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Housing associations will lose their legitimacy if tenants feel sidelined

We are reaching a tipping point on the future relationship between social landlords and tenants – and the sector cannot afford to get it wrong, writes Paul Taylor

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Paul Taylor and Lizzie Spring discuss tenant engagement (picture: Dan Joseph)
Paul Taylor and Lizzie Spring discuss tenant engagement (picture: Dan Joseph)
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Housing associations will lose their legitimacy if tenants feel sidelined, writes @PaulBromford #ukhousing

“To be trusted means being trustworthy – and to achieve that you can’t dodge the question about power.” @PaulBromford lays down a tough challenge for the sector #ukhousing

“The most important thing housing associations could do right now is simply demonstrate that they see themselves as equal partners with tenants.” @PaulBromford warns that HAs are in danger of losing their legitimacy #ukhousing

The apparent sidelining by the government of its pledge to provide a stronger voice on the national stage for social tenants is unlikely to be the end of the story.

In fact it could be the tipping point, the moment when future relationships between landlords and tenants are placed in a wholly different context.

There are a number of factors that seem to be converging. There are the post-Grenfell concerns about safety and cost-cutting, there’s the global decline of trust in institutions, and there’s an increasingly vocal public discourse emerging that highlights individual landlord service failures.

Combine all this with a perception that housing associations have become untethered from their roots in the community, and you have the perfect storm.


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Tipping points are not reached by just one factor alone, rather a series of connected incidents that suddenly bring about widespread change.

It’s necessary to note that this is not just a crisis limited to the housing sector. The Civil Society Futures report outlines how the world has changed, with people becoming more unequal, more disconnected from power and more divided.

The message here is clear: if we do not respond to people’s and communities’ desire for power, we will lose our legitimacy and the essential foundation for everything we do.

“Combine all this with a perception that housing associations have become untethered from their roots in the community, and you have the perfect storm”

Back in March I took part in a discussion hosted by Inside Housing with tenant campaigner Lizzie Spring. There was a lot I took away from the conversation but it can be condensed into two main points.

First, tenants are not some homogeneous group waiting to be engaged by a landlord. Tenure is nowhere near the most important thing in their lives, therefore any attempt to engage ‘them’ on those terms is destined to fail. Additionally the continued narrative of landlord and tenant implies an ‘us and them’, and reinforces an already unequal distribution of power.

Second, the core problem that many landlords’ senior staff and boards appear to struggle with is an entrenched inability to trust tenants. As Lizzie has said, “I can’t consider trusting them, when my own intelligence, experience and expertise are discounted.”

Let’s not underestimate the extent of the change that housing providers must embark on to address this. The sector absolutely does some great things, but the idea that trust will be restored through just ‘getting the basics right’ is hopelessly optimistic. Facebook is very good at getting the basics right – but it’s also one of the least trusted companies on the planet.

To be trusted means being trustworthy – and to achieve that you can’t dodge the question about power.

If we don’t talk about power we’ll just continue to address the symptoms, rather than tackle the root causes of mistrust. We risk encouraging landlords to seek comfortable solutions to things they should be doing anyway rather than address institutional dysfunction.

Hierarchical and status-obsessed cultures necessarily militate against relationships based on equality, empowerment and collaboration. These organisations don’t share power, they accumulate it.

There’s often no way for tenants to contribute other than ways set out by their own landlord. When only one partner sets out the rules of engagement the game is set for a very unequal relationship.

“Hierarchical and status-obsessed cultures necessarily militate against relationships based on equality, empowerment and collaboration. These organisations don’t share power, they accumulate it”

The most important thing housing associations could do right now is simply demonstrate that they see themselves as equal partners with tenants. Importantly that demonstration should be through actions only, not through a carefully co-ordinated comms campaign.

There will be no silver bullet to these problems.

The answers may include exploring alternative models of management or a more mainstream approach to mutual and co-operative associations. They may include more radical models of resident involvement – perhaps using emergent technology to move to complete transparency, with tenants able to shape decisions at both local and strategic levels.

We are seeing change, though. A conversation is beginning to happen on equal terms in shared spaces like social media. We need to take that conversation further into our communities and into our offices, not hidden away with one party excluded.

Traditional tenant involvement on terms set by the landlord, or even government, is no longer the only game in town.

Paul Taylor, innovation coach, Bromford

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