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Leslie is an experienced housing consultant. Her areas of expertise include: resident engagement and scrutiny, project management, ...more
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
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.
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:
Happy #HousingDay everyone!
Leslie Channon, consultant and Housing Day organiser
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