Accent Housing Leading by Example

Too often, housing news is dominated by failure — missed repairs, rising service charges, poor communication. And I’ll admit, I’m as guilty as anyone (probably more than most) when it comes to highlighting those shortfalls. But it’s just as important to recognise where things are being done well. This isn’t to say Accent are without fault — who is? — but they’ve recently shared a set of stories that show a different side of the sector: leadership grounded in compassion, investment in rural communities, and a real commitment to sustainability.

Starts at Home Day and Tanya Scott

Every year, Starts at Home Day (29 August) shines a light on the importance of supported housing and the people who make it work. This year, Accent used the occasion to spotlight one of their most impactful leaders - Tanya Scott, Head of Specialist Housing.

Since joining Accent in 2023, Tanya has gone above and beyond to ensure that some of the most vulnerable people in society are not just housed, but heard, supported, and empowered. With over 20 years of safeguarding and specialist housing experience, she has embedded trauma-informed approaches, strengthened safeguarding, and built a culture where customers and colleagues feel safe and connected.

Tanya’s leadership style is rooted in visibility — spending much of her week out in communities, making herself accessible to both staff and residents. Colleagues describe her as creating a culture of care, resilience, and excellence. As Nick Apetroaie, CEO at Accent, put it: “She’s not just managing services, she’s creating a culture of care, resilience, and excellence.”

Her role was newly created in 2023 to bolster Accent’s provision of temporary and specialist housing, and in just over two years she has transformed the service. She also brings wider sector experience, having led services at Thirteen Housing Group, the Albert Centre, and the NHS. Alongside her work at Accent, she is Safeguarding Lead and a Board Member at Age UK Teesside.

Tanya embodies what Starts at Home Day is all about - the belief that everything starts with a safe, supportive place to call home, and with the leaders who dedicate their lives to making that possible.

Tanya Scott – Head of Specialist Housing

Building Homes Where They’re Needed - Little Downham

As part of Rural Housing Week (7–11 July 2025), Accent have highlighted their latest rural exception site in Little Downham, East Cambridgeshire — a village of just 2,600 people, three miles north of Ely. The scheme will deliver 39 much-needed homes: 30 for affordable rent and 9 for shared ownership, ranging from one-bed bungalows to four-bed family houses.

What makes this development significant is its focus on local connection. Because it is a rural exception site, the homes are reserved for people who already live, work, or have close family in the village. To underpin this, Accent commissioned Cambridgeshire ACRE to carry out a detailed rural housing needs survey. This evidence not only shaped the scheme but also helped secure planning permission by demonstrating that the new homes respond directly to village need.

The project, delivered with Lindum Construction, broke ground in November 2024 and is due for completion in autumn 2026. Accent have worked closely with the Parish Council and held local events to share plans, with more engagement scheduled as the homes near completion. Alongside the bricks and mortar, the scheme is generating wider community value — from a Lindum site manager raising funds for local causes through a Three Peaks challenge, to the construction of a bespoke bat house after demolition uncovered a roost.

Cambridgeshire ACRE’s Chief Executive, Hayley Neal, put it simply: affordable homes like these are about more than providing roofs over heads. They help sustain rural communities by retaining young families, supporting local services, and ensuring villages remain vibrant places to live.

Little Downham, East Cambridgeshire.

Future-Ready Housing - Buttercross Place

In March, Cambridgeshire, Accent are delivering a landmark development that pushes the boundaries of affordable housing and sustainability. Buttercross Place will provide 50 new homes for affordable rent, all built to high energy efficiency standards, with two of them constructed to an interpretation of the Government’s upcoming Future Homes Standard — years before it becomes a regulatory requirement.

These Future Homes plots, built with Burmor Construction, feature air source heat pumps, enhanced insulation, and triple-glazed windows. The remaining homes on the site are no less impressive, with all 48 achieving EPC A ratings. The mix includes two bungalows, 22 two-bed houses, 24 three-bed houses, and two four-bed houses, reflecting a variety of family needs.

What sets this scheme apart is the focus on data-driven sustainability. Working with AICO HomeLink, Accent are installing smart monitoring equipment in the Future Homes and four comparison properties to track temperature, humidity, CO₂ levels, energy use, and heat loss. This will provide a year-long dataset to test how the homes actually perform in real-world conditions — crucial for tackling issues like fuel poverty, damp, and mould.

The £12.35 million project is supported by Accent’s Strategic Partnership with Homes England and is being built using Modern Methods of Construction — prefabricated timber frame panels designed to speed up delivery while maintaining quality. Construction began in February 2023, with the first homes handed over in summer 2025 and final completion due in November.

Alongside its technical innovations, Buttercross Place has also brought social value: community engagement with schools, partnerships that extend beyond bricks and mortar, and a conscious effort to build not just homes, but stronger connections. As Steve Morris, Accent’s Interim Executive Director of Development & Sales, put it: “Building homes is just the beginning. It’s the lives, connections, and communities that grow around them that truly make the difference.”

From left to right: Alex Lowndes (Site Manager, Burmor Construction), Angela Holleyoake (Development Manager, Accent Housing), Andrew Parry (Project Manager, Sustainability, Accent Housing), Tina Iball (Sustainability Manager, Accent Housing), Monique Ketteringham (former Accent employee), and Phil Murton (Interim Assistant Development Director, Accent Housing)

A Final Word…

Accent’s stories don’t pretend the sector’s problems have gone away. They haven’t. But they do show what’s possible when leadership, community, and sustainability are treated as more than slogans — more than just buzzwords — when they’re actually lived. Tanya Scott’s work on safeguarding, the rural homes at Little Downham, and the innovation at Buttercross Place are all reminders that housing can be done differently.

And that’s what’s needed, isn’t it? Fresh approaches, new ideas, new ways of working — challenging the old. The Housing Sector will continue to call out failure where it exists. We have to. We must. But let’s also make space for the positive.

If you’re a resident, campaigner, or housing provider with something worth highlighting — something that shines a positive light — then please get in touch. Let’s give it equal place. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be continuing to rebuild the directory, reaching out to providers with updated listings and asking for logos. But if, alongside that, you’ve got a positive story to share, then send it through. The only way we move forward is by communicating — talking, debating, agreeing, disagreeing — and rebuilding that bridge between residents and providers.