Government launches social housing safety group

Social housing residents could benefit from a government trial that aims to improve communications between tenants and landlords over issues of building safety.

The Social Sector (Building Safety) Engagement Best Practice Group will decide on short-term pilot schemes to investigate how to communicate to residents about issues around the safety of the buildings they live in.

Independently chaired by Leasehold Advisory Service board member Victoria Elvidge, the group comprises representatives from eight social sector landlords, plus a resident from each organisation.

It will meet once a month for the next six months and then present a report to government which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said would be used to “inform and develop” future policy.

The government said the group would help to ensure tenants were “given a stronger voice” when discussing and improving building safety, following calls in Dame Judith Hackitt’s post-Grenfell report that ministers needed to test ways to engage effectively with residents.

Its principal aims are to build on existing social sector expertise in working closely with residents, develop best practice in the fields of engagement and communication with residents, inform future policy development and consider how approaches to resident engagement with regards to fire and building safety could be applied to other tenures.

The government said last summer it would form a small group of social housing landlords to investigate and pilot how to best communicate building safety issues with residents.

Optivo is one of the landlords taking part and the group’s chief operating officer Jane Porter said her organisation was delighted to have been selected to be part of the trial.

“At Optivo, we’re passionate about ensuring that residents’ voices are at the heart of decision-making, so strongly welcome residents being at the table for these discussions. We’re looking forward to working with the Ministry of Housing to deliver the important outcomes for the project,” Porter added.

Suzanne Whitehead, senior technical fire manager at Clarion Housing Group, said: “Clarion is really pleased to be one of the housing associations represented on MHCLG’s Best Practice Group to improve the sector’s approach to communicating with residents about the safety of their homes.

“We look forward to exploring innovative and practical solutions to enhance resident engagement in this regard. As a responsible landlord, the safety of our residents is our number one priority.”

As well as the eight landlord organisations, the group will also feature two fire and building safety experts: Tim Birchall, fire safety technical officer for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, and Paul Everall, chief executive of Local Authority Building Control.

Speaking to Housing Today Everall said he was “very supportive” of the safety group initiative. He stressed it was important to focus minds around what residents needed to hear and were themselves able to say to those in positions of power.

“We need to look at how to communicate with residents effectively, but it’s also crucial that residents feel they are being listened to. Hopefully through the pilots we will be undertaking there will be lessons learned.”

CHP director of commercial services, Denise Kent said she welcomed the opportunity to take part in developing what she called “a culture change across the sector in how we engage residents on safety matters”.

And housing minister Kit Malthouse MP said the government was keen to pilot “new and engaging options to ensure social housing residents are better informed on issues that matter most to them, none more so than their safety.

“This new group will see social landlords and their residents come together to explore new ways to trial this that will help inform wider reforms as we look to rebalance the relationship between landlord and residents.”