Social housing plays a vital role in providing affordable homes through local authorities and housing associations. It has been a cornerstone of welfare policy in the UK for decades. Despite its importance, many people still harbour negative attitudes, keeping it as being viewed unfavourably.
Flagship Group has been diving deep into this topic. With our help, they’ve used focus groups and surveys to understand the issue better, gathering data from 500 social housing tenants and 1,050 members of the public. The report and workshop expanded upon these initial findings.
Unpacking stigmatisation
A mix of voices within different formats were heard to find out more about tackling the issues’ root causes. Different perspectives offered thought-provoking discussion throughout the day, from people working for housing organisations, academics, researchers and campaigners.
Importantly, we also listened to experiences from those that had faced the stigma themselves. It was eye-opening and shed a light on the consequences of harmful perceptions around social housing.
Key takeaways: the research and the workshop
There was a general agreement some progress had been made, but that there’s still plenty to work on to prevent stigmatisation.
Lots of interesting points were raised around:
- Media outlets: the news, entertainment and social media play a huge part in shaping negative attitudes towards social housing tenants.
- Policy impacts: policies like the Right to Buy have contributed to perpetuating stigma.
- Demographic status: how disability status and age group showed significant associations with perceptions of social housing stigma.
- Mental health: stigma affects tenants’ mental health and limits economic opportunities.
- Attitudes within the sector: the perceptions of those working in social housing, housing associations, local authorities, government, and the police were all seen as contributors to negative attitudes.
Taking action: what needs to change
As well as breaking down the different reasons for social housing stigma, attendees at the event looked at the next steps that need to be taken.
Various ways to combat harmful stereotypes were considered, such as:
- Better media representation: more positive portrayals of social housing tenants in the media.
- Government awareness campaigns: launching public awareness initiatives led by the government.
- Community programmes: fostering inclusivity and reducing stigma through local initiatives and community programmes.
- Ongoing research: conducting follow-up research to look at stigma on a more local level, raising awareness with key organisations, as well as participating in further discussion.
- Action planning: implementing frameworks such as the ‘Tackling Social Housing Stigma Journey Planner’ to develop plans of action and collect evidence of progress.
Helping to break the cycle
It was inspiring to see an inclusive approach to sharing ideas on implementing practical solutions. It wasn’t just about statistics and research, but an opportunity to hear stories from people who have lived through the effects of stigma. Hearing their stories really put it into perspective.
Breaking down barriers and bringing about widespread change requires input from everyone – it’s a collective effort. For us at IFF, it’s always exciting to be part of these conversations and help contribute to meaningful change. Working together with organisations like Flagship, as well as the individuals directly affected, makes us hopeful that we can keep moving forward in the right direction.
Resources
Stop Social Housing Stigma – https://stopsocialhousingstigma.org/
Tackling Stigma Journey Planner – https://stopsocialhousingstigma.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SSHS-the-tackling-stigma-journey-planner-summary.pdf
Flagship Group report – breaking-barriers-social-housing-stigma-report.pdf