Section: Conferences & Exhibitions

Housing's Key Role in Community Cohesion

Steve Douglas, Housing Corporation Deputy Chief Executive and member of the Commission on Community Cohesion, highlighted the pivotal role affordable housing plays in building integrated, cohesive and sustainable communities.

Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Annual Conference, in Harrogate, Steve Douglas focused on how housing providers can work towards achieving community cohesion, and the value of diversity in communities. He also recognised that affordable housing providers work in some of the most deprived areas of the country, offering not only the management of homes and services to tenants, but also to the community more widely.

In his speech, Steve Douglas announced the Corporation will be doing the following:

• Ensuring its impact assessments are extended to include assessment of the impact of its policies upon integration and cohesion. The Corporation will also require all affordable housing providers receiving investment funding to demonstrate how this funding will assist in promoting integration and cohesion.

• Jointly publishing an updated Community Cohesion Guide with the Chartered Institute of Housing later this year, to help funded organisations ensure they take on board and act on the principles of community cohesion.

• Shortly launching a cohesion and integration strategy, which will for the first time create a clear link between a series of policy areas, including equality, homelessness and the Corporation's neighbourhood and communities strategy.

Other key points raised in his speech included:

• Recognising that tough decisions need to be made in allocations to social housing, and greater transparency about how and why decisions are made around allocations, lettings and investments is needed: they should be not only fair but be seen to be fair.

• The Corporation's focus on the importance of promoting community cohesion, as reflected by the launch of an additional theme for its Gold Awards: Building Cohesive Communities

August Diary Dates

• The Provision of HMO and Licensing Provisions...one year on Seminar 7 August 2007: London
  Chartered Institute of Housing
  Tel.: 024 7685 1772

• National Sheltered Housing Conference and Exhibition
  9-10 August 2007: Warwick
  Chartered Institute of Housing
  Tel.: 024 7685 1772

• Migrant Workers Seminar
  14 August 2007: London
  Chartered Institute of Housing
  Tel.: 024 7685 1772

• The Provision of HMO and Licensing Provisions...one year on Seminar
  16 August 2007: Leeds
  Chartered Institute of Housing
  Tel.: 024 7685 1772

• Repairs & Maintenance Conference
  30-31 August 2007: Dundee
  Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland
  Tel.: 0131 225 4544