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.
BAME communities and Covid-19 briefing
This series of briefings address significant issues that are emerging in the UK as a result of Covid-19 that impact on the work of community investment. This briefing covers BAME communities.
Making Housing Affordable After Covid-19
This by the Affordable Housing Commission argues that the timing is right for a sustained counter-cyclical social housing programme, which supports local jobs and growth and helps decarbonise the housing sector.
The impact of Universal Credit revisited
In light of structural changes to the Universal Credit system, the Northern Housing Consortium has once again surveyed its membership to gain new insights into how these changes have impacted on members and their tenants.
Democracy starts at home
This report by The Democratic Society suggests several actions and activities that help to better involve customers, leading to better decision-making.
Patching the safety net
The NFA and ARCH publish the findings of 2019’s survey into the impact of Universal Credit (UC) on local authorities and ALMOs
The mental health premium
In this report Citizens Advice have examined the impact of poor mental health on the costs of accessing services and goods, and have exposed the financial detriment that customers with poor mental health incur.
Building Beautiful Places
This report, published by the ThinkTank Policy Exchange puts forward a new policy approach that incentivises land owners and developers to propose and build housing schemes that are beautiful and diverse.
Social Prescribing Project Report
The Social Prescribing project is in collaboration with Community Engagement officer for Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) in Cambridgeshire, employed by CHS (Cambridge Housing Society), Jade-Anne Griffin (JAG) and Nuffield Road Medical Practice, a surgery in East Chesterton, Cambridge.
Tackling digital, financial and employment exclusion
This report published by the Cambridge Centre for Housing & Planning Research provides evidence about the impact of one-to-one coaching on people suffering from financial and digital exclusion and exclusion from the labour market.
CLAS Annual Service Report 2018/2019
This report on The Cambridgeshire Local Assistance Scheme (CLAS) summarises the savings made by the scheme in its second year of operation, made possible by taking a Think Communities approach2, which emphasises the importance of people, places and systems.
Social Prescribing
Social prescribing: GLA’s next steps
Great Places Commission: final report
With support from the National Housing Federation, the Commission visited towns and cities across the North and Midlands, meeting housing associations, stakeholders and local residents. Using the learning from this process, the Commission has made ten recommendations.
Housing works: assessing the impact of HA employment support
Authors: Mark Wilding, Katy Jones, Philip Martin and Lisa ScullionPublished by Give us a Chance and University of SalfordThe research involved a mixed-methods approach and was carried out in three key phases:Phase 1: Initial consultation and review of...
Making a sustainable community
Authors: Deborah Quilgars, Alison Dyke, Alison Wallace and Sarah WestPublished by Joseph Rowntree Foundation, February 2019This report presents the results of a six-year evaluation of Derwenthorpe, an urban extension of about 500 homes in York, developed by the...
Democracy Starts At Home
Recommending a series of actions that the housing sector in Scotland should take in order to improve resident engagement.
The mental health premium
Mental health problems are the most common health issue among Citizens Advice clients, impacting 89,410 clients last year. Previous research found people with mental health problems are more likely to struggle with essential services, and support offered by providers is inadequate.
Making homeless young people count
This report centres on findings from Centrepoint’s analysis of data collected for the 2017/18 Youth Homelessness Databank. It updates findings from previous years, including Centrepoint’s estimate of the national scale of youth homelessness.
What’s not working
This report assesses the barriers to employment and the impact of rent fluctuations and housing benefit.
Taking financial wellbeing to the next level
This White Paper from Orbit Group and Fairbanking explains how Orbit Group is helping its customers take control of their finances.
What works? Evaluation of the DOSH financial capability programme
The evaluation of the DOSH programme is based on answering the following question: is digital support, therapeutic mentoring or a combination of these elements more effective in improving the financial capability of A2Dominion residents?
Adapting for ageing: Good practice and innovation in home adaptations
This report identifies the elements of high-quality and innovative practice in the provision of home adaptations for older people. It highlights practical examples of local areas that are organising and delivering adaptations effectively.
Making communities great again: James Howick
James works at Saltworkz, a community café in Haywards Heath, and has been involved with youth work there since 2015.
The impact of social housing on child development outcomes
This paper uses Millennium Cohort Study data to compare the cognitive, health, emotional, and behavioural development outcomes of children living in social housing compared with those living in private rented housing in England.
Developing skills and building careers: Hayat Ahmed
Hayat is a Clarion Housing resident originally from Somalia and a single mother to seven young children. In Somali culture it is typical for women not to work, and combined with a language barrier and lack of knowledge about how to enter the job market, Hayat had never worked in the UK.
The value of a social tenancy
In collaboration with Bates Wells Braithwaite, Hyde has calculated the monetary value of their social tenancies. The report also the added benefit to the economy and maintenance as well as cost to taxpayers. It explores the value of social tenancy against relying on family/friends and less stable conditions.
Rethinking customer insight: Moving beyond the numbers
In collaboration with Bates Wells Braithwaite, Hyde has calculated the monetary value of their social tenancies. The report also the added benefit to the economy and maintenance as well as cost to taxpayers. It explores the value of social tenancy against relying on family/friends and less stable conditions.
Love sport: an evaluation of Sanctury Group’s sport and physical activity programme
Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, this evaluation examines the outcomes for participants of Sanctuary Group’s Love Sport programme, as well as the social value generated. It also evaluates the delivery approaches taken by community partners to understand what worked well, and what was less successful.
In work but out of a home
Shelter’s analysis shows that in 2017 55% of families living in temporary accommodation were working. This represents over 33,000 families who were holding down a job despite having nowhere stable to live.
Health at home
Following on from Family Mosaic’s Health Begins at Home project, this report is based on Peabody’s follow-up research project that looked at how to deliver a cost-effective housing support services, improve people’s self-care, and work with other agencies to deliver a coordinated response to the needs of residents with health and support requirements.
Building communities that work: the role of HAs in supporting employment
The research shows housing associations invest £70m a year in employment and training support programme but only four in 10 housing association tenants are in full-time work
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...
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. We partner with organisations across the social housing sector to drive value for residents and communities. We do this through insight-led products and services that encourage innovation and foster collaboration.
If you need help developing a community investment strategy, measuring your social value or demonstrating the business case for community investment, we can help make it happen. Get in touch and let’s start the conversation.
