Proud to be social

We’ve signed up as supporters and friends of the Stop Social Housing Stigma (SSHS) campaign - a resident-led campaign, set up by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and Tenant Participation Advisory Services (TPAS).

According to a report by Stop Social Housing Stigma (PDF,1815KB)*, 73% of social housing tenants revealed a strong awareness of stigma associated with social housing. This could be because they have discussed it with other tenants or because of how it’s portrayed by the media, by colleagues, friends or politicians. Over 55% of social housing tenants said they’d personally experienced stigma.

By taking the extra step to become an official friend of SSHS, and making a financial contribution to its work, we’re not only supporting SSHS, we’re demonstrating our commitment and support to the group and its ambitions. We want to challenge the way that people think about social housing residents, and tackle the stigma associated with living in social housing.

Tackling social housing stigma is something we’re already committed to and have demonstrated. Our Chief Executive, Andy Hulme, attended the launch of the G15 report ‘Taking the Stigma out of Social Housing: the Residents’ View’ * in Parliament, and colleagues from our Customer Involvement team have attended the Stop Social Housing Stigma Project Group, sharing insights and information across Hyde. We’re also working towards seeing Together with Tenants accreditation with the National Housing Federation – a charter to improve the relationship between social landlords and residents.

SSHS has produced a journey planner tool The Journey Planner - Stop Social Housing Stigma, which we’ll be using to asses and support our existing and ongoing efforts to tackle stigma.

As our Chief Operating Officer, Neal Ackcral said**:

“Social housing stigma is still a very real problem. Too often we hear lazy and inaccurate stereotypes about people living in social housing and the communities we serve. This is unacceptable.

“At Hyde, we’ve set up colleague focus groups across the organisation. For example, our Junior Board worked with colleagues across Hyde to try to understand the extent to which certain customer stereotypes were prevalent in our thinking and behaviours. We’ve used this work to develop practical, deliverable actions.

“We’re changing to be easier to deal with and we’re getting closer to our communities. We’re listening, so we can improve what customers tell us matters most to them. But there’s certainly a long way to go before social housing stigma stops being part of the conversation. As a sector, we need to challenge misconceptions, dispel myths and promote the fact that our homes and services support a huge range of people from all walks of life.”

Nic Bliss, Campaign Director at Stop Social Housing Stigma, said:

“We’re delighted that Hyde is supporting the campaign. It shows that Hyde recognises the importance of tackling stigma and creating the right culture to build strong relationships with tenants. Tackling stigma is not easy and things won’t change overnight, but more and more landlords are showing the commitment to change. Hyde is at the vanguard of this commitment and we see Hyde’s support as a positive sign that they and their residents are working together towards a stigma free future.

“We look forward to working with Hyde on their ongoing tackling stigma journey.”

John Whale, Interim Chair of Hyde’s Customer Voice Committee, said:

“I'm delighted that Hyde has signed up as a supporter of the Stop Social Housing Stigma campaign.

“Unfortunately, stigma still exists, and Hyde will now be working alongside SSHS in their campaign to stamp out stigma nationally. At the same time, it gives Hyde the opportunity to review their own policies and procedures to ensure that all customers are respected and treated equally regardless of the type of home they live in.

“The Customer Voice Committee is fully behind Hyde’s decision to become an official friend of SSHSand looks forward to working with Hyde to achieve these goals.”

Please join us by signing up to the Stop Social Housing Stigma campaign – and help us take the stigma out of social housing.

*The findings of the “Taking the Stigma out of Social Housing: The Residents View” report are based on a first-of-its-kind survey of 3,000 social housing residents in London, conducted by the G15, representing London’s largest not-for-profit housing associations.

**Neal Ackcral shared his insights on tackling social housing stigma for Housing Today.