Peacetime is over for housing’s frontline

There are lots of big questions, such as how to keep core care and support services running safely and effectively – including the interaction between staff and residents, organisations and their regulators; the potential closure of communal areas; and maintaining catering services. And how to make sure urgent maintenance work is carried out in the face of staff absences or if a household is self-isolating. And what about making sure homeless people who need to self-isolate have access to self-contained housing? Or whether some services might need to close altogether in the short term?

We’ll be taking a look at all the policies and approaches organisations are adopting in these areas and others in the weeks ahead. But Ms Farha’s words also act as a reminder that many people – staff and residents alike – are on the frontline right now. In many services, there is simply no easy way to withdraw completely into isolation and sit this one out.

Inside Housing would like to hear from staff and residents about the impact that the decisions made in the weeks ahead will have on their lives. Some inspiring stories have already emerged – for example the tenants’ and residents’ groups organising help with prescriptions and shopping, and organisations such as Merthyr Valleys Homes phoning around older and more vulnerable tenants and looking at schemes to provide food for children who normally rely on school meals if the schools close.

As Homeless Link chief executive Rick Henderson said earlier this week: “This is everyone’s problem.” Yes, there will be lots to scrutinise in the weeks ahead. But right now I would like to say a massive thank you to those people, particularly those on the frontline, who will be living and working under huge stress in the weeks ahead to keep vital services running and mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

Martin Hilditch, editor, Inside Housing