Improving housing provision for black and minority ethnic communities Diverse Britain Conference, London: 11 December

Why we are here (1) The Government’s aspiration of a decent home for all is meant to be achieved by 2010 But the evidence suggests that poor quality and a lack of choice still marks the experience for people from black and minority ethnic communities, particularly for those who are disabled Bangladeshi and Pakistani families with a disabled child are more likely than other ethnic groups to be living in unsuitable housing and to have multiple problems with their housing.

and…. BME families with disabled children are more likely to have unmet needs in terms of the equipment they require to make their homes suitable Although choice-based lettings schemes have increased opportunities for some BME communities, there is evidence that this may put some families at increased risk of racist hostility

Why we are here (2) Overcrowding and dissatisfaction persists and effective methods for dealing with racial harassment continue to be a challenge for tenants and housing providers The Quality Housing Services survey (2006) of 12,000 tenants found that 16% of tenants overall were dissatisfied, but for Asian tenants this was 18% and 26% for Black British/other Housing providers still involve BME tenants in limited ways, despite the availability of funding

and…. Housing associations are not consistently involving BME tenants, or monitoring the ethnic make up of tenant organisations BME contractors, suppliers and consultants are under-represented in housing There are still very few minority ethnic people at senior and executive levels in housing, including in academia

Gap between policy and practice: Many local and national initiatives have been developed since 1997 and many housing organisations have race equality schemes But the Social Exclusion Unit review of post initiatives (2004) shows that 'ethnic minorities' have not benefited from the drive to end social exclusion Further, the Audit Commission’s analysis of how to progress race equality suggested that we need to better understand how to bring about change.

In our Building Better Life programme : We gather and disseminate evidence of what works in promoting race equality We organise conferences and other activities to encourage and facilitate change We commission and publish Better Housing Briefing Papers – five are available We work with the BME voluntary sector to champion change We are building a network of practitioners committed to change

So what can work? Some messages Positive action, locally sourced employment, succession planning Racist harassment and racism reduction research shows the need to tackle racism at a community level, and to understand and work from the victim’s perspectives Addressing poverty is a vital element of any strategy Service users need to be shown how their participation can influence services