Ruth visits
Ruth Davison, Our Chief Executive, started at Newlon in June 2025 and since then one of her first priorities has been to get out and about to meet our residents and find out about the places where they live.
To do this she has been going on regular visits to Newlon homes with the other members of our Executive team.
When these visits are scheduled we contact residents who live in the area to ask if they would like to meet Ruth and the Executive team members to talk about their home or discuss anything about the local area.
To date visits have taken place in:
Hackney – visiting Maitland Place, Mothers’ Square and some of our surrounding street properties.
Islington – visiting some of our homes and community facilities around the Emirates Stadium.
Enfield – to visit some of our specialist supported housing in the Linwood Crescent area.
Tower Hamlets – visiting our homes in the Goodman’s Fields regeneration project as well as some of our Limehouse housing.
Hackney – to specifically visit some of our homes which have required larger than usual numbers of repairs in the past 18 months to find out about the issues causing these and residents’ experiences.
The Clissold Estate – looking at how our estate inspection service works.
The next visit at the start of October 2026 will be to some of homes in Camden where services are provided by managing agents to look into the way that service charges and service provision works.
Dealing with issues
On each visit Ruth and the Executive team have found issues that need addressing, as well as many positive things about each area and residents’ experiences. Where they have spotted or been made aware of communal issues or problems in people’s homes that need action these have been noted and actions taken to address them as quickly as possible.
Some of the follow-up actions taken following these visits include:
New communal planting at Mother’s Square to brighten up the neighbourhood replace dead and poorly cared for plants.
Dealing with a number of leaks and carrying out redecoration at Desmond Court in Enfield, and replacing a damaged garden fence for a supported housing scheme in nearby.
Carrying out roof repairs to individual properties in Hackney and leak repair and prevention work at a block in Wick Road.
Additional estate cleaning works have been carried out since the team visited the Clissold Estate as well as damp and mould works they were alerted to in one home.
Would you like Ruth to visit where you live?
Ruth and our directors will be continuing with these visits on a regular basis and if you would like them to visit where you live drop us a line to newsletters@newlon.org.uk.
From a resident’s perspective
Residents’ Forum member Richard Jacob joined one of the recent tours and you can read his article about his experience here:
Looking beyond my own home – written by Richard Jacob, Newlon resident
Ruth Davison, Newlon’s Chief Executive, and several Directors have been visiting Newlon properties across north-east London as part of a series of Executive Tours. The visits have allowed them to meet residents, see their homes first-hand and hear about any issues or concerns they wanted to discuss.
When I joined them on one of the tours, I wanted to look beyond my own home and gain a broader understanding of the homes and neighbourhoods Newlon manages across north-east London. As residents, we naturally become familiar with the issues affecting our own homes and neighbourhoods, but I was interested in seeing different types of developments, understanding the challenges they face and learning more about how Newlon manages them.
During the tour we visited several developments across Hackney, each with its own character, history and priorities. Some of these had been selected because they were experiencing significant repair and maintenance issues. Although the developments were very different from my own, it was striking how often similar issues emerged, particularly around leaks, water ingress, damp and mould. It made me realise that many of the challenges residents experience are shared across different homes and developments, even if they present themselves in different ways.
Before the tour, I might have thought of a leak as simply something that needed fixing in someone’s home. Seeing the developments first-hand helped me realise that sometimes the leaks we saw were symptoms of wider problems affecting the building as a whole. In many cases, what appears to be a single repair inside one home can require investigation to identify the underlying cause before it can be properly resolved.
I was also struck by how decisions made many years ago, when a development was originally designed, can influence everyday life for residents. For example, we discussed how the layout of some communal areas can make them more difficult to oversee or manage, contributing to issues such as anti-social behaviour. It was a reminder that managing homes is not just about responding to repairs, but also about working with the legacy of decisions and their impact. That gave me a much greater appreciation of why some challenges are more complex than they first appear.
What I found most valuable about the tour was not only seeing the buildings themselves but experiencing them alongside Newlon’s Directors. Walking around Hackney together created opportunities for open and honest conversations that simply wouldn’t have happened in a meeting room. Looking at the same properties meant we could discuss the challenges in context, ask questions and explore different perspectives. I found it particularly valuable to hear directly from the Directors about the practical challenges involved in managing Newlon’s homes, while also having the opportunity to share my own observations and experiences as a resident. I came away with a much better understanding of Newlon’s perspective, and I hope our conversations also gave the Directors a deeper understanding of residents’ everyday experiences.
The tour also included visits to residents in their own homes, which I felt added another important dimension to the day. By opening their doors and welcoming the Directors into their homes, residents were able to share their lived experiences first-hand, in their homes. I would encourage any resident who has the opportunity to take part in a future tour to do so. It offers a unique chance to look beyond your own home, see a wider cross-section of Newlon’s homes and gain a broader understanding of the organisation. Equally, if a future tour visits your neighbourhood, take the opportunity to speak with the Directors, share your experiences and show them your home. That’s where the real value of these tours lies, creating opportunities for residents and Directors to learn from one another, turning lived experience into shared understanding.