The cladding scandal, an imaginary housing association, menopause and the catch-22 situation for homeless workers – what #UKhousing was tweeting about in August
Inside Housing’s summary of what the social housing sector has been tweeting about this month touches on subjects as wide-ranging as the cladding scandal and menopause
- The impossible situation facing cladding scandal residents continues to be documented on social media. Sophie Bichener (@SophieLB1) shared a screenshot of her latest service charge bill which came out at more than £100,000 – and that is only half the cost she is meant to take on this year for cladding remediation. @Sheffcladding was one of many to reply, saying it “will be far more expensive for govt to rehouse us when we’re all bankrupt, homeless & on benefits than put this situation right!”.
It's the sending this on 4th August saying it's due 1st July for me pic.twitter.com/EjMpcjnwyJ
— Sophie Bichener (@SophieLB1) August 4, 2021
- @NGoodrichHsg – Neil Goodrich, former chair of CIH Futures – posed an interesting question on Twitter: “If you were to build a housing association from scratch #UKhousing – how would you do it? And why?”
The answers were pretty wide-ranging and interesting. @PhoenixVickyB – Vicky Ball, head of housing at Phoenix Futures – suggested: “Build some nice houses and flats in an area with lots of social amenities and green spaces near to public transport. Charge a social rent and offer them to people in housing need.” Although she disconcertingly added: “Utopia.”
@CatherineStubbi – Catherine Stubbings, a CIH member champion – said: “How about we go the whole hog and redesign the #housingmarket so that it works for everyone!”
While @MatthewG_685 – Matthew Gardiner, formerly of L&Q and Trafford Housing Trust, tweeting “in an entirely personal capacity” – suggested: “Radical transparency. Choice. Digitisation. The sharing of power and profit. And with a regulatory regime that backs up those principles.” @John_J_C_Moss – Waltham Forest councillor John Moss – went more old school: “I’d create something like an almshouses charity.”
- @beth_eluned – Bethan Proctor, policy and external affairs manager at Community Housing Cymru – tweeted a thread on the role of Welsh housing in tackling climate change, in the wake of a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Although the report was, she said, “sobering, stark, and quite frankly, scary”, she was quick to add: “There is hope though. The worst catastrophise [sic] can be avoided if we act now. Housing associations are ready to play their part.”
Stark warning from the IPCC's Climate Report today which states that climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying.
— Bethan Proctor (@beth_eluned) August 9, 2021
How can housing in Wales help? --> https://t.co/gg9P6b4rWU #ClimateReport #IPCC
- One for your diaries: 15 September will be #ScottishHousingDay, and this year the Twitter-based event will focus on housing and the climate change emergency. Its official Twitter account is @scothousingday.
- Menopause has been in the news lately, with more women taking their employers to tribunal over sex discrimination cases linked to this experience. Subsequently, there has been a lot of discussion on #UKhousing Twitter about this issue. @AsterGroupUK took the time to highlight its menopause-friendly policies, including various talks on the subject. @Your_Housing also tweeted about a training session it ran on menopause (left). The landlord said: “It’s time to be more open about it so that we can support our colleagues, family and friends.”
We were lucky enough to attend a training session yesterday on the all-important, but all too often taboo, subject of #Menopause. It's time to be more open about it so that we can support our colleagues, family and friends. #menopause #awareness #itsnottaboo pic.twitter.com/fBqaQrDOLo
— Your Housing Group (@Your_Housing) August 6, 2021
- Meanwhile, @CEOHousingOps – Moira Bayne, chief executive of Housing Options Scotland – took to Twitter to highlight a client’s situation. “I have a homeless client. He is in work and not allowed his phone/access to it from 8-5. Makes it impossible for him to speak to statutory services about his application.”
Spotlight on ministers
Housing secretary @RobertJenrick has not been tweeting about housing much recently, with only two tweets in August at the time of writing – one about Yorkshire Day and the other about a logo design for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The replies to both were an avalanche though, largely from flatowners affected by the cladding crisis.
Who to follow
@existinghomes – a coalition of housing organisations and others promoting action to retrofit Scotland’s existing housing stock for zero carbon. There is a lot to learn here for the rest of the UK, too.
@HAHistories – as you might expect from the name, this is an account about housing association history. A book on the subject will be out this year.
@MunicipalDreams – linked to a blog and book of the same name, this account often focuses on the architecture of social housing and public buildings.
@emilyraemaxwell, head of housing and neighbourhoods at Brent Housing, rescued these baby ducks. They were later reunited with their mother and returned to the pond.
Spotted these two lost outside the office today!
— Emily-Rae Maxwell (@emilyraemaxwell) August 2, 2021
Quick cuddle and a box from the bakery and in to work they came.
So pleased to have got the update they are now back with mother duck and going to the pond \uD83D\uDE0D\uD83D\uDC24\uD83E\uDD86 pic.twitter.com/0hJB5I28oD
Digital Futures Summit
The Social Housing and Inside Housing Digital Futures Summit (1-2 November 2021, Manchester) will bring together digital and technology experts from the social housing ecosystem to not only celebrate the pioneering digital achievements that are leading the sector towards a digitally enabled future, but also to recognise, understand and learn from stories that did not go quite to plan.
Only by sharing and embracing ‘failure’ can the sector learn and develop, which will enable local authorities and housing associations to take back control of their services and walk away from the conference with tangible solutions to implement lasting positive change.
This is a ground-breaking conference which focuses on collaboration across the housing sector, rather than competing against one another.
