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Although I've never built my own bungalow, I did make a fine Wendy house in the garden for the children. Naturally it had wallpaper and a multi-coloured carpet, just in case they were ever sick out there. I thought it through and planned accordingly.

The same cannot be said for the young man who fitted the electrics in my home. He placed light fittings behind doors, and the nearest light switch to the front door involves a 15-foot hike not only through the darkness but over the dog. His work suggested he'd never been in a house before.

Now, without banging the feminist drum too hard, I think women have a lot to offer the housing sector. However, I have to tell you some of the sector's statistics make no sense to me. There are more than 30,000 women in the sector, 69% of the total workforce, yet only 34% of senior positions in the top 200 associations are held by women.

Does that matter? Yes it does, because women have a different take on life. Many housing issues require a sensitivity that, while not unique to women, is certainly an area where they are often strong.

Domestic violence is a salient example. Nearly a quarter of people who become homeless do so because their relationships break down. Seven in 10 of them, mostly women, are fleeing violent partners. These women need consistent treatment that doesn't depend on which council area they happen to be in when they're beaten up. It's no good providing them with housing close to their former abusers. The authority might be able to tick a box saying the woman now has a roof over her head but she is hardly going to be able to get on with her life.

The charity Shelter gives an example of a woman in the Midlands, housed in the street next to her former husband who had abused her. She and her two young children were then moved into a B&B, with living conditions so bad she even considered returning to him.

She was subsequently moved into a house that turned out to be next door to her husband's brother, who has been threatening her. Hardly a pleasing result.

Of course, domestic violence is not the only issue. The old traditional family unit is on the decline. Life expectancy is growing. There are more and more women-led households.

Multi-tasking is nothing new to women; ask any mum who has helped with maths homework while simultaneously doing something interesting with mince

To put it in business terms: the customer base is changing. There are going to be more older, single women bringing up kids on their own – what they want from a home may be quite different from what was needed before.

One has to ask oneself whether the gross under-representation of women at senior levels in housing is helpful when female customers are now in the majority. What do these customers want?

Multi-skilling and multi-tasking may be industry buzzwords, but they are nothing new to women. Ask any mum who has helped with maths homework while simultaneously doing something interesting with mince, sewing on a name tape and trying to remember which of Henry VIII's wives managed to avoid the chop.

Today's women need their homes to be multi-functioning as well. It is not just a roof over their heads but an office for home-based working, a substitute for short-term hospital and long-stay care, a community centre and a venue for home entertainment.

These women need different and more flexible financial arrangements than have been the norm until now. They want access to alternative energy supplies, better design, new leisure opportunities and a range of public transport options.

We need to start asking different questions. What does "family" mean to the women who are being housed? What does the "home" mean nowadays?