Soha Housing and Huws Gray Partnership Solutions have joined forces to transform the community-based social housing association’s repairs service.

Soha serves 8000 homes in and around South Oxfordshire and neighbouring districts and counties. It puts resident satisfaction at the heart of its performance framework, using it as a key measure of commercial success.

Historically, Soha operated a ‘partnered contractor’ model to deliver repairs and maintenance (R&M) services across its housing stock. However, in 2025, the organisation launched Soha Response – its first fully ‘in-house’ repairs service – directly employing local, specialist tradespeople to take greater control of service delivery.
Beau Rickerby, Managing Director of Soha Response, explained: “We brought our repairs service in-house to address satisfaction levels that were lower than we wanted under an outsourced model. After just 8 months, our residents’ repairs satisfaction has seen a marked increase.
“Our primary objective was to improve resident experience and rebuild strong relationships with tenants. By operating in-house, we now directly manage quality, scheduling and resident relationships. That level of control and visibility ensures we retain value and aren’t reliant on external factors. Since launch, the results have been outstanding.”

Working with Huws Gray Partnership Solutions – the dedicated public sector division of the Huws Gray Group, one of the UK’s largest independent builders’ merchants – Soha Response has built a robust, responsive repairs operation. The service now includes 35 reactive repair operatives working in tenants’ homes and 15 void operatives preparing empty properties for new residents.

Beau continued: “I can’t speak highly enough of the Huws Gray Partnership Solutions team, and their support from early planning through mobilisation.
“In day-to-day operations they’ve developed a deep understanding of our business and shown commercial flexibility when responding to challenges. That strong working relationship is the cornerstone of a successful partnership.”
A key element of the collaboration is a dedicated facility at Huws Gray’s Oxford branch. This hub leverages integrated IT systems and streamlined supply chains, supported by two co-branded Soha Response and Huws Gray Partnership Solutions vehicles, ensuring materials and services are delivered across the region.
“We make full use of Huws Gray’s distribution network and its ‘Stock & Go’ app to ensure the right products are in the right place at the right time,” said Beau.
“This approach minimises downtime, improves productivity and gives us full visibility over stock management.”

The benefits have been immediate. Since May 2025, Soha Response reduced its stock range from 8,000 items to 4,000 core products, based on direct feedback from operatives, significantly improving efficiency.
Beau concluded: “Since launch, our internal resident satisfaction score has dramatically improved. This data is based on tenant feedback after every completed repair, but we’ve seen the same increase in our Tenant Satisfaction Measures.
“Over the first six months of moving to this model, we saw a 30% drop in repairs related complaints, which was another one of our KPIs. This is largely down to improved communication, greater control over materials and scheduling, and our commitment to completing repairs when we say we will.”