Housing and Work Manifesto

For most people having a home and a job are two of the most fundamental factors in feeling happy and secure. Yet in the past these two support needs have been catered for by entirely separate agencies.

With honourable exceptions, social housing providers have tended to see their role as primarily that of landlord, albeit a supportive landlord often housing some of the most vulnerable in society. However, for some providers, this perception of their role has been changing. This is hardly surprising. The current raft of welfare reforms are having a significant impact on both tenants and housing providers. This means in turn that social housing providers are looking closely at the economic situation of their tenants and are seeing the value of helping them into work.

In 2010/ 2011, according to a report by the National Housing Federation, housing associations invested over £80 million of their own funds to support their residents into employment and a further £73 million helping residents increase their skills. More recent estimates indicate that these figures have increased, despite the backdrop of austerity.

Other social housing providers have sought partnerships with dedicated employment support providers. There is logic to such partnerships on both sides. For the social housing provider, it might be better to try to maximise the funding available to support tenants into work. Whilst for the employment support sector, social housing providers have a lot to offer. They tend to have good relationships with their residents and the wider community; they have extensive supply chains, where they can encourage job creation and apprenticeship take up; and their residents are disproportionately unemployed so they share a client base. However, while some such partnerships and models of joint working have flourished, for others this has been a trickier ride.

Our joint belief as membership bodies for the employment support and housing sectors is that social housing could and should do more to support tenants into employment. However, we also believe that government needs to play a role to help release the potential of social housing in employment support – hence the release of our Housing and Work Manifesto last month. Our major three asks are set out below.

1. First make it easier for social housing providers to take on publicly funded employment contracts

Social housing providers have a lot to offer publicly funded employment programmes, but some adaptations to the current model could better facilitate this involvement, including introducing funding models for jobseekers with complex needs that reward distance travelled and reviewing the sanctions regime which can be a particular barrier for the involvement of the housing sector.

2. Second, increase the co-ordination and integration of services

Social housing providers, including providers of supported housing, can be particularly adept at certain elements of the employability journey, ranging from the initial engagement of jobseekers through to the subsequent tracking of that individual once in work. There should be better ways to join together the strength of housing and work providers such as the development of simple mechanisms for joint outcomes; allowing housing and employment provider’s easier access to the adult skills budget; and removing barriers to data sharing between housing and work providers so they can provide a smooth integrated service.

3. And finally, increase the capacity of social housing providers to provide good quality employment related support to residents

Many social housing providers already provide good quality employment related services to residents. This can range from skills support and job brokerage, through to debt advice, money management courses and confidence building. However to increase the quantity and quality of this provision certain factors need to be considered, such as ensuring that there is an accessible database of performance data, so housing providers can accurately assess their work.

Unemployed social housing residents should be offered the best possible service to support them into employment, and to achieve financial independence. While many housing providers are already seeking ways to meet these needs, and doing so effectively, we call on the post May 2015 government to consider our recommendations to help release the full potential of the social housing sector in this area and ensure that unemployed residents have both a secure home and the support they need to move into employment.

By Kirsty McHugh (pictured), chief executive of the Employment Related Services Association, and Kate Shone, chair of the Give Us a Chance Consortium