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Time for a decent community standard

A decent comm­­­unity standard would help to solve wider societal issues around social isolation and poor mental health by better connecting people to their communities, writes Gemma McRae

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Picture: Getty
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Time for a decent community standard? asks Gemma McRae of Travis Perkins Managed Services #ukhousing @TravisPerkinsCo ‏

A decent community standard would help to solve wider societal issues around social isolation and poor mental health by better connecting people to their communities, writes Gemma McRae of Travis Perkins Managed Services #ukhousing @TravisPerkinsCo ‏

Whatever property you live in – big or small – when it comes down to it, it’s just a four-walled shell. So, what makes it a home?

It may not surprise you that when asked about what contributes most to the feeling of home, people do not recount objects, but feelings instead.

In 2018, the Anglian Home Improvements survey found that the top four contributing factors to creating a home were happiness, love, security and safety, and even the sound of laughter.

So, is the feeling of a home produced simply within your four walls, or does the community also contribute to making a house a home?

“The government should now be looking at adopting a more holistic approach to the social housing sector”

In the early 2000s the then Labour government introduced the Decent Homes Standard. This was based on whether properties were in a reasonable state of repair, had reasonably modern facilities, and provided sufficient thermal comfort.

But tackling housing quality through the Decent Homes Standard has fallen well short of the overarching aims of the programme.

The government should now be looking at adopting a more holistic approach to the social housing sector that focuses both on the quality of social housing, as in the Decent Homes Standard, but that also recognises the power of the community on people’s lives – a decent community standard.


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The Homes & Wellbeing report, funded by housing association Vivid and published by the universities of Birmingham and Manchester, identified that alongside the quality of housing, the ability for people to interact in a community is a vital part of making a house feel like a home.

Sadly, in the government’s latest Community Life Survey, 6% of people reported that they often or always feel lonely, further increasing in areas of deprivation.

There has also been a reported decline in neighbourhood satisfaction and in engagement in neighbourly activities.

A decent community standard would help to solve wider societal issues around social isolation and poor mental health by better connecting people to their communities.

Travis Perkins Managed Services’ partnership with Sanctuary Housing and the Crafty Fox Cafe ‘n’ Hub in Torbay is a great example of a project that has helped communities to overcome issues of social isolation.

“A decent community standard could be based on whether social housing enables social interaction, by providing space for community activities, or whether it addresses social isolation”

Through our social value funding, we supported the extension of the project’s welfare services.

A dedicated welfare and benefits officer was funded to support residents around their benefits, budgeting, advocacy and form-filling.

Like the Decent Homes Standard, a decent community standard could be based on a set of principles to bring “social housing and their communities” up to a decent standard.

This could be based on whether social housing enables social interaction, by providing space for community activities, or whether it addresses social isolation, by employing a dedicated welfare officer for a certain amount of homes.

It is not just older people or those who feel isolated who would benefit from a decent community standard, but the younger generations, too.

Young people have much to gain from a thriving and vibrant community, such as social development and staying away from crime.

After nearly two decades, the Decent Homes Standard has ensured that social housing is adequately habitable, but it is a decent community standard that will make a house a home.

Gemma McRae, regional director, Travis Perkins Managed Services

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