Rising Stars debate: the last chance to impress the judges

Homelessness is the topic of debate, and shortlisted Rising Star Jess Page kick-starts the discussion by explaining that she sees rough sleepers every day on her walk to work at Notting Hill Genesis’ King’s Cross headquarters, where she is tenancy support programme manager. “It’s the worst feeling in the world,” she says.

It is a dilemma summed up by Oliver Harling, trainee neighbourhood surveyor at Irwell Valley Housing, who says: “Our role is to put a roof over everybody’s head.” Mr Harling is also on the shortlist.

But solving rough sleeping often goes beyond giving individuals a new home, as fellow shortlisted star Eden Bailey, quality team manager at WM Housing Group, points out. She has also witnessed a dramatic rise in levels of rough sleeping in Birmingham over recent years. “Most of the time they have complex needs such as mental health, drugs and alcohol [problems],” she says.

Yet, ironically, the policies pursued by housing associations can contribute to homelessness, the Rising Stars point out.

Affordable rent is identified as a particular gripe. Ian Patterson, housing services manager at Sovereign, and our fourth Rising Star candidate, says many new build affordable rented properties are out of reach for low-income households. “In one area nobody could afford it, so we were housing people who lived 25 miles away, which defeats the purpose of the exercise,” he says.

"We need to keep looking at whether we are getting the mix right." - Mark Baigent, Tower Hamlets Council

Ms Page questions whether associations should “build at all costs” if it means that many of the homes they provide are not affordable to those on low incomes.

She calls the idea that building more units will free up supply for those at the bottom end of the housing market “voodoo economics”.

“We think building units will shuffle everybody along and yet we are seeing more and more tents. That view is not solving the problem,” she explains.

“It’s important to increase numbers but we have to think about who is going to have to live in those units.”

Rather than merely maximising housing output, landlords should seek to provide social rented homes and ensure good quality support for tenants, Ms Page argues.

But from the other side of the table comes Mark Baigent. As interim divisional director – housing and regeneration at Tower Hamlets Council, he knows the other side to the homelessness equation well, and points out that social landlords face big dilemmas when developing.

Mark Baigent of Tower Hamlets Council contributes to the discussion

“If you do more at higher rent levels you can make schemes work that would otherwise not add up,” he says. “We all want to hit the numbers and deliver more homes because we know they are needed. At the same time, if we make all that investment and it’s not working for people in terms of affordability, why bother?”

He points as an example to the London Living Rent homes that his council is delivering. These are pitched at households earning 30% of average incomes, who are not “completely dependent” on benefits but still struggle to find somewhere affordable to live.

“It’s a great product for those people but if we only did that we would have a huge homelessness problem,” he says. “We need to keep looking at whether we are getting the mix right.”

Social landlords can mitigate the risks of homelessness by supporting vulnerable tenants who risk being evicted, says Mr Patterson. “We need to be keeping people in their homes because if they are evicted, where do they go?”

Mr Harling agrees: “We need someone to work alongside them and assess their circumstances and what they can afford.”

Rising Star candidate Eden Bailey listens to fellow finalist Jess Page

Both the Rising Stars and their more seasoned debate participants were shocked by Inside Housing’s recent finding that three of the 64 top housing association chief executives identify as black or minority ethnic (BME), and only one of these is a woman. “As a sector we are failing,” says Sovereign’s Rising Star hopeful Mr Patterson.

From the established sector leader side, Kate Dodsworth, chief executive of Gateway Housing Association, acknowledges: “Gender is getting a lot better, but we have sleepwalked into a situation where somehow we haven’t noticed that only 3-4% of our chief executives are from a BME background.

“We pat ourselves on the back that we are such a nice sector but we’ve had 20 years of leaders not noticing that they are walking into a room of all-white leaders and not realising that’s a problem.”

Mr Patterson makes the point that it is also important for social landlords to reach beyond the ranks of the middle class and university educated. “I grew up on a council estate in Portsmouth and worked my way up. When I have a meeting I can bring my background to the mix. To understand and listen to residents, they need to be part of us.”

The sector is also not as attuned to LGBT sensitivities as it might like to think, Mr Patterson adds, recalling how he had been reluctant to come out as gay at Sovereign due to the work culture at
his previous organisation.

