Sectoral guidance: housing 

On this page

• Your role
  
• Promoting good race relations: dos and don’ts
  
• Your organisation
  
• Working in partnership
  

Your role

Despite improvements in the housing market, significant differences still persist in the type and quality of housing available to people from ethnic minorities, who are more likely to live in poor housing. Segregation continues to pose problems for social integration in some parts of the country. How housing organisations meet their statutory duty to promote race equality is therefore vital to good race relations and to building public confidence that people from all racial groups will be treated fairly and equally.

Promoting good race relations: dos and don’ts

Do:

• Make sure that your race equality scheme addresses the duty to promote good race relations, and provide adequate resources to carry out all requirements.
• Encourage dialogue among people from all racial groups on how well local housing polices and services are working.
• Make sure people from all racial groups take part in decision-making about housing services.
• Make sure the needs of people from all racial groups are catered for locally and nationally, and work with other organisations to help deliver these services.
• Monitor patterns in the development of racial tensions concerning the provision of housing locally and nationally.
• Take firm and immediate action to deal with incidents of racial harassment in housing.
• Make sure that your policies for housing allocation maximise opportunities for people from all racial groups to interact, and that they do not effectively lead to segregation of racial groups.
• Publicise your policies on, and commitment to, promoting good relations through the national and local media as part of your organisation’s communications plan.
• Make sure that all staff are fully consulted on, and are supportive of, policies to promote equality of opportunity and good race relations, including using the use of positive action measures where appropriate.
• Deal with complaints of discrimination and harassment from staff speedily, and notify staff of the outcomes of action taken.
• Make sure your contractors understand and take into consideration the duty to promote good race relations.
• Work with other public authorities and voluntary or community organisations in all these areas, and take the lead in creating partnerships, wherever appropriate.
• Make sure your board members and staff play an active role in decision-making and provide training to help them to meet the duty to promote good race relations.

Don’t:

• Fail to address in your race equality scheme the duty to promote good race relations, or provide adequate resources to ensure delivery.
• Fail to show leadership, internally or in public, or recognise the need to be proactive in promoting good race relations.
• Fail to make adequate resources available for promoting good race relations.
• Fail to adopt community-based consultation approaches such as public meetings, surveys and outreach programmes, to identify which policies are relevant to the race equality duty, and how good race relations can be promoted in the ways in which services are provided.
• Fail to identify, assess, consult on or monitor the effects of those policies that are relevant to the promotion of good race relations.
• Fail to make information about your policies and practices accessible to all communities.
• Ignore complaints of discrimination and harassment from staff, which can lead to a drop in staff morale.
• Fail to make sure that all staff are fully consulted on, and are involved in, the development of policies to promote equality of opportunity and good race relations.

Your organisation

The role of board members and senior staff

Board members, local councillors and staff are responsible for making sure that housing organisations meet their statutory duties under the RRA, including the duty to promote good race relations. It is therefore important that there is public confidence in the ways in which board members and staff working for housing organisations carry out their duties.

Board members and senior staff should provide leadership in promoting good race relations, both internally and externally, as well as ensuring that the organisation’s policies and practices meet the duty to promote race equality.

Working in partnership

In order to promote good race relations nationally, regionally and locally, you will need to work closely with other organisations. Where possible, you should build the promotion of good race relations into existing arrangements (such as local strategic partnerships). Where there is an identified need, such as reducing tensions between racial groups arising from housing arrangements, you should create new partnerships to promote good race relations.

When working in partnership, you should tell partner organisations how you intend to meet the requirements of the race equality duty, including the duty to promote good race relations, and make sure they all adopt your approach. This should include, where relevant, the requirement to promote good race relations in procurement contracts and service agreements as a performance standard for how services are delivered.

Guidance on this section can be found in race equality duty documents.