Farewell to Ed Massey

After almost 20 years (19 years, 11 months and two weeks to be precise), Ed Massey, our Housing Services Manager is heading off for pastures new.

Since graduating in 1991 with a degree in Politics, Ed has carved his own way in the world of housing. From his first experience working in an estate office in Birmingham, to supporting residents in inner city Brixton, to the unpredictable niche of rural housing, Ed has seen it all!

Working for housing associations, borough councils and solicitors’ firms in a wide variety of roles including: welfare rights advisor, homeless assessor, supporting refugee asylum seekers, tenancy enforcement, leasehold management as well more traditional housing officer roles, his contribution to helping improve peoples' lives is vast.

Some roles may have been chosen more for location than a conscious career choice. Such as a job based next to his beloved Aston Villa Football Club. And taking another job in London because of the social life – even though he had to take on a second part-time job teaching Law and Housing Policy to BTEC students at Hammersmith College to pay the rent!

And alongside advancing in his career and supporting Villa, he gained a Masters in Housing at London School of Economics (LSE).

But, by the early 2000s, he decided it was finally time to leave London. He did 18months at Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council as an area housing manager. And then took six months off to travel around Central America.

Not long after he got back, he moved to the East Midlands. And the writing was in the stars as the Housing Services Manager role came up at Midlands Rural Housing – which he started in April 2005.

And twenty years later, he’s leaving on a high. He’s built a fantastic team, and together they’ve established a housing management service built on compassion and respect. He’s seen the team through two restructures, welfare reform, covid and the current cost-of-living crisis.

Thanks to Ed’s passion to deliver a traditional housing management service, where the team really get to know their residents, arrears are at an all-time low (and one of the best in the sector in our peer group) and customer satisfaction is high. And if anyone thinks that’s because rural housing management is easy, Ed, with his contrasting experience of inner-city housing, can assure them it’s not. He said:

“People think rural housing management is easy, but it’s not. It’s probably more challenging than inner city. Everything is dispersed, there are no local support services, and our residents really rely on our support. And there are lots of development and allocation challenges too.”

When asked about the stand-out memories of his time at Midlands Rural, Ed said:
“Twenty years! I’ve got such a lot to look back on and be proud of. But I’m most proud of sustaining a really good standard of service to our residents, where we’re continuously improving to provide homes and communities that our residents are proud to live in and want to stay in.

“Midlands Rural has been a great place to work. There’s a real team spirit with everyone doing their best for our residents.

“I’ve worked with some really good people, had some fun along the way and achieved a lot. I know I’m leaving the team in a good place and I’m definitely bowing out with my head held high!”

Long term colleague Richard Mugglestone, Managing Director of Midlands Rural Housing, said:

“Ed’s contribution to the housing management team, and Midlands Rural as a whole, has been huge. Although the number of homes we manage increases, and the complexities of the challenges we face grows, the team that Ed has developed continue to deliver a consistently excellent service that genuinely puts residents at the heart of what they do.

“His commitment to our residents, his team and to wider colleagues with be greatly missed.”

And Sue Haywood, Customer and Business Support Manager, said: “Working alongside Ed for 20 years has been a great journey. We’ve seen lots of changes and challenges together. And all without a cross word!”

As for pastures new…Ed is first taking a well-deserved holiday out to Mexico to brush up on his Spanish, then taking some time to catch up with the friends and family and get some jobs done on his house, before seeing where the world takes him next.

Ed’s last day at Midlands Rural is Friday 21 March.