To re-imagine regeneration we need to reinvent engagement

At the National Housing Federation’s Re-imagining Regeneration event last week the most powerful encounter occurred in a session called ‘regenerating communities in the face of welfare reform’.

A representative from DWP’s social justice division presented the government’s welfare reform agenda, followed immediately by a chief executive of a housing association in one of the pathfinder universal credit areas, who described the impact of universal credit and other welfare reform measures on his residents and on his business.

Rising arrears, homelessness, residents living on food parcels, sanctions, stopping of benefit payments, the list went on. He described the frustrations of clients and housing providers trying to get a response from DWP, and the lack of insight into the impact of its reforms on people’s lives. ‘I think Pollyanna works at DWP,’ he said.

Wherever you stand on the benefits – or chaos – of the welfare reform agenda, the encounter was a stark example of what happens when communication breaks down and when institutions get too far away from the reality of the lives of the people they represent. When new systems are foisted from above and when listening and true engagement play little part in the process.

It doesn’t just happen in central government but is a feature of many institutions, particularly larger ones. There’s sometimes a temptation to hide behind processes and bureaucracy and to do things as they have always been done.

Later on during the event we heard from social enterprises wanting their local large housing associations to be more collaborative and open, and about private sector organisations being unwilling to step up and take part in the planning process in their local areas for fear that their voluntary sector or public sector partners would be suspicious of their motives. We were given a potted history of regeneration in the UK, its successes and its many failures.

It is often smaller organisations that are most able to change and adapt. During the conference we heard from Leeds Empties, which has a staff of two but which works through engagement and collaboration, bringing the different sectors in Leeds together to tackle the issue of empty homes. It’s an organisation that is listening and reacting and adapting its model to the conditions it finds on the ground. What could the local public sector and other bigger organisations learn from these nimble players in the social sector who are able to mobilise and collaborate and make change happen?

Innovation is sometimes presented as something complex but often the most innovative thing a service or organisation can do is to listen to its audience, its recipients, its potential partners, and have genuine relationships with them. As Indy Johar, co-founder of Impact Hub Westminster, said in his keynote speech at last week’s conference, housing associations need to get closer to their residents and become the voice for the five million people they represent.

It is only by staying awake to the realities of our impact and stepping forward out of our silos that change will happen, and that regeneration will be meaningful. One of the messages that chief executive of the National Housing Federation David Orr gave to the housing association sector at last week’s event was for the sector to lose its public diffidence and be bolder in telling its stories, finding new partners and pushing its mission. As central government becomes increasingly irrelevant and out of touch, it is up to local players – big and small – to step forward and truly engage with the local communities they represent.