What about housing associations?
Published on 11 May 2006
To say that the market for housing in the UK is in a state of flux would be a bit of an understatement. Unprecedented changes in the UK economy, society and demographics have driven a huge upsurge in demand for new housing. A government report in March 2006 has predicted that the number of new households will increase by almost a quarter over the next 20 years. The revised projections, based on new census data, estimate that the number of households will grow by 4.8m, or 23 per cent, by 2026.
This drive for new households is already beginning to price people, especially first time buyers and those on low incomes or with special needs, out of the market as supply fails to keep pace. And we won’t have to wait 20 years to see the effects of these changes; it’s happening already. The number of first time buyers fell from 532,000 in 2003 to 361,000 in 2004. Based on current trends, an extra 5,000 families each year will simply not be able to afford to buy by 2011. For a whole generation, the much vaunted British dream of home ownership is fast evaporating.
The Government has pledged to increase house-building from 160,000 to 200,000 new homes a year. But there are objections, not least from the environmental lobby especially when there are more than 700,000 homes sitting empty nationwide. Building on greenbelt land is not always the best option.
This is clearly not an area of policy where you will find easy solutions. One group of organisations that sits in the eye of this particular hurricane is that of housing associations. Although they have existed for over 100 years, it is only since the late 1980s that their influence has grown significantly.
Since 1988 around 800,000 homes have been transferred from Council ownership to housing associations. The most recent report from the National Housing Federation reports that the sector now manages over 2 million properties valued at over £60 billion. These properties provide homes for people with low incomes, key worker accommodation, care homes and regeneration and are closely aligned with local communities.
Housing associations are also an elemental part of the Government’s Decent Homes programme which aims to provide a minimum standard of housing in all homes by 2010. Stock transfer housing associations have been at the forefront of national building development and have invested over £7 billion in improving people’s homes since 1988.
Such dramatic economic, political, social and demographic change has inevitably had a knock-on effect for the associations themselves. Born in an era of resurgent Victorian philanthropy, they were transformed by a revolution in the economy at the end of the 20th Century and have come of age in spectacular fashion in the constantly mutating new millennium.
Inevitably, the way the housing associations function has had to move with the times. And, just as they have helped to transform the homes of the people they serve, their own working environments have had to develop to keep pace with the changing market in which they work.
While each association has its own unique demands, there are common factors that typify the design of their offices and which reflect the sector in which they operate. So, as well as providing a safe, productive and attractive working environment, some other factors are particularly important for housing associations.
A warm welcome
Reception areas must provide an important first point of reference for visitors and employees. They must communicate identity and help the people who use the building make the best use of space while visually reflecting the core values of the organisation.
A focus on team working
Communication of knowledge and ideas is particularly important so there must be an emphasis on creating effective meeting spaces of various sizes.
Equally, breakout spaces can provide opportunities for informal and impromptu exchanges between people as well as providing welcome breaks from intensive work.
Workstations must be carefully designed to allow teams to work closely together and also have the ability to work quietly and alone when needed.
Presentation rooms must allow audio-visual technology to integrate seamlessly so outside agencies and other stakeholders can use the spaces intuitively with information they bring with them
A focus on training
It’s important that modern training rooms are able to use technology as an effective tool. Training rooms should also be flexible to allow groups of different sizes to work in different ways.
Ability to change
As with any organisation that works in a fast moving sector, the ability to deal with change quickly and with minimum cost and disruption is essential. An intelligent design will allow the housing association and the people who work for it to adapt seamlessly in response to changes in the market and other factors such as new technology