Fond farewell to Steve Smith

After almost 50 years working for the Southampton City Council, Head of Stronger Communities, Neighbourhoods & Housing, Steve Smith, will be taking his well-earned retirement this month, with many tenants and leaseholders joining council staff to wish him well.

When he was a trainee, he took the CIH Housing Qualification and then worked giving advice to private sector tenants, and then moved into the Homelessness Team. He went on to manage the Housing Benefits Team before progressing in to Housing Management and working with the staff in the Local Housing Offices. In the last few years, he has also overseen the Homelessness, Allocations and Housing Operations Teams, as well as the Stronger Communities Team.

Over his career he has worked with a huge number of staff and residents including former Directors of Housing Graeme Kemp and Nick Cross. Steve has thoroughly enjoyed his career, telling us: “I am very proud of everything that we have achieved over the years. I have loved working with tenants and will miss that discussion that we have on a huge range of topics. It’ll be strange waking up and not having to go into the office every day. To be honest I’m not sure what I am going to do with all that time that I’ll have! I wish everyone well and hope that both staff and tenants will continue working together to keep moving the service forward.”

Steve’s successor is Jamie Brenchley, who joins the council on 1 March 2023 as Director of Housing. Jamie brings with him lots of valuable skills and experience having previously overseen housing for Isle of Wight Council. Look out for an interview with Jamie in our next issue.