Housing Futures 1

Consideration should be given to the governance mechanisms for delivery focused on a culture of open governance – openness, transparency, inclusivity and advancing value networks and new ecosystems. The sector has an opportunity to think beyond structures, hierarchy and organisation (limiting) boundaries, and away from the delivery vertically mapped, structured analogue model. In short, a new theory of change and agency.

A guiding principle of a seamless service where a single provider supports people along different stages of their life journey. Spiraling costs are putting systems at risk of dramatically limiting their scope, passing costs back to hard pressed families with sometimes severe impacts on household budgets. By applying demand-side as well as supply-side solutions we can help create different settings to tackle the looming challenges of ageing, workless-ness, wellbeing and childcare. With increased expectations to invest more into existing stock to improve quality standards this provides an opportunity to incorporate some of the above challenges.

Transforming relationships with residents and local communities, aligning with the transition to consumer regulation as well as equalising power dynamics between professionals and citizens. Instead of assuming people want ever cheaper, outdated services, should our first task be to find what out kind of life people want to live, and then work with others to invest in their ability to live it.

Housing associations are an integral part of a diverse ecology of enterprise activity aimed at meeting socio-economic-social objectives. With a combined collateral worth of plus £1 billion turnover and £4 billion assets this represents a powerful economic proposition. Historically, there has been an overly simplistic attempt to quantify housing associations’ economic contribution, reflecting social return on investment (SROI), which has not gained necessary traction and credibility. In doing so, it has negated the expensive impact made in local economies, infrastructure, skills, health and wellbeing, flood defence, in addition to house building and construction.

As a member of the family of anchor institutions, there is little evidence of the sector encouraging spin-outs, market making and support for the social economy. Yet there are few better placed with an understanding of the broad investment sector and the development of new tools and markets.

Housing associations have an important role in local, sub-regional, regional and national economic recovery.

Housing is at the core of overall population health and the level of care and support undertaken in the housing sector is more advanced than historically and therefore in a stronger position to compensate for certain aspects of services delivered through the NHS. Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board/Housing Associations research report (2022) shone a spotlight on the relationship between health and housing tenures. Based on a sample of 30,000 households, this represented the largest such research undertaking in Wales.

Regarding emergency admissions, early death rates, vaccination take up levels, it showed glaring inequalities among social housing residents. This research builds on existing social housing data (STAR) showing significantly high levels of housing association households containing one or more individuals who are registered disabled or with a long-term limiting illness. Ultimately, what service redesign requirements does this raise as well as the means by which housing associations collaborate and pool resources using non-traditional means.

This collaboration also highlights the value of shared data protocols as well as placing a spotlight on difficulties encountered to undertake such valuable exercises. It should not take 18 months to secure necessary approvals.

A more sophisticated understanding and framework is required to reflect the real impact of state resource transfer on balance sheets, cash flows, risk maps and the broader governance of organisations. When embracing environmental, social and governance (ESG), lenders should be alert to how filling state gaps add to sector risks and liabilities, but also recognise that without further sector interventions it weakens organisations’ balance sheets. With many multinational corporations recognising this and actively intervening there should not be a disconnect between housing association investors and investees.

Pooling sector research, innovation, business transformation and service improvement resources to build sector-wide cross-departmental solutions including new technologies to network, share, aggregate information. This may be one way to collectivize the means to generate more new ideas, products and enterprises to resolve endemic social issues. It would also encourage greater input and collaboration from industry, academia and other partners.

The UK Government has designated Investment Zone status to universities. Based on the sector’s work-based learning, skills enhancement and community engagement attributes, can we become the ‘knowledge transfer on legs’ (NESTA – Connected University)?

The sector is not alone in that its strategies, culture, structure, and governance models are not suited to tackle complex challenges that cut across sectors, departments, institutions, and communities.

Shifting focus not only on efficiencies of services but also the efficiencies of outcomes – cannot be done in isolation – will require co-ordination from different sectors with shared interests within defined areas. This corresponds with the new commissioning frameworks in which efficiencies of delivering outcomes sit alongside the focusing on efficiencies of services.

Thousands of medically discharged individuals unnecessarily occupy critically short hospital bed spaces. The acute shortage of community provision to support hospital discharge requires many of the skills, resources and capital readily at the disposal of housing associations. The sector should be involved in co-producing processes to develop new ways to commission and pay for care – longer-term, outcome based contracts and budgets based on defined populations co-terminus with housing association stock presence.