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PlaceShapers and HACT’s Places After The Pandemic report (published today) says that Covid-19 offers a once in a lifetime opportunity for housing associations to deliver more within their communities, change how homes are built and adapt services.

As a PlaceShapers member, Broadland took part in the report, along with more than 100 other organisations. The report shows how housing associations like us adapted during the national lockdown and played a key role as community anchors. It explores how social landlords are fundamentally reviewing their work and their role in places as we look to the future.

Covid-19 is probably the most significant business continuity event in Broadland’s history. I am hugely grateful to our tenants for their patience and understanding and to Broadland staff for the commitment they have shown as we worked through the challenges of the pandemic.

Michael Newey, Chief Executive

Places After The Pandemic shows that, overall, in the first three months of lockdown, a sample of 42 PlaceShapers members made 300,500 welfare calls, gave advice and guidance to 57,000 people and organised 50,000 food deliveries. Members forged new partnerships with people and organisations to make sure support was there for everyone who needed it.

The crisis has reinforced our sense of place and the value we place on our homes and neighbourhoods. A decent, affordable home meant living in comfort during lockdown. It meant space to work from home and home school.

The support social landlords offered became a lifeline for many in frightening, isolated times. Up and down the country we heard stories of the difference landlords made and how they worked together in the places they work.

This report explores the lessons we’ve learned so far from the Covid-19 pandemic, including how local our view of place is and the importance of building strong, trusting partnerships in places

Matthew Walker, PlaceShapers Chair

As community anchors, housing associations are in a unique position. We work in place for the long-term. We have the capacity to affect the recovery and reset of communities across the UK now and in the future.

There are significant risks ahead of us that we will need to navigate. By working in collaboration, by evaluating and learning from our experience, by being bold in our choices, we will be able to accelerate change, maximise our resources and achieve greater impact as place-based organisations.

Andrew van Doorn, CEO of HACT

These are the conclusions of the report:

Place is hyper-local
A landlord’s role in place is often dependent on the number of homes in an area. During lockdown place became hyper-local. Solutions have had to be found at a very local level; signposting to services beyond an immediate vicinity became unviable. This revealed that important ‘actors’ in an area might be people a housing association does not ordinarily consider. For example, local corner shops have become vital community assets, as have grocers, chemists, parks and green space.  The challenge has been to support communities and residents at this level, particularly if a relationship has been traditionally be held at a wider place level.

Space matters
How we understand the home of the future and create spaces that meet an increasing need for multiple use (work, rest and play), has come to the fore. How we create both the spaces and places for the future needs careful and thoughtful consideration. How we deliver standards needed for space and not compromise due to expediency and cost will be challenging. How housing associations adapt their own businesses for this new reality and ensure that their housing management is responsive to the new uses of homes will be key.

Partnership working
A new sense of collaboration between housing associations is emerging and awareness that housing associations working together can accelerate change, stretch their resources, and achieve greater impact. New relationships have also formed, and housing associations have stepped into areas and activity that are new to them. As we move forward, strengthening and developing those relationships further is a key task. Turning new relationships into partnerships and collaboration, must be built into strategies and ways of working.

A new approach to Value for Money
The VfM approach with its focus solely in efficiency no longer feels ‘fit for purpose’ and PlaceShapers may explore with its members, the wider sector, and the regulator, how to move this forward to focus on effectiveness as well.

Decentralising
Having a hyper-local presence is about providing effective services to customers, but also engaging and reassuring them. In the last decade the trend has been to pull teams and services into central locations. With the successful adaptation of remote working, this may no longer be the case. The value of a more community focused operational model has been experienced and welcomed (by some for the first time). Housing associations need to think about how to accelerate this change, but also how to make sure they learn from the past. New operational models that are created need to be vibrant and fit for the future.

Background
HACT undertook:

• 12 interviews with senior staff, predominantly Chief Executives, of PlaceShapers’ members
• Held 5 themed focus groups, with 79 attendees in total, representing 49 housing associations
• Drew on monthly data from 42 housing associations

About PlaceShapers
PlaceShapers is a national network of more than 100 community-based social housing providers.

All members sign up to these 5 principles:

• Our residents and customers are at the heart of what we do and have genuine impact on our organisations.
• We listen and provide more than just landlord services because we care about people and places.
• We build homes that respond to the needs of the communities we serve. 
• Working collaboratively and actively with our local authorities and other local partners enables us to improve and shape places at both a strategic and operational level. 
• We are run by members, for members and are committed to a diverse, values-driven housing association sector.

About HACT
HACT helps housing providers drive forward their social purpose by generating actionable evidence to inform the development of new, smarter, and more connected ways of working. Its ambition is to unleash the creativity and potential of social housing in communities across the UK.   

Broadland is the only housing association to reach the regional finals of the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Planning Excellence Awards 2020.

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Our project, the North Norfolk District Wide Affordable Housing Strategy, identified an opportunity from changes to national policy. The project has been developing mixed tenure sites across rural north Norfolk. Market homes are sold to subsidise the delivery of affordable housing. 

North Norfolk has one of the most acute needs for affordable housing outside London. Our strategy includes schemes in 5 locations (Binham, Trunch, Erpingham, Edgefield and Great Ryburgh), linked by one Section 106 Agreement. We have worked closely with partners at North Norfolk District Council and local parish councils to achieve a successful outcome.

Meeting an acute need for affordable rural housing

Our rural developments have been designed to a high quality. We have a range of house designs that complement their rural village setting. The homes are traditionally constructed, an approach that supports a long life cycle and also uses the skills of specialist local craftsmen – such as flint wall construction. 

We’re extremely proud of our rural housing schemes, which are helping to create thriving, sustainable communities in north Norfolk. 

Broadland Housing staff have raised an impressive £835 for Norfolk hospitals since the start of lockdown.

Frontline staff donated cash for snacks on the go from an ‘honesty fridge’ at our Colton stores. There was also a bucket for donations.

The funds raised have been split between the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, Queen Elizabeth (King’s Lynn) and the James Paget (Gorleston) hospital charities.

Heating engineer John Collison, who came up with the idea and organised the charity collection, said:

I would just like to thank everyone for donating into the tuckshop bucket – it has raised £835 for our local hospital charities, well done!

If you would like to donate, go to the hospitals’ Just Giving pages:

• Norfolk and Norwich Hospital
• Queen Elizabeth Hospital
• James Paget Hospital