Welcome to Partners in Housing

In our second Partners in Housing supplement we again look at
the developing relationship between the housing and care
sectors.

All the government’s efforts to revitalise Britain’s poorest
communities and improve the lives of the most vulnerable people
demand closer working arrangements.

Breaking down these barriers means it is no longer acceptable to
work within narrow departmental or organisational boundaries.

We see why some housing associations no longer see their role as
being one of purely a provider of low cost housing. Now they are
expanding into the care sector not only because they are able to
offer more comprehensive support services to their residents and
clients, but also as a way of tapping into new funding streams.

Inevitably Supporting People, the government’s new programme for
the funding of supported housing, features prominently in our
examination of the developing agenda.

The impact on social services departments could be significant
as they are set to take a major role in the implementation of
Supporting People.

We also assess the impact of this major change on four projects
specialising in care of vulnerable people: women, older people,
people with mental health problems or learning difficulties and
drug or alcohol addictions.

The leaders of those projects offer Supporting People some
cautious support, but do have some serious reservations about how
it will work in practice.

Housing associations have become involved in the government’s
controversial dispersal scheme for asylum seekers, but only to a
limited extent.

A partnership between two housing associations in Yorkshire has
been awarded a contract by the Home Office to provide accommodation
for hundreds of asylum seekers. We look at how the contract is
working, but also why more registered social landlords have not
joined in and helped the straining dispersal programme.

The development of local strategic partnerships to promote
neighbourhood renewal and regeneration in deprived areas has not
always it seems contained improvements to people’s homes as a
central aim.

We find out how pressure from the housing sector during the
consultation period has ensured a reduction in substandard housing
is now a core target in the government’s drive to make communities
improve their own living environments.

Finally we analyse why two specialist housing providers chose to
merge, and the kind of services for people with learning
difficulties the new organisation is able to offer.

Following the publication of the government’s white paper on
learning difficulties earlier this year it would appear the move
may be extremely timely.