Resident involvement - Hyde Housing Association

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Resident involvement in social housing in the UK and Europe AEDES, the trade body for Dutch social landlords, were introduced in 2007. These emphasise the important position of service users and state that social landlords seek to actively involve residents ‘in working to create vital communities and neighbourhoods and in the development of our products and services’ (AEDES code, 2007). Another related aspect of industry self-regulation in the Netherlands is the service quality ‘kitemarking’ framework ‘KWH’, a partnership set up in 1994 and now involving more than 200 housing associations. 30 The system prescribes quality standards for a wide range of landlord activities including governance, social entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability. KWH kitemarks include a specific designation or ‘label’ for Tenant Participation (KWH Participatielabel). The associated criteria specify requirements for meaningful tenant involvement under four headings: (a) clear vision on tenant participation, (b) adequate conditions to support tenant participation, (c) accessible and cooperative landlord, and (d) tenant participation has a positive impact on landlord policy and activities. Providers applying for the Tenant Participation Label are assessed by an independent audit committee which makes reference to consumer survey data as well as evidence from face-to-face interviews with staff members and tenant representatives. Apparently taking some inspiration from the Dutch system, the Flemish government has recently begun to develop a legislative basis for resident involvement in social housing in this part of Belgium. Under the terms of the 2005 Flemish Housing Code (Vlaamse Wooncode) social landlords are obliged to: • organise meetings with tenants and provide opportunities to discuss their (housing) problems and expectations and develop adequate solutions in collaboration with stakeholders; • organise meetings to inform tenants and involve them in relocation processes connected to refurbisments or other substantial changes to the housing stock; • take initiatives to inform and communicate with tenants. A system for social landlord accreditation, as outlined in 2010, will include a four-yearly assessment of organisational performance – including performance on resident involvement. 30 http://www.kwh.nl/ 25
Resident involvement in social housing in the UK and Europe 2.4 Chapter summary The nature and scope of resident involvement in social housing is importantly affected by a landlord organisation’s legal and governance structure. For providers structured as co-operatives, or with tenant majority governing bodies, resident involvement is not optional but inherent. In this respect, the Danish sector, with its built-in ‘tenants’ democracy’ and its decentralised administrative framework, contrasts sharply from the other countries in this study. While it is apparently somewhat less diverse, the Dutch housing association sector appears to have far more in common with its English counterpart in terms of typical organisational forms and ethics. The promotion of resident involvement in social housing is an official policy priority in all the case study countries covered in this research. Until recently, this objective was being strongly promoted in England via an intensive model of government regulation. Since 2007, and particularly since the change of government in 2010, however, there has been a dramatic shift away from both prescriptive requirements and rigorous scrutiny of their implementation. With the predominant ‘localist’ ethic implying enhanced resident influence on services, this poses a particular challenge for many large housing associations. In Belgium, with its relatively small and emergent sector, active official commitment to enhancing resident involvement in social housing is a recent development. In the Netherlands, however, the past decade has seen government tending to draw back from direct or prescriptive involvement in this cause. This has been paralleled over a number of years by a growing industry commitment to achieve such ends through self-regulation. Given the ingrained nature of England’s centralised political and administrative culture it remains to be seen whether a similar trend will be triggered by the radical reorientation of official regulation seen here in recent years. 26
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