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From the frontline – Alison White
Alison White, regeneration officer at One Housing talks about the need to redress the balance between social and private housing
Tell us about your job.
I work with residents where major refurbishment and regeneration is being considered. It’s my job to communicate and consult with the local community.
I spend a lot of time listening and answering their questions, and encourage them to engage and consider their options carefully so they can make informed choices about the future of their neighbourhood.
How did you get into housing?
When I volunteered at Citizens Advice for 12 years, one of the most intractable problems was housing. There weren’t any answers because there fundamentally wasn’t enough decent, secure housing. We would just have to put plasters over people’s problems.
At the same time, I studied social policy and then politics, philosophy and economics with the Open University, which brought out my passion to help solve things, not just try to patch things up. I decided after that I’d get into housing.
What is the best part of your job?
I love getting to work with tenants and also being part of the bigger picture.
Regeneration can mean improving what’s there and it can mean providing more homes. If we are going to address the housing problem, my job can help achieve that.
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What’s the worst part?
Even the frustrating bits are parts I enjoy because it’s about overcoming a challenge. If I’m talking to a resident with problems, it’s a challenge I can help solve.
What would you change about the housing sector?
The balance between private and social housing should be redressed so it becomes a genuine choice again. Private renting is right for some, but too many families are pushed into it because there aren’t enough genuinely affordable homes.
If you could be prime minister for the day, what would you do?
I wouldn’t want to, but if I had to I would support the Housing First programme as it looks at housing as a human right. It takes out the moral judgement and doesn’t declare someone unworthy of a secure home.
By putting people in a home and then supporting them to maintain that tenancy, it seems to me to be the best foundation for a good life.
What’s the most private thing you’d admit to your colleagues?
I live in a multi-generational household. We live with two of my children and their partners, and we now have three grandchildren living with us as well. It’s a lovely, supportive way to live.
