Faith in Affordable Housing - a growing relationship of trust and partnership

When I was appointed in 2013 to launch the ‘Faith in Affordable Housing’ project in Wales, I couldn’t have been happier. The role brought together the two great passions in my life: my Christian faith and my love for housing. I had visions of me breezing into the offices of senior clergy and them clamouring to hand over surplus church land and redundant buildings to help the poor and house the needy.

One of the first things I did was ask a friend who works as a Director for a large Welsh housing association to tell me his experience of working with churches. To say his response burst my bubble would be somewhat of an understatement. “Churches?” he said. “Pah! They all want top dollar for everything”.

I learned very quickly that although churches and the housing sector are built on very similar foundations e.g. fairness, justice and a desire to help those in need, their relationship was purely commercial with little understanding of each other.

Churches were viewed as not very helpful and the housing sector was viewed as a speculative developer. In fairness to churches, they sought to get the best return for land because they were tied by their interpretation of charity law and were directing the money into other avenues to help those in need.

The challenge for the FIAH project has been to help churches see housing as part of its mission. This has meant showing the difference a good quality home makes to health, education, well being and life chances. As Housing Justice is the national voice in the UK for Christian action on housing and homelessness, this gave us an open door to challenge churches into doing more to be part of the solution to housing need. It also meant acting as an impartial bridge between the church and the housing sector.

Two years later and a number of church sites have been sold to housing associations across Wales through the FIAH project. Work has recently begun near Merthyr Tydfil to build 13 new homes and an old derelict chapel in Bridgend will shortly be demolished to build Move-On accommodation for single young adults. As I write this, discussions are progressing on 25 sites across Wales, many of which involve partnerships between churches and RSLs to jointly deliver community facilities in addition to homes.

Two of the main Christian denominations in Wales have formally adopted policies on land disposal for affordable housing, including below market sale if need be. Hopefully more denominations will follow soon.

So what’s made the difference? I think simply getting the church and the housing sector around the table, then letting them talk to each other. It’s been great to witness the epiphany moment that actually we have really similar aims and values. The result is a growing relationship of trust and partnership between the church and the housing sector in Wales that will benefit generations of people to come. 

Sharon Lee works for the charity Housing Justice and co-ordinates the Faith in Affordable Housing project in Wales, which aims to see surplus church land and buildings released for housing. She is also a board member of Wales & West Housing.

#HousingDay - Jemma's story

My name is Jemma Bere and I am a tenant and tenant board member of Wales & West Housing. I work for CREW Regeneration Wales, part of the CHC Group.

In 2001, my mother died in a car accident whilst in Andalucia, Spain. After the funeral in the UK, my brother and sister returned to Spain with their father where they began school. However, their father turned to drink and eventually became unable to care for them and in 2005, I was told that the children had been taken into the care of social services in Almeria. I went to Spain immediately to see them but there was very little I could do. After a couple of months, I received a phone call from the Spanish authorities who told me that unless someone in the family could take on the children, they would have to be put into foster care. They could give me no guarantees that they would be kept together or that I could visit them so I made the decision right there that I would look after them. I was 24 and had just graduated from university.

It took me two years to navigate the bureaucracy and go through the adoption process to get the children to the UK but I was determined and a few key friends and organisations took sympathy to my cause. On the 15th July 2008, I brought the children back to the UK and they were reunited with their nan and brother who they hadn't seen in 7 years. I had no house and no capital, just the conviction that it was the best decision I had ever made. We were given emergency housing at first but were offered a permanent house by Wales & West after a couple of months. I can't describe the feeling of security that that brought to us. Used to being shuffled around, the children only believed that they were here to stay when we got the house and the change in them from that point was amazing to see.

The children spoke little English at first and we lived on benefits whilst we were finding our feet. The rarity of the situation made the application process difficult and we lived on £90 a week child tax credit for the initial 6 months. I learnt to make everything from scratch, even shampoo! It was a hard time but the safety nets afforded to us through social housing and welfare gave us enough security to start to build a life together.

I'm very proud to be living in social housing and a tenant board member of my housing association. I am delighted at the opportunity to give back and help to make a difference in the sector.

I'm supporting Housing Day because it offered me a lifeline when I thought I had none. I don't want to think about where the children and I would have been without the opportunity for a affordable home. As a social housing tenant, I know my rent money goes toward others in need and providing them with the opportunity to build their lives just like it did with me. 

Jemma Bere
Regeneration Officer (CREW Regeneration Wales) and Wales & West Housing tenant

Read more about Jemma's story here.