The importance of accurate and reliable information

What this means 

Dealing with housing – whether local authority housing departments, housing associations, buying and selling a home, or navigating the private rented sector – is usually a very complicated operation. Often, people and their families have to make decisions about where to live or how to adapt their homes at a very stressful time. Therefore, when thinking about housing support, it’s not only about practitioners or commissioners providing a service, it’s also about communicating clearly what the service can offer – even people experienced in dealing with housing and social care can get very lost. This will require legal literacy (knowing what people are entitled to) on the part of professionals, as well as communication skills. 

On the other hand, when information is clearly presented, accurate, and given with a chance to ask questions, it’s far more likely to reduce stress and help support person-centered decision-making. 

Why is communication and accurate information so important?

In this clip, Dave Bracher explains why communication and accurate information are so important:

The research 

In parallel to the theme of confidence and communication in the Leading The Lives We Want To Live key change section, the research finds that access to housing, adaptations and support to live in the place we call home is far too reliant on people’s individual efforts – but even this did not make up for a lack of information. Satsangi et al. (2018) noted that ‘Several of the people interviewed for this research were well-educated, articulate and confident. These advantages did not prevent them from struggling to find their way through complex services and obtaining appropriate housing’ (p.11). 

An accessible housing register is a method that can be used by local authorities to collate the information they collect and hold on accessible homes. What this looks like can vary, but overall an accessible housing register:  

• Identifies disabled people in need of accessible homes. 
• Identifies suitable properties by location and type. 
• Looks to match a person with a suitable property. 

In 2018, the latest figures available at the time of writing, it was found that 83% of councils in England did not hold one (Satsangi et al., 2018). Yet earlier studies have shown that they can be beneficial in joining up existing housing provision, being a catalyst for identifying and addressing accessible housing need, and making the best use of scarce accessible housing. One estimate is that it pays for itself within five years, because, by more effectively matching people to suitable homes, it removes the need for 15% of current adaptations (Jones & Lorden., 2011). 

In many cases, people will have additional communication needs, which means it isn’t easy to find information out for themselves. Both social housing and the private rented sector can be difficult for people with learning disabilities to access (Housing LIN, 2022). Families often try to fill in the gaps and offer this support but are often faced with a complex housing system that does not routinely talk to social care to offer joined-up support (Housing LIN, 2022). 

An innovative study (Bailey et al., 2019) led by Skimstone Arts in the northeast of England used theatre and film to explore older people’s housing options and the information they needed to make the best choices for themselves. The work, involving focus groups with people of all ages, found that a creative strategy like this, in addition to more traditional face-to-face or telephone support, was effective in opening up conversations (Bailey et al., 2019).  

What you can do 

If you are in direct practice: The information you are communicating has to be clear, consistent, transparent, accessible, and inclusive. Think honestly about how confident you are in:  

• Finding out information about housing and housing support. 
• Communicating this in plain, clear language. 
• Finding accessible supporting documents and/or videos on housing and housing support that can be shared with people. 
• Having outcomes-focused conversations on housing preferences and choices. 
• Honestly discussing the limits of current housing options. 
• Awareness of potential emotional implications of various housing options.  

If the answer to some or most of these questions is ‘not very confident’, speak to your supervisor about what you can do to improve this. Are there other members of your team who are very confident in these issues? How can you learn from them? Are there connections you can make with local housing services – perhaps inviting a guest speaker to a team meeting? 

You may also find it helpful to have a team directory of relevant local and national housing services that you can refer to. This will help you to feel confident in signposting and providing basic information when in direct practice. 

If you are in policy or senior management: Review your information on housing and housing support in partnership with people with the citizens who access it. Ask them to be honest about how clear they find it and ask for their opinions on how to improve it. Consider issues such as:  

• Accessibility of language. 
• How up-to-date it is. 
• The formats in which it is available (for example - print, online, different languages, video explainer, Easy Read). 
• How easy it is to obtain the information needed. 
• How targeted the information is (for instance, are there specific guides for older people that speak to their particular context, or is there one generic guide)? 
• The overall ‘feel’ of the information (Friendly? Formal? Inclusive? Confusing? Too detailed?).  

When you come to rewrite your information on housing and housing support, make sure it’s co-produced with people with care and support needs. For an example of co-produced guides, Care & Repair (a national organisation supporting older people to live independently, which closed in 2022) still have their co-produced self-help guides for older people available on their website. You may also find it useful to refer to the Research in Practice Strategic Briefing Supporting families at the intersection of social care and housing. 

Review whether you have an up-to-date accessible housing register. If you don’t, consider the benefits of doing so, both in terms of choice and information, but also for cost-effectiveness. 

Further information 

Watch

This video from Skimstone Arts, Doorbells: Dreaming for the Future, dramatises the project that explores older people’s housing choices. As you watch, think about how both clear information and interest in people’s lives and histories are key to successful housing choices in later life. 

Read 

This information sheet from Skills for Care on Communication skills in social care. 

Browse

The open-access website from Research in Practice on Supporting outcomes-focused practice. It’s particularly helpful to consider the ‘outcomes triangle’ – how can this support effective, informed conversations on housing and housing support?  

Use  

The Research in Practice Change Project, Families and Homes, has developed a Practice Tool - Supporting legal literacy across social care and housing.