ao link
Twitter
Facebook
Linked In
Twitter
Facebook
Linked In

You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles

Housing Day 2019 – the importance of community investment

It’s about time community investment was taken seriously as a core part of a social landlord’s mission – and this year’s #HousingDay will highlight the important role it plays, explains organiser Leslie Channon

Linked InTwitterFacebookeCard
Picture: Getty
Picture: Getty
Sharelines

“We need to get better at demonstrating the success of community investment in a way that it is more widely understood,” writes #HousingDay organiser @LeslieChannon #ukhousing #ihchat

“It has been great to see a number of highly visible, large organisations fully embrace the community investment agenda,” says #HousingDay organiser @LeslieChannon #ukhousing #ihchat

“The beauty of #HousingDay is that there is no restriction on who can contribute,” writes @LeslieChannon #ukhousing #ihchat

As someone who has experienced the transformative powers of social housing first-hand, I am a huge believer that our sector is a force for good in people’s lives.

Traditionally, we have always had a wider role than just being landlords but, in recent times, a clear divide has appeared between those organisations that are committed to investing in their communities and those with different priorities.

There’s no doubt that community investment took a massive blow after the 2015 Spending Review and the subsequent 1% rent cut. Often, community investment teams were the first to be broken up as budgets were slashed. But, to me, that was an ill-judged and short-sighted decision.

“We need to get better at demonstrating the success of community investment in a way that makes it more widely understood”

It also underlined the two fundamental problems that community investment has faced over the years: the fact it is not regarded as ‘core business’ and the difficulty in quantifying its value in a way that is understood by those looking at the bottom line.

As my friend and former colleague Barry Malki says, we need to get better at demonstrating the success of community investment in a way that makes it more widely understood.

Measuring its impact remains an imprecise science but things are improving at a time when community investment is moving back up the list of priorities.


READ MORE

Community investment is vital. Our new charter will help boards deliver itCommunity investment is vital. Our new charter will help boards deliver it
Quiz housing sector heavyweights in #IHchat on Housing DayQuiz housing sector heavyweights in #IHchat on Housing Day

It has been great to see a number of highly visible, large organisations fully embrace the community investment agenda, helping to build its profile and drive innovation.

My concern is that there are still a great many landlords out there who are not taking it seriously, possibly because they are smaller and are working with tighter budgets.

But is that really an excuse when you look at the fantastic work of the PlaceShapers member organisations in recent years?

One way to firmly embed community investment would be to take a broader look at how we operate as a sector, reducing isolated or silo working, to ensure that all organisations can operate holistically and effectively.

Initiatives such as the Centre for Excellence in Community Investment are pivotal to this approach, bringing organisations together to learn from and with each other.

But this also requires board-level buy-in for it to work.

Many board members remain oblivious to the benefits of community investment because it’s not considered one of their key remits. And if the board doesn’t see it as ‘business critical’, it’s easy to understand why so many have found it easy to cut.

Being able to build a stronger relationship between community investment teams and boards is essential.

“It has been great to see a number of highly visible, large organisations fully embrace the community investment agenda”

So, back to #HousingDay. I am delighted to say that this year we’ll be based at Cottsway Housing Association in Oxfordshire, where we’ll be talking to all sorts of people about the excellent community investment projects they are involved in. It’s very much an open invitation for housing colleagues and residents in the area to come and join us.

More importantly, the wider message to the sector is to get on board with #HousingDay and share your community investment success stories.

This really is an opportunity to celebrate the great work you do, so don’t be shy and let it go to waste!

The beauty of #HousingDay is that there is no restriction on who can contribute.

Housing Day 2019 – how to get involved

There are various ways you can get involved in #HousingDay on Tuesday 8 October:

  • Upload the #HousingDay logos and social media assets to your social media accounts to show your support for #HousingDay – we have the #HousingDay Twibbon, Avatar, and LinkedIn and Facebook assets. They have been brilliantly designed by the talented team at #WeAreResource.
  • Write a blog – you can send it to the #HousingDay team and we will publish it on our WordPress site and tweet it to thousands of @housingday followers.
  • Create a vlog and publish it on YouTube or send it to us.
  • Use the hashtag #IHchat to question key housing sector figures as part of live Inside Housing Q&As throughout the day. Visit insidehousing.co.uk/ihchat for more info.
  • Share your best practice community investment case studies and encourage other organisations to do something similar for their communities.
  • Host a special #HousingDay event for your community. Take photos, live stream, capture the day and share it with us.
  • Give tenants the microphone to talk about what has worked well for them in this area and what a difference community investment has made to their community.
  • Use the #HousingDay hashtag and follow us on Twitter @housingday.

Happy #HousingDay everyone!

Leslie Channon, consultant and Housing Day organiser

#IHchat programme on Housing Day 2019

#IHchat programme on Housing Day 2019

Tuesday 8 October is #HousingDay and Inside Housing is hosting a whole day of live Twitter Q&As with senior sector figures, including a live video conversation with Alison Inman and David Orr.

Tweet your questions to the panellists using the hashtag #IHchat at the times below:

8am – 8.45am: An introduction to #HousingDay

Leslie Channon, housing consultant and #HousingDay organiser – @LeslieChannon

Barry Malki, housing consultant – @barrybehaved

Chair: Carl Brown

9am – 9.45am: The next 100 years of council housing

Dominic Beck, cabinet member for housing, Rotherham Council - @Dominic_E_Beck

Emma Lindley, housing strategy lead, Ashfield District Council – @Emma_Lindley

Paul Smith, cabinet member for housing, Bristol City Council – @BristolPaul

David Renard, chair of the economy, environment, housing and transport board, Local Government Association – @CllrDavidRenard

Chair: Nathaniel Barker

10am – 10.45am: Providing the right homes in the right places

Alan Brunt, chief executive, Bron Afon Community Housing – @albrunt

Sheron Carter, chief executive, Habinteg Housing Association – @CarterSheron

Paul Hackett, chief executive, Optivo – @PaulHackett10

Tracy Harrison, chief executive, Northern Housing Consortium – @tjharrison1

Amy Nettleton, assistant development director – sales and marketing, Aster Group – @amynettleton1

Chair: Jack Simpson

11am – 11.45am: In conversation with Kate Henderson

Kate Henderson, chief executive, National Housing Federation – @KateNHF

Chair: Peter Apps

12am – 12.45pm: How can we tell a better story about social housing?

Victoria Dingle, tenant non-executive director, Soha Housing – @Victoria_Dingle

Steve Hayes, head of communications, Citizen – @SteveH_Citizen

Paul Taylor, innovation coach, Bromford – @PaulBromford

Boris Worrall, chief executive, Rooftop Housing – @BorisJWorrall

Chair: Carl Brown

1pm – 1.45pm: The homelessness and rough sleeping crisis

Faye Greaves, practice and policy officer, Chartered Institute of Housing – @FayeGreavesCIH

David Bogle, chief executive, Hightown Housing Association – @David_Bogle

Chair: Lucie Heath

2pm – 2.45pm: The regulatory landscape

Jonathan Walters, deputy chief executive, Regulator of Social Housing –@JonathanW_RSH

Jenny Osbourne, chief executive, Tpas – @TPASJenny

Steve Douglas, group chief executive, Aquila Services Group – @Steve_Altair

Chair: Gavriel Hollander

3.15pm - 4pm: IH Live video chat - the future role of social housing

Alison Inman, board member, Colne Housing, Saffron Housing and Tpas – @Alison_Inman

David Orr, chair, Clarion – @DavidOrrCBE

Chair: Nathaniel Barker

Linked InTwitterFacebookeCard
Add New Comment
You must be logged in to comment.