Social housing has always been more than just about putting a roof over people’s heads. It’s about fostering a sense of belonging, ownership and inclusion through vibrant and cohesive communities.
In the government’s social housing green paper, residents talked about pride in their community, but ‘how sometimes this was let down by poor neighbourhood management, upkeep of buildings and the quality of shared spaces’. Some residents struggled with the lack of green spaces, while others felt crushed by loneliness or found it difficult to deal with the toll of others’ anti-social behaviour.
To address these and other concerns, the government published the social housing white paper which set out its intention to improve things for people living in social housing. The expectation and requirement being that all tenants are provided with good quality, decent homes and neighbourhoods to live in.
Four years on, and the new Neighbourhood and Community Standard is due to come into effect later this year, building on this commitment and setting out landlords’ responsibilities regarding their customers’ surroundings.
Although much good work is already being done by housing providers in their day-to-day operations to make lives better for their tenants, the imminent publication of the new set of standards is perhaps a good time to sharpen the focus.
With that in mind, how can technology support housing providers to build relationships and ensure people live in safe environments?
Building better relationships
Many housing providers already have mechanisms to capture tenants’ voices and measure if they are satisfied. What will be different under the new set of standards is that housing providers must prove that they are listening and collaborating with tenants.
A tick-box approach won’t work, so now is the time to put policies in place if they aren’t already and sharpen up training for front-line staff to ensure they are listening and can deal with problems sensitively and appropriately.
Research by the Welsh government found that the factors that made people feel less safe where they live included noise nuisances, household disputes involving swearing, shouting and fighting, and anti-social behaviour such as dumping rubbish, dog fouling, graffiti and drivers racing cars. They felt safer when there was a sense of belonging and people from different backgrounds got on well together.
This isn’t surprising because feeling unsafe, lonely and invisible where we live can have a profound impact on our mental health and wellbeing.
Creating online communities for tenants can help foster a sense of belonging, build trust and transparency, and demonstrate your commitment to tenants’ wellbeing.
Many tenants have busy lives and appreciate the opportunity to use online mechanisms to liaise with their landlords and each other. Online surveys, forums and polls which are easy to administer using technology are all great ways to enable residents to discuss challenges around shared and outside spaces and the neighbourhood. They can also be used to consult residents on planned works to these spaces so that everyone is kept onboard and has the chance to say how they feel about any proposals.
You can then use the feedback to help shape services and their environment to better meet the needs of your tenants and show that you are listening. However, bear in mind that some tenants might not be able or want to use digital tools so it’s important to offer other channels through which they can share their views or concerns.
Understanding your tenants
To support tenants well, housing providers also need to understand more about them and what is going on in their lives. And for this you need access to good data recorded in a centralised system so there is a single view of what is happening, and that knowledge isn’t lost when staff move on.
For example, if someone is reporting anti-social behaviour, what else might be going on with them? Are they vulnerable and/or live alone? Have they reported the problem before and if so, how many times? Have they recently reported their neighbour for noise nuisance?
Knowing this information can help housing providers identify a potential cause and build up a more complete picture of what is happening so they can tackle it better. This can help them create more meaningful engagements with tenants because they have the background and understanding to take the right action to deal with concerns.
Spotting & supporting victims of domestic abuse
Housing providers are in a unique position to spot signs of domestic abuse, support victims and take a proactive role in holding perpetrators to account for the damage they cause to both their victims and their homes.
The Regulator expects housing providers to fulfil this key role by having robust strategies to tackle some of the issues surrounding it, spot and report early signs, and put safety measures in place.
Housing providers can use data in their housing management systems to drive early interventions to spot this crime and support victims. For example, they can use the data to spot patterns that show reports of disturbances at a property often occur after the pubs shut on a Friday night, when the rent is due or after key sporting events.
Perhaps the data shows there have been numerous calls to repair windows and walls inside the house or repeated lock changes, which could indicate potential causes for concern and the need for further investigation. Or a housing officer might become aware of a problem with arrears that could indicate a time of family stress or potential financial abuse.
If there are causes for concern, housing staff can drop in and check to see how things are going or engage other agencies to offer support. And if the time comes when somebody does want to leave an abusive relationship then a documented record of what’s been going on and what actions have been taken can be shared with social services or the police.
Joining the dots
Having all the information in one place means that tenants don’t have to repeat themselves when they call or email and that you can organise appropriate support. This also comes down to communicating in the right way. For example, is English their first language, or if they are deaf will they be able to answer questions when a repair is taking place or should additional help be provided?
However, while data and analytics can help staff join the dots and spot patterns and trends, there still needs to be a human factor. When staff are well trained and have access to the right information, they can engage in meaningful dialogues and take the right decisions to build happy, safe and supportive housing communities.
Social housing tenants are ‘more likely to experience crime and anti-social behaviour than other types of tenants’. Being able to understand the bigger picture will improve housing providers’ ability to work with multi-agency partners, communicate more effectively with tenants and tackle the issues that matter most to their residents.
Kay Aston is head of product at NEC Software Solutions.
