Supporting Tenants and Communities through the Riots

In light of the recent racist violence in the UK, we believe that housing organisations have a crucial role in fostering safe and inclusive communities. Our work in this area is not new – we published a report in 2014 highlighting the role of housing providers in promoting cohesion and resilience in communities. We have reappraised this here and updated the key recommendations it made to reflect today’s circumstances. The document doesn’t discuss the effect of the disturbances on the workforce, concentrating on tenants and neighbourhoods

At the heart of our thinking is the importance of promoting community cohesion. This does not necessarily mean that there is an absence of conflict but that the community has ‘a collective ability to manage the shifting array of tensions and disagreements.’ This means that for a community to be cohesive and resilient there must be positive social relationships across different social groups so that there are opportunities for conflict or animosity to be openly addressed.

Here are some essential pieces of advice for housing providers to communicate to their tenants.

Short Term

1. Support Affected Individuals: Reach out to tenants who may have been directly affected by the disturbances. Personal check-ins, offering reassurance, and providing practical support can make a significant difference in their sense of safety and well-being.
2. Provide Resources and Support: Ensure tenants are aware of available resources, including mental health support, legal assistance, and community services. Providing information on how to access these resources can empower tenants to seek help when needed.
3. Enhance Security Measures: In response to heightened tensions, consider reviewing and enhancing security measures around housing estates. This might involve increasing surveillance, improving lighting in communal areas, and ensuring that all tenants are aware of emergency contact numbers.
4. Encourage Open Dialogue: Establish channels for open and respectful dialogue about the issues. This could include setting up a community forum or support group where tenants can share their experiences and concerns without fear of reprisal. Existing tenant engagement service may already have something in place. Workshops or training sessions on cultural competence and anti-racism can help tenants understand the impact of their actions and the values of diversity.
5. Foster a Zero-Tolerance Environment: Make it clear that your organisation has a zero-tolerance zone for racism. Visible posters, leaflets, and regular reminders about this stance can reinforce the message and discourage discriminatory behaviour. Following the 2011 riots some organisations threatened to evict convicted rioters.
6. Challenging misinformation: Ensure that staff are trained and confident in myth-busting, fact-checking, and challenging misleading statements which can be made either in person or online. This is especially in important in terms of allocations where there is potential for wildly misleading claims about priorities in the rehousing of refugees and asylum seekers. Community tensions can arise when one group feels that another group has preferential access to basic resources, such as housing. Housing organisations therefore have a responsibility to ensure that policies and practices for allocating housing are scrupulously fair, transparent and clearly communicated to housing applicants.

 

Medium to Long Term

1. Promote Community Cohesion: Encourage tenants to engage in community activities and events that promote understanding and solidarity among diverse groups. Hosting regular neighbourhood meetings and cultural exchange programs can help build mutual respect and reduce tensions.
2. Recognise the Importance of Partnerships: Housing organisations should work with government and other local stakeholders to identify how and why certain groups are socially excluded and develop interventions to promote their inclusion.
3. Implement Anti-Racism Policies: Reaffirm your commitment to anti-racism policies and addressing institutional biases. Clearly communicate that any form of racism or harassment will not be tolerated and outline the procedures for reporting and addressing such incidents. We are already working with several organisations in this area.
4. Assess Housing Needs of Changing Communities: Housing providers can undertake research and consultation with different local communities to understand their housing aspirations and changing needs. Having a strong understanding of the housing needs of different groups can increase a housing organisation’s ability to provide an adequate supply of appropriate housing within their housing stock. We are currently working with a housing association on research in their area around emerging communities, and another regarding hate crime.
5. Improving Choice in Housing: Physical segregation in housing can occur when vulnerable or disadvantaged groups lack support in making housing choices. Providing support and advice on the housing options available and making application procedures as simple as possible can help all groups to make fully informed housing choices. Housing organisations can also actively encourage and support social groups to move into ‘new’ areas to improve the demographic mix of neighbourhoods.
6. Improve Poor Housing Conditions: This was one of the outcomes of the Better Social Housing Review and it is clear that groups who live in particularly poor quality housing are likely to feel resentment towards others who have access to far better quality housing, especially if they perceive others to have unfair advantages. To reduce the likelihood of resentment and tension arising, housing organisations can work to improve the standard of all the properties they own so that all groups feel satisfied by the basic standard of the housing available to them.
7. Managing Neighbourhoods: Most of the factors influencing community cohesion and resilience relate to opportunities for different social groups to interact. Housing organisations can provide space for community groups to meet and hold events so that people from different backgrounds can form friendships. Housing providers can also encourage all social groups to participate in decision-making and tenant associations so that all groups have an opportunity to have their needs addressed.
8. Developing targets and monitoring results: Community dynamics are constantly changing and so encouraging community cohesion and enabling resilience is an on-going process. Housing organisations should develop targets and monitor indicators for community cohesion and resilience in their localities so that they can respond quickly and effectively to any emerging risks to community cohesion and resilience.

 

We’re also keen on housing organisations having an effective and forward-looking Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy led from the top, which also addresses socio-economic disadvantage. Notably, before the riots we have held two board sessions with different organisations which extensively discussed the threat posed by the far-right and the consequences of residential segregation.

If you wish to discuss any of the issues in this do get in touch – info@housingdiversitynetwork.co.uk