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Housing sector has ‘lost ground’ on BME representation
A lack of programmes monitoring the employment and representation of BME individuals within housing organisations has led to a lack of diversity in the sector, housing figures have said.
Inside Housing has spoken to BME leaders within housing who said that over time regulation of ethnicity and diversity has faded away while social purpose has made way for a focus on business growth and development of new homes.
The warnings come as Black Lives Matter protests have swept across the world sparked by the killing of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis, USA. It has led to nationwide conversations about racism and equality in the UK, including in the housing sector.
Llewellyn Graham, chief executive of Nehemiah Housing Association, told Inside Housing: “We have lost ground in housing where equality is concerned.”
He noted that the sector was on the “front foot” in the 1980s and 1990s with positive action schemes which supported the training and development of BME individuals in housing, while the Housing Corporation had a requirement for associations to employ BME people.
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However, when the Housing Corporation was abolished in 2008, Mr Graham said monitoring of BME representation fell away and suggested new laws could revive equality.
“If there was a requirement for associations to have a representative amount of BME people, you can bet there will be programmes and systems in place to ensure that happens,” he explained.
Cym D’Souza, chief executive at Arawak Walton and chair of BME National, which represents more than 45 BME associations, said that requirements on organisations to show they were addressing the needs of minority groups had also vanished.
She noted that where BME associations, like Black Roof Community Housing Association, have been merged with others, BME leaders have been lost as well as a connection to tenants.
“The priority of boards has been about growth and economies of scale – not racial equality,” she added.
Abdul Ravat, vice-chair of Manningham Housing Association, agreed that some larger housing associations are now “drifting from their social purpose” and said that racial equality was once “on a par” with development in terms of importance.
