Behind the Scenes with Scott Gosling, Director of Property

07/10/2026

Welcome back to our ‘Behind the Scenes’ series, where we're introducing the people in our Leadership team. This time, we're meeting Scott Gosling, Director of Property. Having started his career at Poplar HARCA as a teenager, Scott now leads the teams responsible for keeping homes, buildings and neighbourhoods safe, well-maintained and welcoming places to live.

Looking after homes and neighbourhoods

Scott’s role covers a wide range of services that residents rely on every day.

He leads the teams responsible for repairs, compliance, estate services and emergency response, while also helping shape the long-term plans that keep homes safe, well-maintained and fit for the future. A key part of his role is ensuring we meet our responsibilities as a landlord while delivering services that our residents can trust.

For Scott, great home services start with understanding what matters most to residents.

“I think that to make any service great, the people facing the customer, in this case our residents, are key,” he says. “Residents generally just want to come home and have no issues, and when there are issues with their homes for us to respond promptly.”

Prevention beats a cure

One of the biggest opportunities Scott sees is becoming more proactive.

Instead of reacting to problems after they happen, Scott wants our teams to use information about our homes, planned maintenance repairs and regular home check-ups to identify concerns sooner and take action before they become bigger issues for residents.

Recent changes across the way our organisation works have strengthened this approach, allowing teams to focus on resolving day-to-day repairs while continuing to invest in homes and neighbourhoods for the future.

“Residents rightly expect both a responsive repairs service and long-term investment in their homes and neighbourhoods,” Scott says.

For him, success is about striking the right balance between responding quickly when things go wrong and making long-term improvements that prevent problems from happening in the first place.

Using technology to improve services

Looking ahead, Scott is keen to make greater use of technology and data to improve the way services are delivered.

One of his key priorities for the year ahead is helping teams use information to identify trends, improve how we do things, and make services easier for residents to access.

He also wants to continue building on our One Team neighbourhood model – making it easier for colleagues across different teams to work together, share information and find practical solutions to local issues.

By bringing services closer together, Scott believes residents can benefit from faster responses, better communication and a more joined-up approach to problem solving.

Listening, learning and improving

Resident feedback continues to play an important role in how Scott and his teams make decisions.

He believes listening to residents is essential to understanding what’s working well and where services can improve.

“Residents told us they wanted more opportunities to speak with us directly and get updates when issues affected their homes. In response, we’ve held drop-in sessions on estates, giving residents the chance to ask questions, share concerns and speak to our teams face to face.”

Working closely with teams across Housing, Finance, Complaints, Health and Safety and Corporate Services helps ensure resident feedback is considered from different perspectives and turned into meaningful improvements.

First job to Director

Having joined the organisation at 17, he has seen first-hand how strong relationships between colleagues and residents can make a lasting difference.

“When I started at Poplar HARCA as a teenager, it was just a job, as most jobs are at that age,” he says.

Over time, he realised the impact those relationships could have on people’s lives and communities.

“I didn’t realise at first that I was building some great and productive relationships within the organisation, and that residents really appreciated what the team and I were doing.”

Today, that’s still what motivates him most.

“Seeing how good relationships between staff and residents can make a real difference to people’s homes, neighbourhoods and day-to-day lives is what still excites me now.”

Fuelled by chicken and rice

Scott’s favourite meal is chicken and rice, and when it comes to local favourites, he recommends Stroudley Grill & PFC, which he says serves the best chicken and rice for miles around!

Want to learn more about our Leadership team? Find out more here.