News

CaCHE Knowledge Exchange Fund Projects announced

residential housing in Wales

Last year the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence launched the Knowledge Exchange Fund, which offered up to £8,000 of funding to undertake projects that would help to address challenges facing the UK housing policy and practice communities.

The Knowledge Exchange Fund attracted a lot of interest and a total of forty applications was received. The panel was impressed with the exceptionally high quality and the wide range of applications submitted, however due to the limited funds available, they were only able to fund five projects.

After a thorough shortlisting and evaluation process, the following projects were selected:

Housing with Pride – a knowledge exchange project to actively promote LGBTQ+ inclusivity and affirmative action in the social housing sector

This project brings together academic research, social housing providers, and third-sector organisations to promote new frameworks for creating inclusivity for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer (LGBTQ+) people living in social housing.

The recent study by the University of Surrey, No Place Like Home, which was commissioned by HouseProud, showed that despite changes in equality laws, LGBTQ+ residents continue to experience discrimination in their everyday lives, especially in relation to housing. To help address the concerns raised by residents in this study, HouseProud and the University of Surrey developed an LGBTQ+ social housing residents’ Pledge Scheme, where those who sign it commit to take action to improve their housing services for LGBTQ+ residents. Stonewall Housing, has simultaneously conducted strategic reviews on how best to address the housing concerns of those in the LGBTQ+ community and has developed an Inclusion Standard as a result. Both schemes will be launched in February 2019.

This project aims to engage professionals working in the social housing sector and LGBTQ+ residents to consider the HouseProud Pledge and Stonewall Housing Inclusion Standard schemes, to promote their uptake, and to evaluate their impact.

Over the course of the 8-month project, the team will:

  • produce an animated video;
  • deliver a series of Knowledge Exchange workshops and webinars aimed at housing professionals;
  • deliver workshops to engage with LGBTQ+ residents;
  • run a social media campaign to promote the project within the LGBTQ+ community;
  • deliver a half-day conference to debate the potential impacts of the Pledge and Inclusion Standard schemes and discuss if the model could be replicated to engage with diverse groups of social housing residents.

If you would like to learn more about this project, please contact Professor Andrew King, University of Surrey.

Housing and Hate Crime: Building Responses from Evidence

Hate crime recording by the police has increased by over 30% in the previous three years to 94,098 in 2017/18 with nearly 75% race related (Home Office 2018). The Government’s hate crime strategy (HM Government 2018) recognises the need for sharing expertise and experiences within and across sectors to build an evidence base. This project, led by Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR), will share knowledge on hate crime with housing providers. The project team will build a housing specific hate crime knowledge exchange hub that can be used by non-academic groups including housing practitioners, to ensure they have an informed approach to support victims, prevent hate crime, and increase reporting.

The project aims to:

  • create an evidence base on housing and hate crime through reviewing current evidence, research and secondary data;
  • use the evidence to inform and create knowledge through expert briefings and a toolkit for non-academic partners enabling appropriate responses to hate crime, including supporting victims;
  • establish a network of housing providers and representatives to disseminate this information and evaluate it’s use.

If you would like to learn more about this project, please contact Kusminder Chahal, Research Fellow, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University.

Tenant Participation in the Private Rented Sector

The Private Rented Sector (PRS) has doubled in size in England and Scotland over the last two decades, meaning that a wider range of people are now living for long periods in this sector. Despite this growth, there is no legislative requirement for PRS landlords to involve tenants in decision-making or service development. This contrasts with the legal framework which underpins tenant participation in social housing in each of the nations of the UK. As a result, there has been a resurgence in tenants’ rights organisations/movements in recent years, which have used a range of strategies to protect and enhance tenant’s living conditions.

This project will undertake a systematic review of evidence regarding tenant participation and activism in the PRS to examine the ways in which tenant participation and activism has been effective in creating change. Gathering a broader and deeper understanding of what works, for whom and in what circumstances, will further knowledge and understanding of this area. This review should be of substantial benefit to tenants, tenants’ organisations, landlords, letting agents and policymakers.

This project is being jointly led by Dr Steve Rolfe (University of Stirling) and Dr Lisa Garnham (Glasgow Centre for Population Health) and will be delivered in partnership with a number of organisations including TPAS Scotland and Generation Rent.

If you would like to learn more about this project, please contact Dr Steve Rolfe, University of Stirling.

How housing can deliver a healthier Wales

Led by Tyfu Tai Cymru, part of CIH Cymru, this project will identify the factors that make a real difference to successful working between those delivering and receiving outstanding services delivered jointly by health, housing and social care colleagues. The project will gather and analyse this information, developing a model for change that draws on what works well and share this directly with practitioners working across all three sectors, including those in the formative phase of their profession to embed the learning at the earliest opportunity.

The project will:

  • analyse projects which have delivered services that make a tangible difference to people lives through successfully integrated working;
  • hold interviews with key staff to understand the elements which have led to success;
  • produce a short review which sets out the criteria;
  • develop a model/toolkit for developing successful services;
  • embark on a dissemination plan which will reach key policymakers, regional partners, collaborative groups and universities to engage with future practitioners;

If you would like to learn more about this project, please contact Catherine May, Tyfu Tai Cymru Manager, CIH Cymru or Matt Kennedy, Policy & Public Affairs Manager, CIH Cymru.

Older Private Tenants & Security

This project, which will be delivered by Dr Sue Easton in partnership with Age UK and Shelter, aims to fill the current evidence gap on the consequences of insecurity of tenure and affordability problems for older tenants in the Private Rented Sector.

In collaboration with Age UK and Shelter, Sue will undertake a scoping review of the international research literature on older tenants living in the PRS, which will map out the extent and nature of research in the area. Key papers, including reports from the independent sector (grey literature), will be summarised with an indicator of robustness of the research, so that the results can be used as research evidence for policy development by non-academic organisations.

Working closely with colleagues at Age UK and Shelter, academics will learn from their vast expertise and experience working in this policy area. Results from the project will be disseminated to the CaCHE network through events and regular blogs.

If you would like to learn more about this project, please contact Dr Sue Easton.

Findings for each Knowledge Exchange Fund project will be shared on the CaCHE website.

To learn more about the Knowledge Exchange work being undertaken by CaCHE, please on our website.

Photo credit: Tamsin Stirling

 

Date: January 30, 2019 11:03 am

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