Feeling at Home

This research was funded by the Economic, Social and Research Council (ESRC) and delivered in partnership with the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Urban Wellbeing. The research trained tenants involved in landlord services in insights from the fields of Psychologically Informed Environments, Trauma Informed Design, Behavioural Economics and Geographies of Home. Tenants shaped the direction of the research, focusing on what induced anger and fear in their relationships with landlords and their home. This work has resulted in a <resource for involving tenants and neighbourhood volunteers in developing domestic abuse plans> and a second research project where we are the researcher partner.

Emotional Encounters

Emerging from the Feeling at Home research was the emotional intensity of some visits from landlord staff to the tenants’ home. For practitioners such as Housing Officers, Support Workers, Rent and Finance Officers, these visits are part of a day-to-day routine. For tenants, these infrequent encounters could cause significant distress, including stress migraines, emotional distress and disengagement with landlord services. This research will examine the encounter from both sides, working with tenants and practitioners to produce guidelines that can turn these encounters into moments of connection, building trust and contributing to tenancy sustainment.

Storytelling for Change

Thanks to funding from the University of Birmingham, we collaborated with the Birmingham Settlement Project and Spoz, a former poet Laureate of Birmingham to explore storytelling as a technique for producing knowledge, connectedness and change. We wanted to explore storytelling as is it a technique with a diverse range of uses, from recovery services through to consultancy at FTSE100 companies. Through this active research, we are confident in the value of this method and its applicability to the complex and emotional work of the regulated housing sector.

Feeling at Home – Changing the Story of Domestic Abuse

This was another activity that emerged from the Feeling at Home research. It emerged that some involved tenants are undertaking significant work supporting people experiencing domestic abuse in their community. In 2021, new legislation increased expectations of regulated landlords and local authorities to prioritise domestic abuse. This desktop-based research and co-creation activity with experts in domestic abuse and collaborative governance underpins a resource on co-creating local domestic abuse plans with involved tenants and neighbourhood volunteers. The resource can be found <here>

In the pipeline…

Tenants and Tech: Sensing a future that works for tenants

In response to Dr. Hannah Absalom’s thesis work that included a focus on sensor technology and the University of York work that we facilitated on the same topic <link>. We are collaborating with university partners to fund independent research into the ethics of sensor technology in tenants’ homes. Watch this space for more information…

Voices for Tenants

We participate in a steering group and are looking to commission research into the feasibility of how tenants can have a greater impact on policymaking at a national level. This research explores how arrangements could be put in place to give tenants a stronger voice on the issues that matter most to them. The research brief does not presuppose the establishment of a permanent national tenant body but is seeking research that will set out a range of options for how tenants could have a greater influence on national level policymaking.