"We've had 20 years of leaders not noticing they are walking into a room of all-white leaders." - Kate Dodsworth, Gateway Housing Association

“When I moved organisation, I put down I was straight. It wasn’t until I’d been there six months that I felt comfortable enough to be who I was.”

Both the Rising Star candidates and the established hands agree that the sector must step up its efforts to improve workforce diversity. At the current rate of progress, it would take 50 years for the proportion of BME chief executives to be into line with the population as a whole, says Ms Dodsworth.

Rising Star candidate Oliver Harling talks to fellow finalist Ian Patterson and Mark Baigent

“It’s not a case of not recruiting the best person, but actively recruiting people from diverse groups at all levels. It’s the only way we are going to change,” says Mr Patterson. Notting Hill Genesis’ Rising Star candidate Ms Page agrees: “Enough time has passed and people are not coming through.”

Ms Dodsworth says setting aspirational targets is one way to push this change. Rooftop’s Mr Worrall agrees: “We have to drive hard on positive recruitment.”

Change has to be driven from board level, adds Ms Page. “It’s a strategic problem that needs to be addressed by the board – otherwise the sector is in big trouble.” She had suggested at Notting Hill Genesis that otherwise all-white recruitment panels should be opened up to ethnic minority residents if a BME staff member is not available. “If you don’t have the right mix on the board, you are going to get same old, same old.”

And a more diverse workforce would create an organisation in better tune with its clients’ needs, Mr Worrall says.

Rising Star candidate Eden Bailey, quality team manager at WM Housing Group

Given how controversial regeneration has become over the past few years, it is hardly surprising this was a topic selected by the Rising Star candidates.

Ms Page expresses concerns about the sustainability ramifications of flattening estates, given the high proportion of waste made up of construction materials. She wants associations to take a more patient approach to regeneration, such as with infill and small-site developments.

But from the other side, Tower Hamlets’ Mr Baigent interjects to say demolition is sometimes the right thing to do, referencing how London’s post-war estates had been built when the capital’s population was not growing, meaning there was less need to build at high densities. “They made the right planning decision at the time and people love them because there is loads of green space, but if you look at… the projections of increased population, we have to densify,” he says.

Finalist Oliver Harling, trainee neighbourhood surveyor at Irwell Valley Housing

He cites the regeneration of the Ferrier Estate in Greenwich, south-east London, as an example of good quality regeneration. “It’s been utterly transformed; if you could have been there 14 years ago, it’s unrecognisable and a so much better place to live.”

The local authority had been “incredibly patient” in the way it had worked with local residents and its developer partner Berkeley Homes, Mr Baigent says. “There are certainly cases where it’s definitely the right thing to do and others where it’s much more marginal,” he adds.

"Tenant engagement is sometimes not taken on board." - Eden Bailey, WM Housing

Rooftop’s Mr Worrall defends a regeneration project that his own association has recently carried out which had replaced a set of asbestos-roofed garages with housing. “As long as we can get some social and affordable, if we can increase the shared ownership and market sale, that’s extra houses; but we should not do regeneration where there is a net loss of social homes.”

Too often though, existing residents feel sidelined during the regeneration process. Allocation policies mean that existing tenants often do not benefit from the “brand spanking new homes” delivered by regeneration schemes, says Sovereign’s Mr Patterson.

Boris Worrall, chief executive of Rooftop, talks to finalist Jess Page

“People in existing homes see the new homes but can’t bid for them because we don’t have our own transfer list, so they have to bid through the local authority.

“It’s sad because you see people who have lived in our homes for 20 years, paid their rent and looked after their homes.”

Some of the pitfalls of regeneration projects can be avoided by being “open and transparent”, says WM’s Rising Stars candidate Ms Bailey. “Tenant engagement can be a tick-box exercise and is sometimes not taken on board. It’s about being open and fully consultative.”

“Communication is key” when undertaking regeneration, says Irwell Valley’s Mr Harling. “Trust is a massive word when it comes to housing. If we are not communicating all steps along the way, trust will go.”

Jess Page, tenancy support programme manager at Notting Hill Genesis

Candidate Ian Patterson, housing services manager at Sovereign

Blogs by the final four candidates:

Eden Bailey

Oliver Harling

Jess Page

Ian Patterson

Rising Stars 2018: the shortlist

Rising Stars 2018: the Twitter chat