More than just a landlord
Anticipating the changing welfare to work provision through the new DWP Work Programme, we held a “Capturing the lessons event on using TR & T to support and signpost tenants into training and employment. In light of current policy drivers, we need housing management officers being supported by their organisations to take a lead on supporting tenants into work if we want them to remain in their homes and if we want to reduce the impact of the welfare reform.
A number of the key issues to support this included:
Tenant profiling
Providers need to make the most out of opportunities to understand tenants’ employment and training ambitions. It is vital that tenant surveys and profiling exercises are seeking to find out both job and training and financial inclusion information.
For many retention authorities and stock transfers, the major improvement programme, and in the case of stock transfers, signing the new tenancy agreement allows landlords an opportunity to ‘piggy back’ onto an existing engagement method in order to assess tenants’ needs and desires.
Tenant Engagement
Landlords need to ascertain why tenants are contacting them – is it for wider reasons than just housing management and repairs and maintenance? Organisations also need to use a range of ways to engage with their customers, often using partner agencies and other support organisations who have existing relationships with tenants and their families.
Some of the means that housing providers use on a regular basis include:
- show homes
- social enterprise projects
- community projects
- fun days and youth based activities such as action camps
- school engagement
- the Youth Offending Team
- Digital TV and social media
Housing management’s role
In light of forthcoming welfare changes, there is a need to refocus housing management services to become more community focused and enabling within local communities and neighbourhoods. There could be an opportunity for homelessness caseworkers, allocation/housing officers to signpost tenants to TR&T opportunities through:
- allocations processes
- tenancy sign ups
- tenancy management visits
- property inspections
- tenancy support officers and agencies
The profession works in many ways, but several housing providers are seeing the benefit of officers taking on a patch approach to housing management, having enforcement and investment sitting together in order to tackle problems as well as offering solutions to a geographical community. This is not about adding extra responsibilities onto the role of a housing officer, but more so about changing our focus and the way we deliver housing management services.
Partnerships
Working in partnership with the relevant agencies can be the difference between effective housing management and escalating tenancy and estate problems. This is a real opportunity to add value to tenants who are looking for job and training by working with partners to support this approach. There is a wealth of data as well as strategies, for a and funding mechanisms to support unemployment and skills deficits that housing providers can tap into.
Making the case
We know that the housing sector is going to have to dig deep to find working solutions to the welfare cuts that are approaching. TR & T can be part of the suite of options that are suitable. But how do we get the sector to buy in?
A number of activities were identified:
- Using hard TR & T to demonstrate the financial savings and value that is achieved through mechanisms such as the Value Wales Community Measurement tool
- i2i and other cross sector organisations raising awareness of this approach with Housing Association Boards and senior officers to demonstrate the benefits and the importance that WAG are putting on this agenda
- CIH using its professional development role to support the wider role of housing management to meet the demands of the changing housing landscape
- CIH and other organisations to support the HR function to explore the wider remit of housing management roles through recruitment and job evaluation processes, as well as using their expertise to support tenants through up skilling and recruitment masterclasses where appropriate
- Housing providers being organised in mapping out local support agencies
- Housing providers identifying wider opportunities through their general procurement activities in order to create job and training opportunities
i2i is currently preparing an Active Response briefing to capture the good practice and recommendations from the sector to assist the housing sector to deliver on the challenges identified in this article.
If you are interested in receiving a copy or have a question in relation to this topic please contact Elin Jones, Housing and Regeneration Manager on Elin.jones@cih.org