Five social tenants' stories shared for #HousingDay

Five different tenant stories: why social housing has been a ‘comfort blanket’.

Tanya MacGregor - Community Housing Cymru

In 2001, Tanya was a domestic abuse victim and homeless mother-of three and 13 years later she is providing help to others via the Your benefitsAre Changing (YBAC) campaign run by Community Housing Cymru (CHC).

After fleeing an abusive husband, Tanya went from being a homeowner to a homeless, with nothing more than a full carrier bag to her name and with her three young children - aged nine, six and a five-months old, she took refuge in a women’s hostel. She spent a year classed as homeless in a Cardiff Women’s Aid hostel.

Tanya began giving back during her time in the hostel by joining the board of management as a committee member/service user. There she got involved in the tenant empowerment grant scheme and she remained a board member for four years. During her time in the group, it won an award for Good Practice by the Welsh Assembly.

Recalling that time she said: ‘Two of my classmates were ladies from the refuge and now they both work in the housing sector, like me.’

Around this time, she and her family were rehoused by Cardiff Council and she enrolled on a Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and Policy Degree at UWIC. Since then, her housing career has gone from strength to strength.

She said: ‘It’s amazing the opportunities that social housing has provided for me and my family. I went from being homeless with a young family to finding my way to getting a home, which in turn allowed me to access services, health, a degree, a job, none of this would have been possible without  social housing.

‘Without a home, you can’t get access to anything, you don’t exist, social housing has given me and my family the chance to lay down roots and better ourselves. 

‘Social housing is a comfort blanket – it allows people access to affordable rents and the chance to re-train and go out to work.’

David’s story - Futures Housing Group

Frederick Limbaya - Metropolitan

Frederick is a salesman living in Wood Green, London and a member of Metropolitan’s National Customer Group.Having lived in hostels prior to getting a home with the social landlord, he is delighted to finally has a place to call home.

In his own words: ‘Social housing has provided me with affordable accommodation in London, where renting privately is so expensive.

‘It has given me a place which I can call home, having lived in hostels prior to getting my property. Without social housing I wouldn’t have had this opportunity. It definitely helped me to get to the next level in my life, having afforded me the stability from which to build.    

‘Social housing has also created opportunities for me to develop my work skills through customer involvement projects. I have been volunteering in two different ways: scrutinising Metropolitan’s service standards and helping their customers to manage their finances. These two projects have enhanced my CV and also assisted me in finding work through a work programme.

‘I find that social housing is more community-focused compared to private renting. Through community and neighbourhood projects there is always an attempt to find ways to help customers beyond just their accommodation needs, either through finding work, personal development or getting their voices heard.’

Carol Cooper - Leeds Federated Housing Association

Liam O’Connell - Culture change consultant