Blog: Closing the gap on pay equality at Southern Housing

Lynn Bates Corporate Director of People

Fairness and opportunity matter at Southern Housing. That’s why we’re proud to publish our Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap Report each year and why we’re open about what the data tells us.

This is our third report since Optivo and Southern Housing Group merged in 2022, and I’m pleased to share that our 2025 data shows we’re continuing to close both the gender and ethnicity pay gap.

I’m happy with our progress, but this report is about more than numbers – it helps us stay focused on where we still need to improve.

While a national gender pay gap still exists after all these years, I strongly believe that we should be leading the way, as closing both gender and ethnicity pay gaps isn’t just the right thing to do, it helps businesses keep talent, improve performance, strengthen trust and build fairer, more successful workplaces.

Southern Housing employs more women than men (57% to 43%). We have a wide range of different job roles, with a high percentage of women in roles such as care and support, and administration; women also make up most of our part time workforce. These patterns reflect wider sector and labour market trends and help explain why a pay gap still exists across Southern.

We’ve also seen positive movement in our ethnicity pay gap. The reduction in our mean gap reflects increased representation of ethnically diverse colleagues in higher paid roles, alongside our continued focus on inclusive recruitment and progression. This is a very positive step and gives us confidence we’re heading in the right direction.

Being transparent about our pay gaps helps us hold ourselves to account, understand what’s working and be honest about where we still need to push ourselves to do better.

We know a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we serve brings different perspectives and leads to better decisions, understanding and services being delivered for our residents and customers. If everyone thinks the same way, you get one solution. If people think differently, you get a far wider range of perspectives, ideas and opportunities for innovation and continuous service improvement. Having an inclusive workplace means everyone can contribute and succeed.

We’re enhancing reporting and data while also focusing on targeted recruitment, mentoring, career development, and inclusive hiring, including anonymised recruitment, diverse interview panels, and mandatory training. We also promote flexible and agile working, including job share opportunities, and we’re proud to be a Real Living Wage and London Living Wage employer.

Supporting women throughout their careers is particularly important to me. I’m proud to sponsor Women@Work, one of our diversity networks within Southern Housing, which supports women at all stages of their lives and careers, with a focus on progression, health and wellbeing. Having taken a career break to raise twins, I understand there can be challenges involved in balancing work and caring responsibilities, as well as a potential impact on career progression, earnings, and visibility - I’m committed to mitigating any adverse impact through building on Southern’s inclusive culture.

Fairness and equity are not one off commitments. They’re part of how we work, every day. Whilst I’m encouraged by the progress we’ve made, this isn’t the finish line.

Our goal is simple. We want everyone at Southern Housing to have the same opportunity to thrive, regardless of gender or background. This report is one part of that journey, and we’re committed to keeping that momentum going.

Read our 2025 Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap Report below.