In November last year the Northern Housing Consortium published The Social Housing Tenants’ Climate Jury Report. 30 social housing tenants from across the North of England have worked together to consider the question “how can tenants, social housing providers, and others work together to tackle climate change in our homes and neighbourhoods?”.
The Jury formulated a statement which read:
“WE ARE A GREAT AND DIVERSE VARIETY OF INDIVIDUALS FROM THE NORTH OF ENGLAND THAT HAVE JOINED TOGETHER VIRTUALLY IN OUR OWN HOMES TO LEARN ABOUT AND DISCUSS CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACTS ON OUR LIVES, OUR FUTURE, AND THE FUTURE OF THE PLANET.
WE HAVE ALL BEEN AWARE FOR A LONG TIME THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS A PROBLEM, BUT THIS PROCESS HAS BROUGHT THE ISSUE TO THE FORE AND MADE US ALL UNDERSTAND THE URGENCY OF THE SITUATION.
IT’S BEEN AN EDUCATION AND IT’S BEEN EYE OPENING.
CLIMATE CHANGE NEEDS TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY, NOT JUST FOR NOW, BUT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. WE FEEL THERE IS TOO MUCH TALK AND THE TIME HAS COME FOR ACTION.
WE, THE SOCIAL HOUSING TENANTS JURY, HAVE BROUGHT TOGETHER DIFFERENT LEVELS OF KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE AND DIFFERENT OPINIONS TO CREATE SHARED UNDERSTANDING AND SHARED SOLUTIONS IN THE FORM OF RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE HAVE ALL WORKED HARD TO CREATE AND AGREE UPON.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR RECOMMENDATIONS, GO FORWARD WITH AN OPEN MIND, LISTEN TO WHAT WE HAVE TO SAY AND ABOVE ALL – LET’S TAKE ACTION AND ACT TOGETHER.
THIS IS REAL. THIS IS URGENT. LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE. WE HAVE SPOKEN”.
The Jury made 24 recommendations under the headings of:
- Recommendations on retrofit technology
- Recommendations on costs and managing disruptions to tenants
- Education, Raising Awareness, Communications and Housing Association Collaboration
- Tackling Climate Change in our neighbourhoods and
- Any other recommendations.
Now Martin Hilditch of Inside Housing has spoken to the tenants who were involved to find out if they are happy with the progress made since then.