By Denis Kinyera, Estate Operations Manager, Notting Hill Genesis

People I’ve worked with over the years have often said they ended up working in housing by chance; however, for me, I must say that it was intentional.

From a young age, I was fascinated by politics, the importance of meaningful social policies, and the role of advocacy. Moreover, buildings fascinated me, and what I came to later know to be ‘regeneration’ left me thinking about what was taking away the community I’d grown up in.

My first role was work experience in a neighbourhood housing team of an ALMO in east London, with successive roles thereafter seeing me through my formative education years until I graduated from university. By which time I’d worked across housing management services, including tenancy/leasehold management, income collection and out of hours – as an officer, team leader and service manager. ­

Continuing to develop my experience, I remained intentional, seeking roles that some would say weren’t synced with my young age at the time, leading up to my appointment as a local authority head of service. My work is now more project-related, leading and shaping the future of estate management for a few of our most complex residential developments. In this role, I remain tasked with rethinking estate management, introducing placemaking principles, and realising socio-economic development in those communities.

The month of October not only affords society the opportunity to reflect on and embrace Black history but should also allow the right conversations to take place. Notably, the month is an opportunity for everyone to get involved, celebrate the diversity of culture and heritage across the UK, and purposefully champion the history of Black communities and the experiences that bind us all.

Looking over my career to date, it allows a period of reflecting where this path has led me, and how my experiences have highlighted the good and bad in terms of Black history and its legacy. I’d urge you all to take this opportunity to take stock of you the individual; you the team; you the organisation; and we the sector.

What’s next for housing?

As a sector, it’s fundamental that we listen to our customers. For us as professionals, it’s vital to ensure that we improve the data we hold, and where there’s not any, gather that data to understand the demographics of residents and the communities we work in.

Few sectors afford professionals the unique position that’s available in housing: access to diverse communities with the ability to make a real difference. It’s therefore critical that organisations and professionals look at engagement beyond Black History Month and other key calendar events, and go into the communities they work in, listen to their customers, and understand what they want to see in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion.

Likewise, more than ever it’s essential to ensure engagement activities are intelligence-driven if we’re to have a lasting impact or deliver on maintaining a residents-first approach to providing services and improvements. The customer voice has become so much louder, as showcased through recent tragedies that have become case studies, Grenfell, the changing role of the Housing Ombudsman Service and the rise of voices through social media.

In leading services, the key tenets have always been that they’re reflective, impactful and remain central to the community being served. Remaining open to and listening to customers as a starting point, we should encourage our teams to understand, learn and act on the customer voice. Experience has shown working with customers in this way encourages greater buy-in, as customers feel their voices are being heard, and have influenced the shaping of services they received.

Changing the face of housing

An array of studies has highlighted the challenges experienced by many Black and minority ethnic communities in social housing; however, they’re ignored when these encounters take place in the work setting. To overcome this, colleagues should be encouraged to share insights and talk about their culture and heritage – with improved understanding, the stigma of engaging with our residents on this basis could be removed.

Lack of diversity at the smaller tables

The contrast of having worked in and out of London has been eye-opening. It gave me a first-hand perspective on what a lack of diversity in the work setting has on recruitment and staff morale.  This was particularly problematic where there was no diversity in senior management roles. Over the years and through different work environments, the question unfortunately remains the same: ‘does senior management (or the board) reflect the communities we serve?’

Personally, it took some time to navigate the settings I’d found myself in, at times finding that more often than not my voice was the only voice that considered the minorities in our served communities. The benefit of a mentor during this time was pivotal, and with time I was also a mentor to a few fellow young Black men, who interestingly had sought me out as they also wanted to break through the officer-to-management barrier as a minority candidate. For this reason and with the changing landscape as a sector in mind, we need to be open and receptive to having the conversations on how diversity can be increased at senior management and board level, taking accountability to deliver this as a lasting change.

With most things, it’s expected that sometimes we’ll make a mistake, but it’s more vital to learn from them. When looking forward, as a sector the people and organisations making up this space are often held back when it comes to equality, diversity and inclusion.

The month of October affords us all an invaluable opportunity to speak with our colleagues, engage our customers in the communities we serve, consider the language we use and start to challenge biases. As a starting point, we should use whatever platform or role we hold to raise diverse voices and commit to achieving greater equality, diversity and inclusion.