Scotland Housing Awards winner 2023

Marion Gibbs Award for Equality in Housing

Equality in Housing Podcast by Housing Options Scotland
Partner organisation - UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CACHE)

Housing Options Scotland is a third sector organisation which offers housing advice, information and support to disabled people, older people and members of the armed forces community.

The UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) is a consortium of eight institutions led by the University of Glasgow. It is a multi-disciplinary partnership between academia, policy and practice, producing evidence and new research that contributes to tackling the UK’s housing problems at a national, devolved, regional and local level.

Equality in Housing is a podcast, co-produced by Pedro Cameron, head of engagement at Housing Options Scotland, and Dr Gareth Young, knowledge exchange and impact fellow at CaCHE.

The podcast seeks to address all aspects of disadvantage in the Scottish housing sector and beyond. This includes all protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010, and also some other disadvantaged groups not covered by that, but who face individual challenges. It looks at how those accessing housing can be affected, but also the impact on the workforce.

The podcast shines a light on examples of best practice, gaps in evidence and the links between lived experience, frontline workers, the third sector and research, data and academia. It aims to make issues around EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion), and the solutions to these, accessible to those working in the housing, third, and academic sectors.

Prior to meeting, Pedro and Gareth were both exploring EDI in housing independently of each other, but struggling to build momentum. They had found there to be a nervousness in their respective sectors around talking about how people were affected by EDI concerns and ‘getting it wrong’.

They both knew that more work needed to be done to start having meaningful and accessible conversations around housing and EDI that would lead to action.

It was recognised that there were examples of great work being done to ensure that practices were inclusive, and that barriers to access safe accommodation were being tackled by the work of individual organisations, and it was clear that there were stories that needed to be told.

It was decided that the best way to utilise their respective and collective platforms was to share the stories of those people with first hand experience through their day-to-day work or lived experiences.

Over the course of the first 14 episodes the aims and objectives of the work have been clear:

• That we share stories from across the housing, third and academic sectors
• Give voices to people who might not usually engage with either of our organisations in this way
• Hear and share exactly what people are experiencing, either first hand from their own housing experiences, or from the perspective of a practitioner.

Between Pedro and Gareth, the podcast draws together perspectives from the frontline where people from disadvantaged groups are supported find suitable housing and housing research and policy. The podcast asks what the ‘real time’ challenges are, what individuals and organisations are doing to make a more just housing system for people and what role researchers can play in helping to support good work through the generation of accessible data and evidence.

Guests have included Rohini Sharma Joshi OBE and Charlie McMillan, CEO of SCLD, and it has covered topics around LGBTQ+ issues, older people, ethnic minorities, trauma, refugees, care experienced young people, and veterans.

The podcast held its first live event in November, hosting a live recording to an audience at SCVO’s The Gathering, with the recording being released as a podcast episode in late November.

Equality in Housing has released 15 episodes, with over 900 listeners so far. The podcast was invited to record a live episode at SCVO’s The Gathering. Guests have reported that their appearances on the podcast have meant new connections and increased awareness of the issues discussed in the podcast, and listeners have fed back how educational and enlightening it has been for them.

Anthony Morrow  |  Sanctuary Scotland

“Taking part in the podcast was great for me – it has opened up a whole host of new connections and possibilities with partners within the housing sector and also other sectors. It has also given me an opportunity to reflect on our work to date, share this learning with others and evaluate our progress critically.”

Listener testimonial

“What an inspiring listen”

Alexandra Duffy  |  Training lead at Stonewall Housing

“It clearly set out what we do and don’t know: we know that gender identity and sexuality may shape someone’s experience of homelessness, and intersecting forms of marginalisation also have an impact; however, gaps in official data have real implications for policy and practice. When I’ve spoken about monitoring around this topic in training sessions, I’ve shared this podcast as a resource.”

One of the keys things we have learned in the process of making the podcast has been the despite all the talk of EDI within the sector, and many examples of great practice, there’s still so much work to do to ensure equality in housing. The problems we are highlighting through the podcast are complex, and often exacerbated by a legacy of housing policy that continues to drive inequalities in housing, particularly in terms of access to safe, decent housing in places people want to live. Through our conversations, it is clear that for many minoritised groups of people, being able to access appropriate housing and services can be unobtainable, and in order to help people get the support they need, we need to be working together across not only the housing system, but in many other areas such as health, social care, employment and education to name a few. There is also a role for researchers to help provide the evidence needed to ensure policy making, regulation and practice is operating in the best way that it can.

Another key takeaway message is that this is a lifetime’s work. There is not one single solution to providing equality in housing, and as the world around us continues to change, so do people’s needs and situations. By continuing to share good practice and experience, we hope that we can each continue to learn from each other and support the different aspects of housing and related services we all work in to help redress some of the imbalances.

We are always looking for new voices to take part in the podcast. Please contact us at pedro@housingoptionsscotland.org.uk if you have something you’d like to talk about with us!

Listen to the podcast here: https://housingoptionsscotland.org.uk/equality-in-housing-podcast