“Supporting London’s Communities” highlights the often unsung role housing associations play in London’s communities – helping residents secure jobs and training, improve their wellbeing and manage finances on a low-income.
It details Southern Housing’s social impact work in 2023/24, which saw us secure £8.3m in additional income, grants, benefits and savings for residents. It also features a case study of the Islington Food Pantry we’ve established in conjunction with St Giles Trust, the Felix Project and fellow G15 member Hyde. This provides easy access to affordable and nutritious food in an area poorly served by discount supermarkets and food banks.
The various projects are concrete examples of housing associations’ social purpose and mission to be much more than just landlords. They are hugely valuable, not only to the individual beneficiaries, but also to national and local government given their role in catalysing growth, reducing economic inactivity and eliminating poverty. Indeed, the latest G15 community impact report shows members delivered almost £23m in social value in 2022/23 by improving residents’ financial comfort, resilience and ability to pay housing costs.
But Supporting London’s Communities also cautions that some of these activities are under-threat as housing associations’ finances come under increasing strain. For instance, Love London Working – a pan-London employment support programme through which G15 members helped more than 8,000 Londoners into work from 2016 to 2023 – closed in December 2023 due to difficulties securing funding. With rents failing to keep up with inflation since 2015 and much increased expenditure on existing homes, housing associations are having to cut back on their social impact work.
That’s why the report ends with a call to action. That is for government to publish a new, long-term rent settlement for a minimum of 10 years, with cast-iron guarantees so that it can’t be amended partway through. Greater certainty over our key source of income would allow G15 members including Southern Housing to go beyond our core activity of building and maintaining affordable homes and recommit to our vital role in London’s communities.
You can read the report here. It has been covered in Inside Housing, Social Housing, Housing Today and London Property News.
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