Clarion Housing Group sponsors LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge scheme
Clarion Housing Group is proud to be sponsoring a new partnership announced by HouseProud and Stonewall Housing designed to maintain the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge Scheme as a free initiative, making it easy for housing providers of any size to improve the wellbeing of their LGBTQ+ residents.
The HouseProud Pledge Scheme is an initiative dedicated to promoting equality and support for LGBTQ+ residents in social housing nationwide. This initiative is a direct response to No Place Like Home, which was the largest study ever undertaken to understand the LGBTQ+ experiences of social housing and highlighted significant challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals.
The home should be a place where individuals can freely express their sexual orientation and gender identity without fear or prejudice. Sadly, despite recent advancements in equality laws, LGBTQ+ residents can still face discrimination in their daily lives, including in housing.
The No Place Like Home study found that social housing residents often feel unheard, undervalued, and unequally treated. Many remain hyper-vigilant in their neighbourhoods and alter their homes to conceal their sexual orientation or gender identity during landlord or repair visits.
“[Housing association] have got various different engineers for whatever it is and, you know, I’m very, very wary of who they’re going to be sending here. Are they going to pick up the fact that I’m gay? When it’s a male coming here, is there enough time for me to get rid of those pictures or whatever, they all come off the shelf”
Gay man, 45-54
“I vet them at the door because I’ve had someone be abusive before, so I’ll ask for their badge and everything like that. And if I don’t like their voice or the look of them, I won’t let them in. It’s as simple as that.”
Lesbian, 35-44
The commitment is simple. One year after sign-up, housing providers must ensure LGBTQ+ residents have input at the executive/strategic level, increase LGBTQ+ visibility, and initiate staff training to improve understanding of LGBTQ+ lives, with demonstrable training delivered to frontline staff. After those requirements have been met, we invite housing providers to set their own goals around LGBTQ+ inclusion, in collaboration with their residents.
By joining the HouseProud Pledge we are demonstrating our commitment to our residents, with this initiative also positively influencing staff, fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment.
The Pledge was developed by HouseProud, who initially led the scheme on a voluntary basis. As of 2023, Stonewall Housing became the delivery partner for the Pledge. With just one day a week of dedicated resource, the number of housing providers signed up to the Pledge more than doubled in the past year, growing from 21 to 44 organisations.
Currently, the housing providers that have committed to the HouseProud Pledge represent a total of 1,844,332 residents supported across 909,394 households, which includes representation in Wales and Scotland.
The new sponsorship partnership
To ensure that the scheme can grow from strength to strength and continue to impact the lives of LGBTQ+ residents, Stonewall and HouseProud have launched a sponsorship partnership. By sponsoring this initiative, Clarion and eight other organisations are leading LGBTQ+ inclusion across the entire housing sector in the UK.
Our collective commitment demonstrates a unified effort to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all.
The funds will support a full-time, five-day-a-week position dedicated to administering the Pledge, engaging with housing providers, and supporting organisations in meeting their commitments to LGBTQ+ residents.
As a result of the sponsorship, the Pledge scheme remains free for housing providers to join.
Together, we can build stronger, more connected communities where everyone feels valued and supported.