The resources page is your central hub for information about community investment. Here you can find research reports, case studies and white papers to aid your work.
Putting young people at the heart of your services
This report by the Foyer Federation provides a series of recommendations to help amplify youth voices, develop truly youth-led services and deepen meaningful engagement with young people.
Measuring the social impact of community investment
This report provides a practical method to assess the social impact of community investment initiatives. Evolving from the groundbreaking work published by HACT and the London School of Economic’s Daniel Fujiwara in 2013, this handbook provides a model for measuring housing provider’s social impact.
Effective housing for people on low incomes in the Welsh valleys
This report gives five policy and practice recommendations, the combination of which will go some way to avoiding a bleak future if current challenges are not addressed.
Evaluation of the Supported Rent Flexibility pilot
Author: Damon GibbonsPublished by Centre for Responsible Credit, June 2018The Supported Rent Flexibility project was devised by the Centre for Responsible Credit, Well Thought Ltd., and Optivo Housing Association and delivered from January 2017 to March 2018. A group...
Pembury Children’s Community: Impact Report
The 10 year Pembury Children’s Community programme in Hackney is now three years old. This report summarises its achievements and outlines plans for the future.
Housing and disabled people: Britain’s hidden crisis
The EHRC housing inquiry looked at the current provision of accessible and adaptable housing for disabled people provided by local authorities and registered landlords.
Positive Steps Thamesmead: The story so far
This is the evaluation report of Peabody’s Positive Steps Thamesmead (PST) programme that started operating in Thamesmead in April 2015.
Rural housing for an ageing population: Preserving independence
This report examines the housing and care needs facing older people in rural areas, and makes recommendations that central and local government and other partners should adopt the HAPPI principles when designing new homes for older people in rural areas.
Delivering healthy housing
This paper contributes to the conversation around health and housing following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. It outlines a series of effective policy actions needed to simplify, clarify and connect existing regulations related to housing and health and safety and how they should be enforced.
Happy Healthy Starts: Providing the tools to help families thrive
This report is the culmination of twelve months of research conducted by Orbit in partnership with the Child Poverty Action Group to find out more about the children and parents living in their homes.
Overcoming the stigma of social housing
Using census data and the latest English Housing Survey data, this report summarises the general composition of social housing, who lives in it, their social and economic backgrounds and examines the trend towards greater residualisation over time.
Better Housing, Better Health in London Lambeth
This indicative cost-benefit analysis shows that Lambeth’s Housing Standard (LHS) investment programme will have a major impact on the health and quality of life of council tenants, with wider monetised benefits of £227million for individuals, for the National Health Service, social care services, the Criminal Justice System and the local economy.
The role of home adaptations in improving later life
The review aims to provide evidence to make the case for the importance and effectiveness of adaptations, primarily to influence policy-makers at national and local levels, practitioners and local commissioners.
The future social housing provider
The purpose of the report is to explore the likely future trends in the operation, structure and customer demographic of a social housing provider in England.
Tenant involvement in governance: models and practices
This is a review of the current state of the art on tenant involvement in the governance of social housing in Northern Ireland and an evidence review of the wider range of governance models in operation in GB and Europe.
Five ways housing associations underpin inclusive growth
With the support of the National Housing Federation, RSA Inclusive Growth Commission identified five practical ways to make local economies across the UK more prosperous and inclusive. They explored what roles housing providers currently play and what they can do to support inclusive growth.
Community investment and the bottom line
Using a series of data analytical methods, this research paper sets out to establish whether community investment activities provide a return on investment and cost savings.
Better Days: Have a good day, every day.
This guide was produced for staff and partners working across Orbit to help them create the best possible communications and engagement with customers.
Domestic abuse and housing
The key purpose of this Winston Churchill Fellowship was to learn about international practice and perspectives relating to domestic abuse, learning about different housing models, approaches and best practice in a global context.
Digital inclusion and the social housing sector
Referencing six case studies and the 2014 UK government Digital Inclusion Strategy, this briefing paper examines the benefits and barriers of digital inclusion for social housing tenants.
Community asset transfer: A toolkit for housing providers
Using the experience of Affinity Sutton’s Community Asset Transfer Programme, this toolkit explains how they moved their portfolio of community buildings into long-term local ownership.
Women, families and work: How to help L&Q’s women residents into work
This research aims to better understand the constraints felt by L&Q’s women residents with children to make the transition into work, and the support that could make and sustain the transition.
Developing a community investment strategy
This framework provides guidance for housing providers as they develop a community investment strategy that is tailored to the needs of their communities.
Are housing associations ready for an ageing population?
This survey of landlords suggests high general awareness of population ageing, though it is not clear that landlords’ business planning matches the scale of the challenge.
Approaches to tenancy management in the social housing sector
The report examines some new models of tenancy management developed by social housing providers in the face of financial cuts, welfare reforms and tighter budgets.
Measuring the social impact of community investment
This report provides a practical method to assess the social impact of community investment initiatives. Evolving from the groundbreaking work published by HACT and the London School of Economic’s Daniel Fujiwara in 2013, this handbook provides a model for measuring housing provider’s social impact.
Acting on localism: the role of housing associations in driving a community agenda
To coincide with the one year anniversary of the Localism Act, Acting on Localism: The role of housing associations in driving a community agenda, examines the role of housing associations as actors and catalysts for a vibrant and transformative localism.
Community investment by social housing organisations: measuring the impact
This research aimed to generate an up-to-date picture of the measurement tools which are currently being used by housing organisations to measure their social impact occurring as a result of their community investment activities.
Financial inclusion in social housing: Policy into practice
Working with members and other partners, the NHF developed this guide to help housing associations to step up a gear in promoting financial inclusion. It is designed to assist busy social housing staff to find creative new ways of helping tenants to manage their money.
After the crossroads: Housing associations as community investors
A 2001 study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation remains relevant today, providing an overview of how community investment at housing associations occurs, and motivations for community investment, by looking at five case studies from England and Wales.
Contribute
If you have a case study or a research report to add to this library, or an idea for a future white paper, please get in touch with adam@ceci.org.uk
Our funders
The Centre for Excellence in Community Investment is supported by:
HACT
The Centre for Excellence in Community Investment is an initiative from HACT, UK housing’s ideas and innovation agency.
If you need help in developing a community investment strategy, measuring your social value or demonstrating the business case for community investment, please contact us.
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