Advisory services for social housing maintenance

The operational expertise your team needs.
Without the overhead.

Retained mentoring, diagnostic assessments and group programmes — built on direct DLO experience at the most senior level. Not theory. Not templates. The real thing.

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Who we are

Built on decades of doing the job

socialhousing.ai is built by two practitioners who have led maintenance operations, managed DLOs and sat in the same meetings you sit in. The advisory services we offer are an extension of that experience — not a consultancy model built on frameworks, but direct honest operational support from people who know the sector from the inside.

MW
Mike Wilson
Tristar Consulting · socialhousing.ai

Former DLO Director with decades of frontline experience. Mike works directly with Heads of Repairs and operational leaders facing real delivery pressure — providing straight, experience-led challenge and practical support grounded in what actually works. He focuses on root causes behind underperformance, not just the symptoms — helping organisations stabilise services, improve outcomes and regain control.

DLO performance & leadership Workforce productivity & accountability Right first time & repeat failure reduction Commercial & contract control Compliance risk & Awaab readiness
CM
Chris McKellar
Formula Consulting · socialhousing.ai

If your maintenance operation is held together with spreadsheets and good intentions, Chris can help. He’s spent years working across the social housing sector improving how organisations manage assets, contractors and compliance — and he brings a genuine fluency with data to every engagement. Whether it’s building dashboards, interrogating performance metrics or turning messy datasets into clear decisions, Chris translates numbers into operational action that sticks.

Data & dashboards Asset management Contractor management Compliance frameworks Performance metrics

The most expensive thing in responsive maintenance isn’t the materials or the labour. It’s the return visit that never gets counted because nobody owns the number. We work with organisations who are ready to own the numbers.

Mike Wilson · Tristar Consulting · socialhousing.ai
What we offer

Advisory services built for the operational layer

Not board-level strategy. The ground where quality is actually determined — supervisors, heads of repairs, DLO managers and the teams they run.

Diagnostic
Operational diagnostic assessment

A structured deep-dive into your maintenance operation — data, processes, team performance and operational culture. Produces a clear written assessment with specific, prioritised recommendations.

Two to three days on site — speaking to planners, supervisors and operatives as well as leadership
Review of key performance data, works management outputs and quality records
Written assessment delivered within five working days of the site visit
Findings presentation to leadership team included
Enquire about a diagnostic assessment
Quick start
Rapid operational review

A half-day focused session on a specific operational problem. For organisations who know what the issue is and want direct, experienced input quickly rather than a full diagnostic process.

Half-day remote or on-site — focused on a single defined problem
Pre-session data review so the time is productive from the start
Written summary of agreed actions within 48 hours
Typical topics: abortive visits, first-time fix, operative performance, sub-contractor management
Enquire about a rapid review
How it works

Simple. Direct. No process overhead.

We keep the commercial relationship simple because operational support works better when the energy is in the work, not the admin.

1
Start a conversation
Email Mike or Chris directly. Tell us what you’re dealing with. No forms, no discovery calls with a sales team.
2
We agree what fits
A thirty-minute call to understand your situation and agree which engagement model makes sense. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll say so.
3
Straightforward terms
A clear letter of engagement. Monthly rolling for retained work. Fixed price for diagnostic and rapid review engagements. No small print.
4
We get to work
The first session starts within two weeks of agreement. No onboarding programme. No lengthy setup. Just direct operational support.
What you get

The things that are hard to find elsewhere

Most consultancy in this sector operates at board level or at a distance from operational reality. We operate at the level where the quality of the work is actually determined.

Operational credibility
Mike and Chris have led maintenance operations at a senior level. They understand the constraints, the politics and the practical realities of managing a DLO — not just the theory.
Direct, honest challenge
We tell you what we think, not what you want to hear. If the data shows a problem you have been avoiding, we will name it. That is the value of an external perspective with genuine operational authority.
Practical outputs
Every engagement produces something actionable. Not a strategy document. Not a framework for further discussion. Specific, prioritised actions you can implement in the next four weeks.
Continuity that builds
A retained engagement means the person who supports you in month six knows everything that happened in months one through five. The support gets more valuable over time, not less.
Full platform access
All advisory clients get access to everything on the platform as it is published — tools, playbooks, sector intelligence and new resources — before they are made available to the general audience.
No conflicts of interest
We do not take referral fees, we are not affiliated with any supplier, and we do not recommend solutions we have a financial interest in. Our only interest is in your operation getting better.

Ready to start a conversation?

No sales process. No discovery calls with a team. A direct email to Mike or Chris, telling us what you are dealing with. We respond within one working day.

MW
Mike Wilson
Tristar Consulting · DLO performance & operative management
mike@socialhousing.ai
Typically responds within one working day. Mention socialhousing.ai in your subject line and we’ll have the context before we reply.
CM
Chris McKellar
Formula Consulting · compliance, asset management & contractor performance
chris@socialhousing.ai
Not sure which of us is the right fit? Email either one and we will direct you to the right person, or agree to work together on your engagement.

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