaneously.
1. Background and Context: Bridging the Trust Gap
In the wake of evolving national safety legislation, The Guinness Partnership recognised that regulatory compliance requires more than administrative box-ticking; it requires the active, informed participation of the people who call these buildings home.
Historically, residents in several locations reported long periods of minimal contact with their landlord. This programme was initiated not merely to satisfy legal obligations, but to rebuild foundational trust. NewmanFrancis was appointed to operate as an independent intermediary, creating a safe, structured environment where residents could voice their concerns, ask questions, and actively shape the safety governance of their buildings without fear of dismissal or delay.
2. Project Objectives: From Statutory Duty to Lived Reality
The engagement programme, running from January through June 2026, was designed to achieve several critical objectives:
- Develop an Evidence-Based Strategy: Create a Resident Engagement Strategy that strictly meets statutory duties under the Building Safety Act 2022.
- Establish Two-Way Dialogue: Build communication systems that allow continuous, transparent conversation between residents and TGP on all safety matters.
- Rebuild Historical Trust: Reconnect with communities that had experienced prolonged periods of limited landlord contact.
- Gather Verified Data: Collect both quantitative and qualitative data, rigorously themed and verified for regulatory compliance review.
- Empower Local Experts: Reinforce residents’ roles as the ultimate authorities on their own blocks, validating their lived experience as crucial safety intelligence.
3. Engagement Design and Methodology: Accessible, Multi-Channel Communication
To accommodate diverse demographics, language requirements, and accessibility needs, NewmanFrancis deployed a highly flexible, multi-channel engagement structure:
- Door-Knocking Campaigns: Face-to-face engagement providing immediate language support, cultural sensitivity, and real-time data logging of residents’ key safety concerns.
- Dedicated Microsites: Secure, intuitive online portals enabling residents to share insights, ask questions, and track project updates at their own pace.
- Workshops and Group Sessions: Conducted in both virtual and in-person formats, offering a collaborative space for collective problem-solving.
- Regular Joint Updates: Published collaboratively by TGP and NewmanFrancis to demonstrate visible progress and maintain continuous communication.
Visual Text Crafting: The Engagement Ecosystem
Think of this multi-channel approach as a comprehensive safety net: door-knocking catches those who prefer face-to-face conversation, digital portals support those who need information on their own schedule, and workshops provide a space for collective problem-solving. Together, they guarantee no resident is left behind, unheard, or unable to access vital safety information.
4. Data Analysis and Compliance Integration: Demystifying the Regulations
All incoming data was processed under a formal data-sharing agreement, granting TGP personnel direct visibility of raw resident feedback. Weekly review meetings allowed the team to address issues regarding language barriers, vulnerability, and physical building conditions in real time.
Once collected, data underwent structured cleaning, categorisation, and thematic sorting. Analysis was strictly mapped against compliance attributes derived from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) framework and the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) consumer standards.
Demystifying the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022):
Instead of writing, "The Principal Accountable Person must submit the Resident Engagement Strategy to the BSR to satisfy statutory duties under Section 91," we communicate to residents:
"Our designated safety managers are compiling a comprehensive record of your conversations and safety concerns to present to the government regulator. This proves to the authorities that your landlord is actively listening, taking your safety seriously, and keeping you informed."
This unified evidence base guarantees that TGP’s final strategy is fully compliant, highly representative of actual resident experiences, and completely traceable for future regulator reviews.
5. Outcomes and Early Impacts: The "So What?" in Action
The programme has delivered profound, measurable impacts across both technical compliance and community relations.
Reconnection After Years of Silence
NewmanFrancis successfully restored communication channels in multiple locations, facilitating joint meetings that re-established trust and accountability between residents and TGP leadership.
Resident Empowerment
Participants expressed profound confidence in being treated as "block experts." Their participation now directly informs site-specific engagement protocols and inspection readiness.
Transparent Data Sharing
Real-time data visibility allowed TGP to respond rapidly to concerns regarding physical conditions and safety access. Crucially, residents saw immediate evidence that their contributions were being acted upon, closing the historical "disclosure gap."
Ongoing Involvement
Residents have been given absolute certainty that this project is not a one-off exercise. Regular updates and the open publication of findings confirm that Building Safety engagement will remain a permanent, collaborative practice across TGP’s portfolio.
The "So What?" Framework:
By treating residents as "block experts," the programme transforms them from passive recipients of safety notices into active guardians of their own homes. This means their daily, lived experience directly shapes the safety protocols, guaranteeing that the measures put in place actually work for the people living there.
6. Strategic Significance: A National Blueprint
This programme marks a major advancement in how large housing associations integrate Building Safety Act compliance with genuine community partnership. The Guinness Partnership’s decision to commission an independent specialist demonstrates sector leadership, recognising that regulator-ready engagement evidence must originate from trusted resident data, not administrative assumption.
By combining grassroots techniques with rigorous compliance analytics, NewmanFrancis has created a replicable framework for:
- Continuous resident participation in safety monitoring.
- Real-time data collaboration between landlord and residents.
- Transparent accountability under future statutory inspections.
7. Conclusion
The Guinness Partnership’s resident engagement initiative represents a national model of how independence, compliance, and empathy can coexist in modern housing management. Through NewmanFrancis’s leadership, hundreds of residents across London and other regions are now actively shaping the safety strategies of their buildings.
The project confirms that building safety engagement is not simply about meeting legal duties; it is about rebuilding trust and knowledge from the ground up, making certain that residents remain central to the ongoing stewardship and safety of their homes.