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‘Give residents spending power,’ says Scotland’s largest housing association
Social housing residents should have control over how their landlord’s money is spent, a report commissioned by Scotland’s largest housing association has said.
Wheatley Group, following a report commissioned with support from the Chartered Institute of Housing, has called for the housing sector to change the way it engages with communities.
The report, carried out by non-profit The Democratic Society, suggested a number of ways for the social housing sector to better engage with residents.
These included giving residents “direct powers in choosing how and where money is spent”, using a mix of online and offline methods of communication, “co-producing” services with residents, improving accessibility, encouraging more discussion and using new technology.
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On the first of these measures, dubbed “participatory budgeting”, the report cited the case of Antwerp in Belgium, where residents can allocate 10% of the city’s budget through a consensus building approach.
The report added: “Providing a tangible opportunity to steer spending decisions can build trust between service providers and service users. It can also be a useful starting point from which to encourage the culture change needed that support new ways of working.”
Launching the report, Scottish housing minister Kevin Stewart said: “The engagement and empowerment of tenants and residents in Scotland are at the heart of local and national housing policy.
“Housing providers are ideally placed to empower communities and through their close relationship with residents can help people build skills and support them to get involved in issues that are important to them.”
Wheatley Group itself already has a participatory budgeting policy, with set amounts being made available to committees of tenants around Scotland each year.
The report also outlined various ways that social landlords can make themselves more transparent to residents, including sharing plans early and encouraging residents to get meaningfully involved in them.
Martin Armstrong, chief executive at Wheatley Group, added: “Our organisational goal is to define and develop a new relationship with our customers, shifting the balance of power from executive command and control to decision-making by communities, families and individuals who are at the heart of our projects.
“This report sets a new benchmark – not just for Wheatley Group but for organisations across the UK – and, hopefully, it will stimulate discussion and re-energise thinking on how they engage with people to create and support stronger, more resilient communities.”
