Overcomingthe stigma ofsocial housingSummary DocumentBased on research by Professor Anne Power and Dr Bert ProvanWith thanks to those tenants involved in the Trafford Hall Think Tank

Background

This report was commissioned by the Benefit to Society campaign to explore the causes and impact ofan increasing stigma around social housing.

It draws together findings from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)research, using long-term government surveys and tenant thinktanks, together with new qualitativedata from a tenant thinktank on the topic of stigma and social housing. This is underpinned by newfindings from public polling and a survey of 450 tenants.

Findings

● Social housing is increasingly a residualised sector. A reduction in numbers of properties, togetherwith changes in housing policy, have led to the sector housing more vulnerable households.1

● Fewer people now have direct experience of social housing and increasingly it is seen as a tenureof last choice and as a safety net. The public over-estimate the number of people in social housingwho are unemployed.2

● This view of social housing is reflected in pejorative media programming, recognised in ‘povertyporn’ and moralising broadcasting such as Benefits Street and Council House Crackdown, whichspecifically link tenure and benefits status together, also drawing links to perceptions ofunacceptable behaviours.2 90% of tenants say the media portrays a stereotype of social housingtenants.4

● Social housing tenants have a very different perspective and their narrative shows the value ofcommunity in their local area and of their volunteering, caring and work roles.2

● This narrative is supported by the English Housing Survey which shows that 70% of social housingtenants are in work or retired, with just 7% unemployed. The remaining 22% are unable to work dueto caring responsibilities or disability with 1% in full time education. Tenants recognise thecontributions made to society by all these people.1

● Social housing tenants view an increase in stigma as being one of the major challenges to thetenure and to their wellbeing.2

Executive Summary

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People look down on you and your communities if you are a socialtenant, and I believe that this has a negative effect on children growingup, who come to believe that they are not worth as much as other people.

● Many tenants have negative experiences of policy changes under welfare reform and service cuts,and feel indignant about how they see vulnerable tenants being treated.2

● Tenants also cite as a major issue the lack of care and property maintenance invested in privaterental properties in their local neighbourhoods. Often these are ex-social housing, sold on to privatelandlords through the Right to Buy scheme.2

● As the government has increasingly withdrawn grant funding from social landlords and cut benefitsto tenants, so social landlords have been forced to become more ‘commercial’ and more privatefinance driven. This has reduced or diluted the ethical purpose of social landlords in the public eye,making it harder to win public support for their increasingly marginalised role.1

● Social housing is of itself a huge asset, is valued by the 4 million households living in it, offers goodrental services, and contributes significantly to the benefit of society.1

● By recognising the role social housing plays in providing homes for lower income householdsacross the country, and in turn the valuable contribution made to society by those households, ithas the potential to contribute even more.1

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1To create a fairer, more representative narrative around social housing, theBenefit to Society campaign needs to reach:

● People without direct experience of social housing to share the narrative fromtenants; and

● Journalists and media workers to ask them to present a more balancedportrayal of those living in social housing.

See the increasing stigma in the context of policy changes and service cuts.2Learn the lessons of the past. Quality must be at the heart of the housing weprovide and the management of housing must pay attention to the voices of thepeople living in it.3As well as working with media, politicians and others, those housing providersseeking to dispel stigma must take action in their own organisations to develop anarrative that is positive and respectful about the tenants they serve.4

Recommendations

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Social housing tenant

Social housing has moved frombeing a popular and well-regardedsolution to poor housing conditionsand a housing shortage, providingaccommodation for a large sectionof the working class population, tobecoming a residualised tenure,stigmatised as a safety net formore vulnerable households.

The main factors that caused this decline were:

● Poor quality design, construction, and managementof the rapidly built, over-sized new council housingestates.

● Highly visible events like the collapse of Ronan Pointand the Broadwater Farm riots which had a largepublic impact on how social housing was viewed.

● Change in the post war consensus about the role ofgovernment, leading to “rolling back” the stateincluding withdrawal of support for council housing.

● The impact of Right to Buy in reducing the proportionof high quality homes available for rent.

● The impact of Homelessness legislation on theproportion of vulnerable households who becamesocial housing tenants, in the context of reducingnumbers of social housing.

Large concrete panel buildings, a popularform of post-war construction, fell out offavour after the Ronan Point disaster in eastLondon in 1968, when a gas explosioncaused the panels to slip and collapse,killing four people.(Photo source: Wikipaedia)

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher handsover the keys to the first Right to Buyhousehold in Romford, Essex in 1980.(Photo source: The Telegraph)

A shrinking tenure

Over the 20th century, tenure changed dramatically from private renting dominating, toowner occupation becoming the biggest tenure. Meanwhile, council housing grewthroughout the century up to the 1980s and housing associations expanded rapidly fromthe 1980s, as council housing began its steep decline. Overall, social housing (counciland housing association rented homes) lost ground to private renting, whichre-expanded from the early 1990s. This leaves social housing as a shrinking tenure,overtaken by private landlords.

