All you need to know about the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge!
With partners Stonewall Housing, we are now challenging the sector to sign up to the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge by HouseProud and Stonewall Housing - you'll be in very good company, and together we can make our homes better for our LGBTQ+ residents. Here's what it's all about, all you need to know, some case studies and how to apply.
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What is the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge?
The LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge is a scheme that all social housing providers (housing associations, local authorities and ALMOs) can sign up to, to demonstrate their commitment to LGBTQ+ resident equality and support. It was developed by HouseProud and the University of Surrey in association with residents, staff members and sector leaders to address the issues raised by the findings of ‘No Place Like Home?’, the largest study ever undertaken to understand LGBTQ+ experiences of social housing.
It's now delivered in partnership with Stonewall Housing
Why is it needed?
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The home is of central importance to LGBTQ+ residents, because it should be a place where people can freely express their sexual orientation and/ or gender identity without fear or prejudice. Sadly, despite recent changes in equality laws, LGBTQ+ residents continue to experience discrimination in their everyday lives, including in relation to their housing. Our research found that 60% of trans respondents did not feel that their neighbourhood was a safe place to live and one in five gay men reported modifying their home in some way (e.g. moving pictures or books) to hide their sexual orientation from a visiting repairs operative or housing officer. A third of respondents also felt that their housing provider was not able to deal effectively with issues like harassment.
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What is the opportunity?
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Residents told us that they want their landlord to move beyond token gestures – the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge provides a framework for landlords to work with involved residents to take action and demonstrate their commitment to LGBTQ+ equality and support. With the recent regulatory changes in how social housing should be delivered, the Government has called on the sector to empower residents and strengthen accountability. The LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge has been designed to help housing providers work with involved LGBTQ+ residents and foster positive relationships.
What is involved?
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Many housing providers already work with LGBTQ+ involved residents – signing up to the Scheme offers recognition for this. The LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge scheme is based on two levels of accreditation – Pledge Pioneer and Pledge Plus. We ask that all housing providers deliver three core commitments to foster engagement with LGBTQ+ residents (Pledge Pioneer). Following the delivery of these, landlords can work with involved residents to co-design projects and achieve the higher level of accreditation (Pledge Plus).
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Required from housing provider on the date of signing up - we now call this 'Pledge Promise'
General info required on signing-up:
• Key contact (for day-to-day communication)
• Name and signature of chief executive
• Date of sign-up
Evidence required for ‘Pledge Pioneer’ accreditation:
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LGBTQ+ residents can have input at executive / strategic level
Provide a minimum of two of the following:
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Provide terms of reference of the resident group demonstrating LGBTQ+ inclusion
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Evidence of a recent resident group meeting / calendar of meetings
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Evidence of policy impact assessments that specifically consider the needs of LGBTQ+ residents
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Process map for LGBTQ+ residents to input at executive / strategic level and evidence this has been implemented
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Profile of a senior champion (director, executive member, resident board member, independent board member) within the organisation. This should make explicit how this person is championing LGBTQ+ issues
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Action plan of the resident group demonstrating LGBTQ+ inclusion
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Testimonial from an LGBTQ+ involved resident to confirm how they have been involved with the organisation
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Evidence of LGBTQ+ residents’ involvement at board and / or committee level
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Increase LGBTQ+ visibility in your organisation by displaying the Logo in your internal and external communication channels, including website and social media within 3 months of signing up and Provide a minimum of two of the following:
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Publishing your sign up to the pledge along with an explanation of what you are doing to achieve Pledge Pioneer (or Pledge Plus) status in your organisation
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Include the organisation’s commitment to the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge in the annual report and explanation of actions taken
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Articles / news releases published, which explicitly mention involvement in the Pledge Scheme
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Evidence that you have included the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge in presentations given externally
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Evidence that you have included the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge in staff inductions
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Evidence of LGBTQ+ charities you have supported as a organisation
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Evidence of attendance at LGBTQ+ events with your staff and residents (Pride, LGBT+ History Month, Networking etc)
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Evidence of staff and resident initiatives aimed at increasing LGBTQ+ visibility (lanyards, email signatures, pronoun badges etc.)
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Provide specific LGBTQ+ training to staff (we can provide you with a list of providers).
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Provide a minimum of one of the following:
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Evidence of LGBTQ+ training delivered by a specialist LGBTQ+ provider
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Evidence of training that focuses on LGBTQ+ social housing residents
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Evidence to demonstrate that diversity and inclusion training for staff explicitly covers LGBTQ+ inclusion
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Evidence of e-learning used by staff members that specifically addresses LGBTQ+ inclusion
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Evidence that you have commissioned bespoke LGBTQ+ inclusion training for your organisation
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Evidence required for ‘Pledge Plus’ accreditation
Organisations ready to take the step towards Pledge Plus accreditation, must be able to evidence for all of the following:
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Evidence that LGBTQ+ residents have co-produced the Pledge Plus goals
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Evidence of an action plan that has been co-produced with LGBTQ+ residents to address particular issues
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Evidence of allocation of resource to achieve the goals in the organisation (e.g. they have been included in team work plans, have been included in someone’s objectives etc)
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Evidence of progress towards the goals
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Evidence of outputs and outcomes against the goals
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Demonstrate that progress towards the goals has been communicated to residents e.g. news article or included within the organisation’s annual report
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Testimonial from at least one LGBTQ+ resident to share their experience of co-producing the goals and the impact they have seen in the organisation
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How do I sign up?
