The Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary gave me a real drive and inspiration to ‘inhabit’ the research I was doing about Grenfell Tower
My name is Liv Glenny, and I recently graduated from the University of Birmingham, with a BA in Social Policy and Sociology with a Year Abroad. In my final year, I was one of the four grateful recipients of Commonweal Housing’s Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary, which assisted my dissertation research project.
Commonweal’s generous gift of a £2,500 Bursary meant I could focus on my dissertation without working my normal part-time job. Commonweal also offered guidance and links to key literature to support my research. Their input has been both motivating and inspiring.
My dissertation topic explored Grenfell Tower through a ‘social harm’ lens to assess the extent to which current policy implementation addresses key physical, cultural, and psychological harms experienced by social housing tenants in England.
Through an in-depth literature review, I set out to identify policy recommendations made by housing experts after the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy and the extent to which the newly implemented Social Housing (Regulation) Act (SHRA) 2023 will be a useful regulation in addressing these recommendations. Pemberton’s (2015) ‘social harm’ lens was the framework through which I critically analysed literature on Grenfell, including news articles, policy papers and charity reports on the tragedy.
One of my key findings was that according to homeless charity Shelter, the SHRA 2023 ‘on paper’ is a ‘huge step forward’ in addressing the poor regulation of landlords through enforcing transparency and accountability measures such as the Complaint Handling Code and the Complaint Handling Failure Order.
For example, the Complaint Handling Code provides a code of practice for landlords to respond to complaints effectively, with the aim of reducing the potential of neglect. To further increase accountability, the SHRA 2023 also introduced the Complaint Handling Failure Orders, which are issued by the Housing Ombudsman when landlords have not proved they have dealt with complaints from social renters, including exposing them in reports online.
While this new implementation has the capacity to initiate a more positive complaint handling culture, my research found that a lack of resources and staffing numbers to execute these regulations may limit the SHRA 2023. However, only time will tell if the legislation can be practically implemented in the coming years.
Another key flaw highlighted in my research is the lack of anti-racist consciousness throughout the SHRA 2023. Recent scholarship between 2019-2021 exposed the racialised dynamics for residents in Grenfell Tower and more widely the multi-faceted discrimination against Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) social housing tenants. As noted by Shelter and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there is awareness of racism in the social housing sector, yet the SHRA 2023 fails to acknowledge and address this in its legislation.
Overall, my dissertation concluded it is urgent for housing policy lobbyers to advocate for anti-racist awareness in the social housing sector to give BAME social tenants a higher chance of being treated with dignity by their landlords.
After receiving such generous support from Commonweal in my final year, I am delighted to have undertaken a month-long internship with Commonweal over July, supporting exciting upcoming research projects.
The Jane Slowey Memorial Bursary gave me a real drive and inspiration to ‘inhabit’ the research I was doing about Grenfell Tower and the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, and I can certainly say this support helped me gain a First-Class honour in my dissertation.
More significantly, Commonweal has helped me realise the passion I have for housing injustice for those in urban poverty. Their input has encouraged me towards the housing sector, where I hope to eventually influence policy in relation to refugee housing. I am grateful and excited to learn from professionals in the housing field at Commonweal this summer.