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Owner Occupiers Private Renters Social Tenants

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The economic policies of the1980s, with strong support forhome ownership led to aneven greater polarisation ofsocial housing, driven byprivatisation and a shift insubsidies in favour of owning.The schism between tenures and the decline ofcouncil housing intensified this polarisation.Overall the high level of sales of more popularhouses in more popular areas through Right toBuy has greatly increased the residualisation ofcouncil built homes, whether owned now bycouncils or housing associations.

The public perception of social housing tenants isthat they are unemployed and in receipt ofbenefits. 72% of the public over-estimate thenumber of people in social housing who areunemployed.2

Yet the English Housing Survey shows thataround 70% of social housing tenants are in workor retired, with only 7% of tenants unemployed.30% of social housing tenants in receipt ofhousing benefits are also in work.The remaining 23% are unable to work due tocaring responsibilities or disability. The DisabilityLiving Allowance has risen from 9% in 2001 to18% in 2018. This reflects both the much higherlevel of disability in social housing and the widerimpact of ageing. (See Fig 2 next page)

Fig 1Social renting peaked in 1981 at 32%. Private renting’s market share revived from 1994 andovertook social renting in 2012.

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However, long before thedecline in social housingnumbers, stigma had started todevelop around social housingin the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s,due to a growing perception thatcouncil estates were often badlyconstructed and managed, andwas increasingly used to houselow income households fromslum clearance areas.

The reality is that majorimprovements have been madeto the management, state ofrepair, thermal efficiency andlevels of tenant involvement insocial housing since the 1980s.

A Think Tank to gather tenants’views of social housing inOctober 2017 found anoverwhelmingly strong messagethat tenants like living in socialhousing, they value theirlandlord and their localcommunity. This does not meanthat they live trouble-free lives.But it does mean that theirexperience of where and howthey live and who they are doesnot match the negative imagesand stereotypes seen innewspapers or televisionprogrammes. Nor do theyrecognise as valid the pejorativephrases used by politicians such

as ‘sink estate’.When asked what they valueabout social housing, mosttenants said they value securityof tenure, closely followed bytheir repairs service and senseof community. They expressedpride in their local area,particularly around communityspirit and neighbourliness.

By far the worst feature of socialhousing is what other peoplethink of tenants, giving them anegative image of themselves.A survey of 450 tenants showedthat 9 in 10 feel the mediaportrays a stereotype of tenants,that they are unemployed, inreceipt of benefits, are youngerand have children. Whilst notindividually pejorative, this viewis exploited by ‘poverty porn’programming which links socialhousing and receipt of benefitsto difficult lifestyles andbehaviours.

Poor housing management isalso an issue for some tenants.In thinking about what madethem feel bad about their lives,the most significant answerswere around neglect of theirlocal area, particularly throughprivate landlords (ex-RTB) notkeeping their properties in goodconditions.

It was notable that, as well asseeing the media as a mainsource of negative stereotypesabout social housing, asignificant number of tenantssaid they had been made to feeluncomfortable about their tenureby someone in an ‘official’position, including statutory andhousing association staff.

These responses fit withheadline findings from HousingPlus Academy Think Tanks heldby the LSE over five years. Theevidence shows clearly thatpeople living in social housingvalue their local communitiesand are particularly positivewhen they are involved directlyin community action andgenerate their own activities toimprove things locally. It alsoreveals the negativeexperiences of social housingtenants, especially under theimpact of welfare reform andservice cuts. Many feelalienated and denigrated by theharsh system that now seems tobe in place. They are indignantabout how they see vulnerabletenants being treated.

Increasing proportions of social housing tenants onincome related benefits and DLA (care)

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Fig 2

Conclusions

The Benefit to Society campaignaims to change the way people livingin social housing are portrayed andthought about. It is clear that this aimstrikes a chord with many tenantsacross the country.

This research will help us to reach those without directexperience of social housing, but who have an awarenessof the negative media representations.

Our research demonstrates that negative media portrayalsof social housing tenants are far more common than anypositive coverage. There is an ongoing negative impact fromthis on individuals and communities.

However, it also shows the need to view the increasingstigma in the context of policy changes and service cuts.There is work to be done by social landlords with staff, aswell as partners, to recognise the huge value added bythose living in social housing. As with other tenures, a wholesection of society should not be judged by the perceivedactions of a small minority. The benefits of social housingand its tenants to neighbourhoods, and society as a whole,are immeasurable.

There are also lessons to be learned about the wayhousing is developed and managed. Quality must be at theheart of the housing we provide and the management ofhousing must respond to the voices of the people living in it.

As well as working with media, politicians and the public,housing providers must listen, and respond to, the tenantsthey house and ultimately depend upon.

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References1 Overcoming the Stigma of Social Housing. Can social housing rebuild its reputation? February 2018, Professor Anne Power and Dr Bert Provan – available on www.benefittosociety.co.uk

2 Overcoming the Stigma of Social Housing: Findings from Tenant Think Tanks February 2018, Professor Anne Power – available on www.benefittosociety.co.uk

3 YouGov online survey of 2,075 adults carried out on behalf of Soha Housing. Fieldwork was undertaken between 16-19 February 2018. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

4 Online survey of 450 social housing tenants, carried out by the Benefit to Society campaign, June 2017.

www.benefittosociety.co.uk