Silent Tenants, Silent Homes: Why Listening Matters

As a Registered Provider of Specialist Supported Housing (SSH), one of our most important responsibilities is to listen, not just to what is said, but also to what isn’t.

At FHA, we refer to:

“Silent tenants” as tenants who have not had any direct or recorded contact with FHA or our partners within a defined period, typically within a six-month cycle. This includes instances where there has been no communication from the tenant and no routine engagement, such as welfare checks, maintenance access, or support visits logged.

“Silent homes” as tenancies where little or no engagement is observed, where routine contact is missed, support reviews are absent, and tenant voices appear to go quiet. These are not just operational gaps; they are potential indicators of risk, vulnerability, or unmet need.

Why Silent Tenants and Silent Homes Matter

The risk in silent tenants and silent homes isn’t just about missed service delivery, it’s about what might be hidden beneath the surface:

• Safeguarding concerns: lack of contact may mask exploitation, abuse, or deteriorating mental health.
• Unmet support needs: where providers or care staff are not actively involved, tenants may become isolated or disengaged.
• Compliance risk: From a regulatory standpoint, silent tenancies can present concerns in meeting the Consumer Standards, particularly under the Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard, which requires that tenants are able to influence and shape services.Identifying Silent Tenants and Silent Homes at FHA

  To address silent tenants and silent homes effectively, we must first identify them. FHA has developed a structured, data-led approach to flagging properties and tenancies that may be slipping under the radar. Our current priorities include:

  Property contact Audit

• Establish a baseline review of all properties to identify where no direct contact or engagement has taken place with the tenant within the last six months.
• This includes missed support visits, unreturned communications, or a lack of attendance at reviews.

Cross-Team Review of Contact Logs

• Housing, support and compliance teams to review internal systems (e.g. SASSHA) to extract tenants with limited or no logged engagement.
• Identify if this is due to a systems gap or a genuine absence of tenant voice. Routine ‘Silent Tenant’ Reporting Cycle

• Build a rolling quarterly report that tracks silent homes and presents them to the Management Team and Board for oversight.
• Includes name, location, last known engagement, and any risk indicators. Multi-Agency Escalation Pathway

• Where tenants are identified as silent, initiate escalation discussions with care providers, family contacts, and commissioners.
• Where necessary, refer into safeguarding pathways or carry out welfare checks. Operational Flags

• Embed flags within tenancy management systems to trigger alerts when engagement drops below agreed thresholds (e.g. no visits or updates in a defined period).
• Align these thresholds with our contractual obligations and regulatory standards. Good Practice in Managing Silent Tenants and Silent HomesFHA is working to improve its monitoring and engagement with silent tenants and silent homes by aligning to sector good practice, which includes:

• Regular welfare checks: minimum contact protocols to check on tenant wellbeing, beyond tenancy compliance.
• Housing officer flagging: training staff to identify patterns of disengagement and escalate concerns.
• Multi-agency working: actively involving care providers, support workers and commissioners in joint reviews where contact is limited.
• Data-driven alerts: using SASSHA to flag no-contact or no-access visits across a rolling period. Exploring dashboards to visualise silent tenant and silent home patterns and risks across regions.
• Tenant voice: exploring new, trauma-informed ways to engage tenants who may not respond through traditional means.Regulatory & Legislative Links

  Under the Regulator of Social Housing’s Consumer Standards (April 2025), Registered Providers must demonstrate that:

  “Tenants are safe in their homes and able to enjoy them, and receive good-quality, well- managed services that respect their individual needs.”

The Safety and Quality Standard and Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard specifically require landlords to be proactive, responsive, and inclusive in tenant communication and service design.

Silent homes, if unmonitored, may pose challenges in evidencing this, especially where safeguarding or neglect risks arise.

There are also duties under:

• Care Act 2014 – to prevent, reduce and delay the need for care and support, often triggered by early identification.
• Safeguarding Adults Boards (SABs) – where non-engagement can be a referral indicator under the 6 principles of safeguarding.
• Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) – where undetected hazards in silent homes (e.g. damp, fire risks, or hoarding) can create serious legal risk.Looking Forward

  As we continue to evolve our approach at FHA, we are building clearer escalation routes and stronger partnerships with care providers and commissioners to ensure silent homes are not overlooked, but seen, heard, and supported.

  We want to ensure that every tenant matters, whether they speak up often, or not at all.