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Signing up to the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge by HouseProud and Stonewall Housing is free of charge. If your organisation has not yet signed up, you can do so now. Simply email houseproudpledge@stonewallhousing.org with ‘LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge by HouseProud and Stonewall Housing’ in the title and we’ll get back in touch to confirm some details and get the ball rolling
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Aster
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B3Living
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Chisel Housing
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CHP
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Curo Group
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Evolve
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Great Places
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Homes Plus
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Irwell Valley Homes
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London Borough of Ealing
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Melin Homes
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Moat Homes
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Mosscare st Vincent
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Prospect Community Housing
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Providence Row Housing Association
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Onward Homes
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Origin Housing
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Rochdale Boroughwide Housing
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SAHA
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Social Interest Group
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Sovini Group
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Star Community Housing
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Stockport Homes
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United St Saviour’s Charity
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Watford Community Housing
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Waltham Forest Housing Association
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WCHG
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Weaver Vale Housing Trust
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Anchor (maintained - 2024)
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Gloucester City Homes (awarded – 2024)
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Home Group
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L&Q
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London Borough of Islington (awarded – 2024)
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Notting Hill Genesis (maintained – 2024)
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Orbit (awarded – 2024)
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Orwell Homes (awarded – 2024)
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Peter Bedford (awarded – 2024)
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Places for People (awarded – 2024)
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QVT (awarded – 2024)
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Riverside (awarded – 2024)
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Royal Borough of Greenwich (awarded – 2024)
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SJMT (awarded – 2024)
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SNG (awarded – 2024)
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Soho Housing (awarded – 2024)
PLEDGE PLUS
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Clarion
Enjoy the video that started it all
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Network Homes
Network manages and owns 20000 affordable homes across London and Hertfordshire, housing around 38000 people.
In order to achieve Pledge Pioneer status, Network Homes provided evidence in the following areas, among others:
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An online meeting of staff and residents to discuss diversity, including the HouseProud Pledge project.
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An article by their CEO describing a 10 point action plan showing what Network Homes aims to do to embrace diversity, including signing up to the HouseProud Pledge.
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Mention of the Pledge project in their annual report and promotion of the scheme on social media.
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Commissioning Stonewall Housing to provide training sessions for frontline staff, including maintenance staff, on LGBTQ+ awareness.
Swan Housing
Swan manage over 11,500 homes across Essex and East London with a secured development pipeline of over 8,000 homes, and have been a long and faithful supporter of HouseProud.
In order to achieve Pledge Pioneer status they have, among other actions:
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Included information about the HouseProud Pledge project on their website, in their 2019-20 Residents’ Annual Report and in the Autumn 2020 edition of HOME (their magazine for residents), inviting interested residents to get involved.
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Reviewed the Terms of Reference and Code of Conduct for their Scrutiny Panel and Resident Consultative Committees to ensure they are inclusive and provide opportunities for LGBTQ+ engagement.
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Started reviewing the EDI training they already have in place, with plans to include key findings from the HouseProud research and roll out training for operatives who work for their repairs partner to further enhance understanding of LGBTQ+ lives.
Home Group
Home is a housing association, social enterprise and charity with a turnover of over £400m and one of the UK’s largest providers of high quality housing and integrated housing, health and social care.
Among the evidence they submitted, they included the following:
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They have a LGBTQ+ residents’ group, “Rainbow Roofs”, with strategic input into the organisation.
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They carry out equality impact assessments, including the effect on LGBTQ+ people, as part of the policy development process.
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There was an article on the HouseProud Pledge in Homelife, their residents’ magazine.
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They have promoted the scheme on their social media accounts.
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They have included the experience of LGBTQ+ lives in their diversity e-learning module.
Organisations who have achieved Pledge Plus
Clarion Housing Group
Clarion Housing is the UK’s largest housing association, owning and managing 125,000 homes: 350,000 people call a Clarion home their home.
Clarion has achieved Pledge Plus status by:
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Working with the Out and About Group of involved LGBTQ+ residents on what is most important to them that needs to be reviewed. The Out and About Group agreed that they wanted to look at the organisation’s Hate Crime policies and its approach to Hate Crime;
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A focus group was held with members and an action plan drawn up;
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Working with Clarion’s staff, research was carried out to identify services available in the areas Clarion works in and how to signpost to them;
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They contacted all 45 police forces in the UK to get copies of their hate crime policies;
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Reviewed Clarion’s policies and procedures on anti-social behaviour and hate crime;
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Published and publicised the new approach, which better reflects the experience and needs of LGBTQ+ people.
Anchor Hanover
Anchor Hanover is the largest provider of housing for older people in England, with around 54000 homes.
Anchor Hanover achieved Pledge Plus status by:
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Identifying with their LGBT residents’ group the area that they were most interested in, which was how the organisation dealt with anti-social behaviour and Hate Crime;
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Working with the group to revise their approach;
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Publicising and bringing the new approach into operation.
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