Housing under the microscope: What to expect from the new regulatory regime
With the Social Housing (Regulation) Act finally completing its passage through parliament, social housing providers are gearing up for a bold new era of proactive regulation. And, as Neil Merrick discovers, preparation is key – for both the organisations under scrutiny and the regulator itself. During the past 13 years, the government has spent as […]
Talking heads: The social housing professionalisation review
HQN ran a series of roundtables looking at the government’s professionalisation review of social housing and whether it’d help to drive up standards in the sector. Over two weeks, we spoke to nearly 50 staff, from chief executives to customer care advisors. Here’s our roundup of what people had to say. What do you […]
How tweaking street spaces can enhance community wellbeing
We’ve increasingly viewed streets as places for motor vehicles. But what happens when you tweak the space or manage access to it? Two studies in Õtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa, New Zealand shed light on this, writes Simon Kingham Study 1: Creating a ‘play’ street The first study (Kingham et al, 2020) took advantage of a temporary […]
Is gentrification unjust?
Casey Dawkins, University of Maryland As capital travels the globe, it often lands in historically disinvested urban neighbourhoods, and when conditions are ripe, fuels a process of reinvestment and neighbourhood change dubbed “gentrification” by the British sociologist Ruth Glass. Proponents argue that gentrification isn’t only inevitable, given the scarcity of developable land within most […]
From the Chief Executive… All hands on deck
HQN’s new regulation toolkit is designed to help you get ready for the upcoming round of inspections in housing. The work landlords do is under intense scrutiny from social media, the papers, TV and politicians. So, these inspections won’t be an easy ride. Nor should they be. We need to stamp out completely the dreadful […]
Be prepared: Throwing a spotlight on housing inspection
The social housing sector is braced for the return of inspection in some form. But whether it’s ‘Ofsted-style’ as the government prefers or an extension of the current ‘in-depth assessment’ approach remains to be seen. Either way, organisations need to start preparing now – as Alistair McIntosh explains. My wife is a director at […]
Behind the headlines
In our new series, we hear from housing providers involved in major news events to understand how they handled difficult situations and what lessons have been learned. Here, Sue Sutton, Chief Executive at Salix Homes, explains how a fire in a Salford tower block prompted the housing association to launch a campaign to raise awareness […]
Housing’s Next Generation 2023: Meet the finalists
After a series of increasingly difficult challenges, we’ve reached the final stages of HQN’s Housing’s Next Generation competition for 2023. Ahead of the grand finale at the HQN annual conference, here is the lowdown on our five finalists. It started with more than 50 nominated candidates back in April and now there are just five […]
How are tenants in private renting faring? A new continuous national survey
As the private rented sector has grown and developed, concerns about the need to improve standards in it have come into sharper focus within policy and practice, writes Jennifer Harris. The Renters (Reform) Bill introduced to parliament on 17 May aims to deliver “safer, fairer and higher quality homes”. Evaluating the effectiveness of the proposals […]
Housing in Practice: Thirteen Housing Group: Furnishing homes for tenants
In our latest case study highlighting positive practices in the social housing sector, Neil Merrick reports on a successful furniture recycling scheme in North East England that helps tenants who cannot afford to furnish their homes. A tenant’s story Prior to moving into a house in Stockton-on-Tees, Adam (name changed) had become used to […]