I agree with Richard Kemp (3 September, page 18) that we need to judge ourselves on the impact we make on the lives of the people we house – but disagree that there is no specialist role for housing professionals to play in achieving this objective.

The sort of holistic approach he advocates depends for its very success on a range of individuals, including housing professionals, using their particular knowledge and skills to achieve a better outcome together than they would do on their own.

Of course there is a need for better service planning at a strategic level and there are benefits to be gained from greater interdisciplinary working.

Everyone will sign up to the principle that services are better delivered “joined up” – but you can’t join up services that aren’t working themselves or the whole system becomes dysfunctional.

Housing professionals have a unique mix of property-based and people skills and we can use that knowledge and experience to influence both the development of strategy and how policies are implemented on the ground. Of course housing is “more than just bricks and mortar”, but Kemp’s desired focus on service delivery can only happen on the back of people having somewhere to live in the first place.

Kemp’s own analysis starts from the transformation in one person’s life brought about by obtaining their first home. In many parts of the country that’s still a challenging enough task in its own right.

David Butler chief executive, Chartered Institute of Housing

Source

Housing Today