Secret agents

Although rather reclusive and distrustful of help, Mrs Wilson (not her real name) was persuaded by Bellingham that he should apply on her behalf to the housing department for a minor works grant to sort out the bathroom and some electrical wiring. Further contact produced a disabled facilities grant, which was spent on a ground-floor level-access shower, and a renovation grant that allowed a new kitchen to be installed, along with some other essential repairs.

In six to nine months' time, as Mrs Wilson's home environment got better, her mental and physical health also improved. She has now been in regular contact with her care and repair staff for more than 10 years.

Derek and his colleagues work for a home improvement agency that has been managed and operated for the last 13 years by Black Country Housing in the West Midlands, making it one of the UK's oldest such agencies. Mrs Wilson was its first customer, and it has since provided the same kind of help to thousands of other people.

Sandra Spence, chief executive of Black Country Housing Group, is very proud of the agency's success. "They make a vital contribution to the improvement of the housing stock and quality of life for people living in deprived areas," she says. "Ours has become recognised as an innovative, flexible and responsive partner in many cross-cutting initiatives with local health, housing and social services departments."

It's not unusual …
Other agencies can tell similar success stories. From their beginnings in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when a handful of them were established by voluntary organisations and housing associations, the sector has grown into a network of more than 200 organisations that receive direct funding support from government and councils.

It could be argued that the agencies are the social housing movement's best-kept secret, given that most members of the public, and even some health and social care professionals, have never heard of them. This is because, for far too long, the agencies have kept their corporate heads below the parapet for fear that their meagre resources will be swamped by a wave of demand.

HIAs have always provided services, tailored to their clients, that enable older, disabled and vulnerable people to remain independent in their own homes. The challenge for them now is to rise to the opportunities that flow from the Supporting People integrated budget, the private sector renewal reforms and wider health and regeneration objectives.

Where do we go from here?
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's guidelines for the future of the these organisations are expected by the end of next month. Black Country's Spence argues that the guidelines must provide the agencies with the flexibility and funding to enable them to build on their considerable achievements and to deliver their potential – not only to deal with current disrepair but also to prevent it in the future.

The fragmented nature of the growth of the care and repair movement – and the precarious, short-term funding that many HIAs receive – does not encourage expansion with any long-term vision or strategic thinking. If the full extent of demand for the agencies' services is not demonstrated, that demand will never be met. They therefore need to make sure that the valuable services and support that they offer are well signposted at local, regional and national levels among housing, health, social care professionals and also in the voluntary sector.

The message, Spence adds, must be that the agencies have a complementary role in supporting wider housing and health strategies beyond the traditional functions of care worker and technical officer.

Most of this work will not need to be developed from scratch. "There are a number of good examples across the country: handyperson schemes, home safety and falls prevention, security works, enhanced hospital discharge or prevention of admission schemes, Health Through Warmth, HouseProud, and Repairs on Prescription," she says.

All of these examples have active HIAs at their centre, making links to existing services and stitching together networks that provide enhanced assistance well beyond the remit of each smaller initiative. They provide a key contribution to improving the housing stock and quality of life for people living sometimes in very deprived areas.

The problems of unfit housing are well documented and understood and the agencies are pivotal to making sure they don't spiral out of control to become the low-demand headaches of tomorrow, says Spence: "HIAs have a key role to play in addressing these problems," she says, "but we should not lose sight of the lessons that we need to learn if we are not to allow unfitness in the future.

"We need to develop strategies and services that encourage maintenance today. Wouldn't all homeowners value access to trusted, unbiased advice on repairs and maintenance? And, given that advice for free, how many of them are prepared to pay for the work themselves?"