Housing association involvement in neighbourhood working

The Local Innovation team were commissioned by CLG (Communities and Local Government) to organise a half day seminar in October 2007 to investigate the practical aspects of the Young Foundation’s recent research into housing associations’ role in neighbourhood working.

The day was intended to explore what was needed from current and planned policy developments to support practitioners in promoting housing associations’ contribution to neighbourhood governance. It also examined what existing resources could be used to support housing associations’ initiatives both at a strategic and at a local level.

The day began with a short presentation of the findings from the Young Foundation’s recent research into the role of housing associations in neighbourhood governance. This was followed by insights from high-profile representatives of the housing association, local authority and Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) worlds, including Tony Shoults (Chief Executive, Metropolitan Housing Trust), Dave Ellis (Constituency Director, Birmingham City Council) and Lainya Offside-Keivani (Director, Tower Hamlets Partnership).

The second half of the seminar saw the audience break into four workshop groups, which each discussed an example of a particular neighbourhood initiative and the approach of the involved stakeholders. Each workshop group considered the following three questions:

1. Is the approach replicable?
2. What are the barriers to replicating the approach elsewhere?
3. What support is needed from government and other agencies to scale up these approaches?

Workshop 1: Community Charters: the contribution of housing associations – led by Joe Micheli, Principle Social Exclusion Officer, Barnsley MBC

Workshop 2: Service provision: housing associations providing services on behalf of others – led by Helal Ahmed, Area Youth Work Manager, Poplar HARCA

Workshop 3: The third way: outsourcing neighbourhood involvement to other organisations – led by Tarn Lamb, Chief Executive, Cornwall Neighbourhoods 4 Change

Workshop 4: Housing associations’ potential in underpinning neighbourhood wellbeing – led by Sandra Spence, Chief Executive, Black Country Housing Association

To read more about the findings of the seminar’s discussions download our policy seminar report by clicking here.

To see pictures of this event click here.