Housing is a women’s rights issue

Given the ageing population – and how this specifically affects the social housing sector – this will be another likely focus for the future. “The initial research we’ve done looks at women’s income in retirement. Actually finding those figures was really difficult,” Ms Fowler explains. (One of the stats that the forum has found already? Women are three times more likely than men to retire without a full state pension.) “Do we [as a sector] think about the fact that women are going to be over-represented in older people’s housing? Or do we think about a generic older person?”

The steering group is made up of women, but Ms Fowler stresses this is more an accident of who are the senior sector figures who have come together in the early stages of the process and are clearly interested in women’s housing issues.

“It was a ‘Who do we know who is really interested in women’s housing’s issues?’ and actually the people we listed off were women,” she notes. Men will be welcome to come to the forum meetings and take part in future – the concept is that it will be “around women’s housing issues, not for women”, Ms Fowler explains.

The forum is in fundraising mode to pay for the first bit of research, which will cost £25,000. The group will ask the National Housing Federation, CIH and others to pitch in. How easy it is to raise the money will no doubt be an early indication of whether the wider sector is receptive to the need for work on women’s housing issues.

Tenant activist Luchia Fitzgerald is another of the initial steering group members – although not one of the core group that came up with the idea, she was asked to join as the forum started to take shape.

Although she is taking part, speaking on the phone she’s a little weary on the prospects for the forum to make a real change. “I’ve seen it all before. I’m 71 – and I remember the women’s movement in the 70s, and I have never stopped being a member. Nothing has changed over the years,” she says. “I look at this [document setting out the research plan], and I thought to myself: ‘Here we go again’.”

“How easy it is to raise the money will no doubt be an early indication of whether the wider sector is receptive to the need for work on women’s housing issues”

Rather than commissioning research, Ms Fitzgerald would rather the forum started by asking female tenants to tell the sector what the issues are. “Call a meeting and get different types of people from around the country,” she says.

The key barometer of the forum’s success, as Ms Fitzgerald says, will be whether it can move from researching the problem in whatever form to enacting actual change in the sector that materially improves inequities women face in the housing market – and beyond.

Ms Dodsworth from Gateway Housing is more upbeat about the potential for change, at least within social housing. “I think the sector is alive to understanding the issues and then taking appropriate action if we highlight them,” she says.

The next step is that first public meeting. It’s open to anyone interested in women’s housing issues, and will take place in London on 18 January 2019. “We’ve already sent out some emails,” says Ms Fowler. “Well over 100 people are interested in coming to forum meetings. We want it to be available to people across the sector.”

• Raise the profile of the role social housing providers can and must play in eliminating discrimination against women accessing and keeping suitable housing.
• Distil existing research and commission further research into the links between gender inequality and women’s housing needs, and the impact that a failure to tackle these issues has on women and society as a whole.
• Consider the additional impact of intersectionality including: race, sexuality, age, religion, disability and income/poverty on specific groups of women facing structural inequality.
• Use research and best practice from the sector and elsewhere to identify practical steps all social housing providers can take to better meet women’s housing needs.
• Develop and maintain partnerships outside of the social housing sector, in particular with local and central government, in order to improve relationships and joined-up working.
• Seek to understand the regional context of any issues to encourage work locally to improve outcomes for women in accessing and keeping suitable housing.
• Operate in an open and transparent manner with a commitment to keep social housing providers and other stakeholders informed about its work and sharing any learning with others.

Inside Housing’s Inclusive Futures campaign aims to promote and celebrate diversity and inclusion.

We are pledging to publish diversity audits of our own coverage.

We are also committed to proactively promoting positive role models.

We will do this through the pages of Inside Housing. But we will also seek to support other publications and events organisations to be more inclusive.

Our Inclusive Futures Bureau will provide a database of speakers and commentators from all backgrounds, for use by all media organisations.

We are also challenging readers to take five clear steps to promote diversity, informed by the Chartered Institute of Housing’s diversity commission and the Leadership 2025 project.

Click here to read more or to sign up for more information

THE INCLUSIVE FUTURES CHALLENGE

Inside Housing calls on organisations to sign up to an inclusive future by taking five steps:

Prioritise diversity and inclusion at the top: commitment and persistence from chief executives, directors and chairs in setting goals and monitoring progress.

Collect data on the diversity of your board, leadership and total workforce and publish annually with your annual report. Consider gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, age, and representation of tenants on the board.

Set aspirational targets for recruitment to the executive team, board and committees from under-represented groups.

Challenge recruiting staff and agencies to ensure that all shortlists include candidates from under-represented groups.

Make diversity and inclusion a core theme in your talent management strategy to ensure you support people from under-represented groups to progress their careers.

THE CASE FOR CHANGE

34%

of housing association chief executives are female

1%

of housing association executives have a disability

1.6%

of housing association board members are LGBT

Women make up 46% of the UK workforce, but Inside Housing research found that they are under-represented on housing association boards (36%), executive teams (39%) and among chief executives (34%).

Almost a fifth of working-age adults have a disability (18%), yet associations reported only 1% of executives and 4.5% of board members with a disability. Many were unable to provide details.

Nationwide, 14% of the working-age population come from a BME background, climbing to 40% in London and Birmingham. Yet our research found that 6.8% of board members identified as BME, compared with 4.5% of executives.

Statistics on representation of LGBT people in the workforce are in short supply, but official statistics suggest that 2% of the total UK population identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, rising to 4.1% for 16 to 24-year-olds. Our survey found that 1.6% of board members and 10 executives were LGBT – but most organisations were unable to provide figures.

Click here to read the full research