Specialisms
I specialise in the following areas:
- Housing
Trish is an experienced and well-respected housing professional with a background in housing going back to the 1990s. Trish worked in housing advice and homelessness services for fifteen years, moving from frontline to managing services over a period of ten years, providing a sound background and passion for improving customer experience and delivered service improvement across five local authorities.
Seeing an opportunity to support other authorities to improve services, and having developed skills in understanding how teams work, Trish moved into consultancy. Trish initially worked independently and through HQN, and was one of the first Associates to be signed up to the LGE Talent Bank. A quick count shows that Trish has successfully supported over twenty local authorities with at least five requesting return visits over the past fifteen years.
Trish has a deep understanding of housing and has carried out bespoke Peer Reviews, working with commissioners to understand what they require, and has supported many service restructures to deliver improved and refocussed service delivery.
Key Strengths/Area of Expertise
- An expert on homelessness and housing advice with an unparalleled depth of knowledge from working across many authorities.
- Adept at listening to client’s needs, critically evaluating service strengths and gaps through Peer Reviews and providing clear solutions.
- Energy and enthusiasm for, and a deep systemic knowledge and understanding of the causes of homelessness.
- Solution focused with the ability to find practical and workable ways forward bringing individuals and organisations together.
- Great networker with extensive network across the housing sector, particularly in the East of England.
- Skilled at identifying the human and financial resources needed to achieve successful outcomes.
- Delivers clear well thought through reports that provide blueprints to evaluate future progress.
Professional Qualifications
- BTeC HNC Housing Studies – Peterborough Regional College 1995-1997
- LEA Strategic Leadership Programme – School of Health Care, University of Leeds 2006 – 2007
Testimonials/Case Studies
Cllr Wendy Fredericks, North Norfolk District Council – April 2025
Review of Temporary Accommodation
Trish really understood the unique challenges we face in North Norfolk around homelessness and temporary accommodation. She worked well with our team at NNDC and produced a very clear and comprehensive report. This has helped us outline the case for investing in more temporary accommodation homes in the District. She also gave us some very good recommendations to consider, which we will be looking into soon.
Catriona Wojcik, Housing Resettlement Manager, Watford Borough Council – January 2026
Housing Nominations Policy Consultation Support
Our new Nominations Policy was approved by cabinet and well received by all – I can’t take all the credit for this, however. I managed the consultation, finalised the draft and got it through cabinet with the support of the incredible Trish Reed and my team
Simone Russell, Strategic Director, Uttlesford District Council – January 2026
Trish has been supporting Uttlesford District Council for more than a year on several strategic projects relating to our statutory housing functions. Trish has helped the council improve its services and deliver legal compliance across housing needs, homelessness and domestic abuse. Trish has helped the council develop the latest Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy and has also supported the council through several recruitment campaigns as part of our organisational restructure. Trish has throughout been a great support for our strategic leadership team and service managers, giving them expert advice and support. Trish has provided well thought out, comprehensive and deliverable improvement plans. Trish is a highly knowledgeable, approachable and adaptable consultant – I would highly recommend Trish’s services.
Rob Walker, Executive Director Place, Breckland District Council – November 2020
Interim Housing Manager – six month role
Trish provided strong and experienced leadership of the Breckland Council Housing Team at a time when it was going through significant change and more latterly responding to the COIVD19 pandemic. As well as dealing with the immediate needs of running the service; she was also able to lay the foundations for the future of the service, reviewing key policies and procedures and kick-starting a review of how the service was structured. Trish was a valued member of the management team during her time at Breckland, and I would have no hesitation in recommending her for future appointments.
Notable Achievements/Value Added
Project Lead and author of ADASS East – Best Practice Guide to integration, partnership working and coproduction across Housing, Health and Social Care. October 2022.
Norfolk Strategic Housing Partnership – Project Manager for the No Homelessness in Norfolk Project working across multi-agency partners during the Covid pandemic. 2020-2021
Relevant Sector Knowledge
- Housing Advice/Homelessness/Allocations
- Homelessness Reduction Act compliance
- Supported Housing reviews/commissioning
- Private Sector Housing
- Domestic Abuse Act compliance
- Partnership working
- Strategic support including drafting housing related strategies
- Housing related HR activity including Structures, JDs, Adverts, Interview questions, Interviewing, etc.