A story of decision making: How I chose housing

I hadn’t considered a career in housing when I was growing up. Coming from a military family, my plan was always to join the Army. It was simple… go to university, get a degree, then head to Sandhurst to commission as an Army officer.

However, a slightly more rebellious and idealistic student version of me had different ideas. When I got to university, I changed my mind and since then I’ve often felt like I lacked clear direction in my career.

Taking time to decide

“Follow your passion” is the often-quoted phrase; the problem I found was that I’m interested in lots of things, not necessarily passionate about one. My focus tends to shift from one thing to the next pretty quickly. It’s hard to follow one passion when everything interests you.

After university, I fell into construction, working for suppliers and sub-contractors of specialist construction equipment. That led me across multiple sectors, highways, rail and nuclear. I was interested in big engineering projects, but I’m no engineer, in fact I hated maths at school.

Making my choice

In 2024, I joined the housing sector and now I know I’ve found my home. I work for WPS, a contractor who maintains around 600,000 homes for over 50 landlords nationally. My role is customer relationship manager, where I’m responsible for managing WPS’s relationships with housing providers, identifying improvements and ensuring we bring best practice to everything we do. 

Before deciding to join WPS and entering the housing sector, I did a lot of research. I read articles and listened to podcasts. One common theme I kept hearing was how people fell into housing. I feel like I chose housing; from the outside looking in, it was interesting.

Why I chose housing

My impression was a sector with a natural inclination to collaborate, a drive to innovate, and a desire to want to do the right thing. Alongside that was a myriad of both challenges and opportunities; increasingly strict and complex regulations; a new government; new funding and yet tight budgets; ambitious energy efficiency targets; growing data and reporting requirements; and new procurement rules. It’s hard to keep up! 

At the core of it all though, and the most important factor, were residents and the communities. The moral imperative of balancing the challenges with real human needs and having the opportunity to make a real difference. That is what drew me in, and I’ve loved it. 

Since joining the sector, my first impressions have been realised. There’s a strong sense of dedication and commitment. I’ve found a career that I feel passionate about, whilst keeping varied interests and curiosity satisfied. I learnt about retrofit, building safety, government policy and I’ve become most passionate about how we engage residents effectively.

One of my biggest reflections is the holistic nature of housing. On paper, it looks straightforward: maintain homes, repair faults, improve energy efficiency, manage budgets. In reality, it’s much more complex and interconnected. A delayed repair impacts a family’s wellbeing, a cold home affects a child’s education, a procurement choice affects service quality. Nothing happens in isolation. 

Take the opportunity to make your own choice

So, if you’re like I was and you’re not sure where to take your career, consider housing. It’s one of the most meaningful sectors you can work in. Few industries give you such a direct connection between your work and people’s quality of life. Safe, warm secure homes are the foundation for health, resilience, education and community. When housing works well, everything becomes a bit easier. 

There’s also huge variety. Whether working for a landlord, a contractor or manufacturer, housing needs people with skills in finance, construction, customer service, sustainability and technology. You can be technical, creative, people focussed or entrepreneurial. There’s a place for everyone. 

Most importantly though, housing offers purpose.