We’re making our services LGBTQ+ inclusive for customers

We’re delighted to have been awarded ‘Pioneer’ status by HouseProud, as part of the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge we signed up to in 2025. This award shows the progress we’re making to help LGBTQ+ customers feel safe, heard and respected in their homes and communities.

HouseProud’s panel described our work as “a positive and exciting summary of the journey so far” and praised the careful, long-term approach we’re taking to listen to LGBTQ+ customers, act on what they tell us and make our homes and services more inclusive.

They also recognised the work we’ve done to promote inclusion to colleagues. This includes events, training and learning through Pryde, our LGBTQ+ colleague network, our sponsorship of Chichester Pride and previous Pride activity such as displaying the progress flag at our office in London Bridge.

Andy Hulme, Hyde’s Group Chief Executive, said:

“I’m delighted that we’ve been awarded Pledge Pioneer status. Our commitment is clear – we offer opportunities for LGBTQ+ residents to be involved, including at a strategic level and in policy development. Their feedback and input help us to deliver more inclusive services.

“I’m so proud of what we’ve done so far, and look forward to sharing best practice and doing more great work with housing associations from across the sector. We know there’s more to do, and we’re excited to continue this really important work.”

The pledge was developed by HouseProud and is delivered by Stonewall Housing. It was created following research by the University of Surrey into the experiences of LGBTQ+ people living in social housing, which highlighted concerns about safety, exclusion and discrimination. It gives housing providers with clear steps to take to improve the experiences of LGBTQ+ people living in social housing.

We’ve been following this to work towards ‘Pioneer’ status, putting customers’ voices at the heart of changes we’re making. LGBTQ+ customers are involved in the Customer Voice group, where they are helping review and shape services. We’ve also started a new group specifically for LGBTQ+ customers, giving them a dedicated space to share their experiences and tell us what we can do to improve.

Their feedback has also helped shape equality impact assessments and policy reviews, including how we use inclusive language, how we talk about pronouns and trans inclusion, and how we deal with issues such as antisocial behaviour.

Jo, Vice-Chair of Customer Voice, said:

“Achieving this status is an important step, but what matters most is what happens next. Meaningful inclusion comes from continuing to listen to LGBTQ+ customers, learning from their experiences and, importantly, showing how their voices lead to real change.
“As a customer and Vice-Chair of Customer Voice, I’m pleased to be part of this work and I’d encourage more LGBTQ+ customers to get involved. The more diverse voices we hear, the better Hyde can understand people’s experiences and build services where everyone feels safe, respected, included and at home.”

We’re now looking at how we can work towards the next level of accreditation, Pledge Plus. This means working more closely with customers on service improvement, holding a follow-up meeting with customers and allies about the Pioneer status and looking at where we can build more LGBTQ+ inclusion into future colleague training.

Get involved

We’re keen to hear from LGBTQ+ customers and allies who want to help shape this future work and share their experiences with us. If you’d like to get involved, you can sign up to the resident group.