We must not forget the power of play

Of course, play areas are particularly important for children who may not have outside space attached to their home. Play areas also encourage communities to be inclusive and connected, particularly if there are tables and benches. They bring communities together and provide a safe place for children and adults to be active.  

We’ve already started a £10m+ investment programme in our community centres and over the next two years, we’re further investing in our play and communal spaces. This will vary from sprucing and tidying them up, to upgrading to full-scale flagship playgrounds.

We’re working with our contractors, partners and residents in the co-design of these spaces to reflect communities’ priorities. 

For example, we’re creating a flagship play and communal space on our Studley Estate in Lambeth, south London. Here, we want an inclusive communal space for different age groups. We’ve scheduled workshops with our community partners, Young People Matter, to ensure residents are at the centre of decision-making.

We’ve also completed an extensive consultation process for our Phoenix Estate in Brighton, where we wanted to optimise the physical health and well-being of our residents. This led to us to transforming an existing play area into a gymnasium for the local community.  

Our play and communal area project will extend to other London boroughs including Lewisham, Islington, Croydon and Brent. The project will also focus on outer London districts including Midhurst, Chichester and Mid Sussex. 

We want to be part of a much-needed conversation about how to encourage and support children to play more. Playing Out, a pro-play housing network, is made up of 11 housing associations and other like-minded organisations; they come together to improve the experience of play for children and young people living in social housing. The network focuses on key topics such as the removal of ‘no ball games’ signs where possible and influencing change at policy level. 

We’re all familiar with these signs around estates and other city spaces where there is a perception that children and play aren’t wanted. With children’s physical and mental health at crisis point, how can we deny children the chance to move, socialise, play and enjoy themselves in the fresh air on their own doorstep?

We’re encouraging the removal of unnecessary ‘no ball games’ signs on estates. Instead, we’re encouraging residents to use these spaces responsibly and considerately.

We’ll be looking at our playgrounds and asking, are they too close to a road (so, ball games could be dangerous) and are they inclusive? We will also explore whether trees could be planted to help reduce noise.  

“Play areas are particularly important for children who may not have outside space attached to their home. Play areas also encourage communities to be inclusive and connected”

We’re also currently working with over 60 community partners to distribute more than 2,000 basketballs to promote play – encouraging physical and mental health.

The National Planning Policy Framework is the single most important national government planning policy document and it will have a huge impact on children’s lives, including their ability to play outside and near their home. We welcome the proposed changes to the framework as they signify a positive step towards increasing and accelerating affordable housing delivery.  

Hyde plans to build more than 5,500 homes over the next five years, boosting the number of social housing homes will have long-term socio-economic benefits. However, as much as we need to build new homes, we need to consider that vital communal space as well. When designing developments, developers must consider how they can maximise communal space for play and places where communities can come together.

We know that access to safe, recreational spaces is essential for everyone, but we especially need it for young people, particularly those in lower-income families.  

The work we do with children and young people, thanks to Hyde Charitable Trust, is a real priority at Hyde. This ranges from running holiday clubs and activities, to recognising the importance of young residents having a voice, as our work with Partnership for Young London and the Shaping Housing Futures report has highlighted.

Also, because we know the cost of living crisis has meant that buying school uniform is an even bigger concern than usual, we’ve launched a campaign to support families with primary school age children with their uniform costs.  

As a sector, while we focus on housing supply and affordability, let’s also focus our attention to play and our communal space, as well as acknowledge that play areas are vital for children to play, learn and grow. 

Andy Hulme, chief executive, Hyde