The government’s racial disparity audit confirms the extent and persistence of racial injustice in Britain, but includes precious little on housing beyond commenting on lower levels of home ownership among ethnic minorities.
What’s missing is some recognition of wider disparities in the housing system and the role of BME housing associations in confronting racial discrimination and disadvantage for more than three decades.
It’s now time for action on this front. Prime minister Theresa May should ensure that a slice of the £2bn new investment in social housing announced in her conference speech last week is allocated to the BME housing sector.
With perhaps 20% of the new investment, we could provide upwards of 5,000 social homes in the most deprived neighbourhoods in London, the Midlands and the north. This will not only alleviate housing need among ethnic minorities but enable BME communities to control more housing assets, advancing economic equality and boosting social mobility.
The BME housing sector was created in 1986 to improve the housing circumstances of ethnic minorities. With just 17% of social lettings made to ethnic minority applicants by mainstream social landlords compared with over 66% by BME housing associations, it is clear that there remains much more to do.
The government’s racial disparity audit, which confirms the extent and persistence of racial discrimination and disadvantage in Britain, comes as no surprise to those of us working in black and minority ethnic housing associations.
Specialist BME housing organisations, represented by BMENational, have seen these disparities close up. We’ve witnessed the sparsity of people from ethnic minorities in senior jobs; urban disturbances in the 1980s onwards sparked by heavy-handed policing, unemployment and poor housing; institutional racism; shorter and more deprived lives; and racial stereotyping and stigma.
The audit, which brings together a range of data from a variety of fields of inquiry, reveals higher unemployment rates among BME people, disparities in the housing and education systems, and health inequalities that blight BME lives and life chances.
The BME housing sector was created to enable ethnic minorities more equitable access to social housing.
The aim was also to offer advancement for BME board members and staff from the outset. The result has been that while a mere 7% of senior staff in the social housing sector are from an ethnic minority background, this rises to more than 80% for BME housing associations (pdf).
Thirty years on, the BME housing sector remains small but crucial, with 70 organisations managing 69,000 homes, or 2% of the nation’s social housing. The sector has limited capacity to improve the housing circumstances of BME communities and we need to expand to redress racial discrimination and disadvantage in Britain’s housing system.
Homelessness has grown massively in BME communities, from 19% to 36% in the past two decadesin the population. BME people are also far more likely to live in overcrowded, inadequate or fuel-poor housing than white people. And their homes less frequently include safety features; especially fire alarms.
Around one quarter of BME households live in the oldest pre-1919 built homes. One in six ethnic minority families have a home with a category one hazard under the housing, health and safety rating system.
BME communities are over-concentrated in the most deprived neighbourhoods in Britain’s cities. Deprivation has negative impacts on health, feeding into lower life expectancy and higher illness rates among ethnic minorities.
On top of all this, the government’s welfare reforms disproportionately impact ethnic minorities, especially universal credit, since more BME people live in poverty, receive benefits and tax credits, and live in large families. This also makes ethnic minorities more vulnerable to bedroom tax displacement and penalties.
Since 1986, BME housing associations have made a telling contribution in confronting racial disparities. Building homes supports our work in providing culturally sensitive services, aiding asylum seekers, refugees and new migrants, investing in BME communities to boost employment and training opportunities, and helping to improve health and wellbeing.
Yet more concerted action will be needed to redress the deep inequities found by the racial disparity audit. Enabling the BME housing sector to realise a greater reach – possibly by government allocating a slice of the £2bn extra for social housing – would be a positive first step.
Cym D’Souza is chair of BMENational and chief executive of Arawak Walton housing association
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