The multi-faceted role of the housing provider

Dating back to the 1800s, those that work in housing (and many of those that do not) will have heard of the Peabody Trust. From its first housing estate in the heart of London, Peabody has grown to become one of the largest social landlords, with homes across London and the Home Counties and a resident base larger than the size of Reading.

True to its philanthropic origins, Peabody has retained its social purpose, working in partnership with local organisations, seeking out lessons and best practice where it can, and investing back into communities across London and beyond. It’s spending £1 million every day improving homes - at first glance an astonishing amount, but even then, says Peabody deputy CEO and newly appointed CIH president, Elly Hoult, “there is much to do beyond that”.

One of the ways that this delivery will be possible – and one that is particularly close to Elly’s heart – is to make sure that the sector is recognised for the opportunities it offers; that it has the right people with the right qualifications and experience to do the wide variety of jobs that need doing.

Holistic provision of services

In January, colleagues from the National Housing Federation and Chartered Institute of Housing were invited by Peabody to visit the Unity Centre and the surrounding estates in the London Borough of Brent. Brent is a diverse area, but has one of the highest poverty rates in the capital. In response, as well as providing homes, Peabody and many other social landlords are working hard to close some of the gaps in provision for their communities that have surfaced over years of funding shortages.

The Peabody Community Foundation (PCF) is the part of Peabody dedicated to investing in its communities. It works in partnership with local people and other organisations and in many ways, is the ‘boots on the ground’ - getting out and about amongst residents and local community groups to better understand what it is that they need from Peabody in order to thrive.

This can be seen in the North Brent community gardens, a small patch of disused land identified by local residents as a site for a new community garden. In collaboration with Brent Council and Peabody, this space is now being developed and managed by volunteers and flowerbeds are being offered to residents, a local primary school and Age UK. A small patch of grass by the side of a road has been transformed to become a space delivering community value across the generations.

Partnership to enable delivery

The Unity Centre is another great example of how the PCF is helping not only Peabody residents, but also the wider community across Brent. Community properties manager, Sasha Rhoden is on a mission to make it a beacon for how community centres can be used to benefit the local community, looking in particular, at how organisations can use the space to capture the imagination of a diverse and intergenerational community.

The Wellbeing Hub at the centre is one of its big successes. By working in partnership with local businesses and service providers, it is delivering a holistic service within the community. A key part of this is Brent Health Matters, a programme focused on building a bridge between the different communities that live in the area and connecting them with the services that exist to support them. It first became involved during Covid-19, when in the first wave of the virus, the Somali community in Brent was badly impacted. The programme stepped in to make sure that communities who were already struggling were not disproportionately affected in further waves of the virus. The Unity Centre played a big part in giving all communities ‘a fair chance’, and so raising the profile of the space is key to supporting those aims.

We were there to witness ‘Wellbeing Wednesday’ at the hub, where the focus is on support around mental and emotional wellbeing, physical wellbeing, financial wellbeing, or feelings of isolation or loneliness. The hub also works with local organisations to support routes back into employment, as well as cultural change through education.

Also delivering their services out of the Unity Centre is Connect Stars, a youth-led organisation. When local authority funding for youth services in the area was cut, Connect Stars began working with Peabody to deliver its services. Since Peabody took over the Unity Centre, Connect Stars has seen the reach and impact of its offer increase. We were told that the Unity Centre gives them a greater ability to offer quality provision for local young people and in doing so, reduce crime.

Building a skilled workforce

As showcased by our visit to the Unity Centre, the role of the housing provider has changed and while housing delivery and management remains at its core, the variety of roles that a landlord such as Peabody offers has widened considerably. Key to continuing to deliver a rounded service to its residents, alongside safe and decent homes, is the attraction and retention of skilled professionals into the workforce. A shrinking workforce continues to be an area of concern for many in the housing sector, but it becomes a particularly potent issue for an organisation supporting a base of residents the size of a large town.

Elly Hoult has made it her CIH presidential mission to raise awareness of the opportunities a career in housing provides and increase diversity across the sector with the CHOOSE HOUSING campaign. At Peabody, this work has begun in earnest, with the creation of the Peabody Academy as an ‘Employer Provider’ in 2023. Through the academy, prospective and existing Peabody employees are encouraged to engage with learning and development. Alongside courses in core development areas, the academy offers a diverse range of apprenticeships in areas such as business administration, care and support, customer service, leadership and management, and property management.

The academy is founded on the principle of continuous development and focuses on lifelong learning. With a constant programme of investment in its staff, Peabody nurtures talent from within, embedding the principles of professionalism and ensuring that it can deliver a wide range of services to the communities that it serves.

The CHOOSE HOUSING toolkit provides resources and guidance on how to raise awareness of the opportunities the sector provides. Take a look and decide how you’re going to help make housing a career of choice.