Proactive community presence – using case studies as a source of inspiration to innovate

Recommendation six of the Better Social Housing Review (BSHR):

Housing associations should develop a proactive local community presence through community hubs which foster greater multi-agency working.

As face-to-face contact with tenants has gradually declined, one of the Better Social Housing Review (BSHR) panel’s recommendations was for housing associations to return to having a proactive community presence in their local areas. The panel recommended creating community hubs to foster more multi-agency working with partners and stakeholders, but where that would not be possible, looking at other ways to increase engagement with tenants. Importantly, working to find a way of being present in a way that meets the needs of the diverse range of tenants in that area.

Some housing providers already had great initiatives in place, and others, inspired by the BSHR recommendation, began work on developing a greater community presence.

As part of the BSHR Action Plan we have created a library to allow the sector to share this knowledge, experience and good practice. It is a platform to inspire innovation and further community engagement, with a fantastic variety of examples of housing organisations proactively working in their communities in different ways.

Case studies include organisations who have created physical hubs in the centre of their diverse communities; others who have worked with local agencies to create social enterprises to provide a range of advice services; and housing providers who have created new job opportunities in their business to both help local employment levels, and increase engagement with tenants by being more present and accessible.

There are many ways to engage with tenants, whether through events, utilising partnerships or just being more present in a community with increased staffing.

We urge all housing professionals to have a look at the case studies, learn from others in the field as to what has worked well for them, and hopefully in turn be inspired to continue to develop your own community engagement work.

Equally if you have a great engagement story to share, please get in touch by emailing marketing.communications@cih.org.

Read our case studies

Read more on the Better Social Housing Review