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picture of Beth Peakall Housing is about people, not property

Published by Beth Peakall on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 2:35 pm

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I was interested in the article regarding overcrowding in the Somali community in London. I worked with Karin Housing, and I saw the report in its draft stage. Sue Lukes’ comment regarding choice based letting system is true not only for the Somali community but many in the London area. On-line systems seem a great idea. People put in their details and bid, and an objective system bands them and determines priority. However, it doesn’t seem to work. Not only does it require computer skills, but computer access. Even if housing associations provide computer terminals, do people understand they need to keep bidding? From what I have seen, the answer is no. Housing staff do their best to remind tenants to bid, but it is one more thing for them to do. Libraries and town halls may have computer access, but again, do people know they need to go there? Can they even get there? The other main point is these objective systems do not take into account individual needs. We are in great danger of forgetting that housing is about people, not property.

24housing March 10 24housing magazine

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