Disseminating housing research to practitioners who can use the findings to shape and improve services

Housing researchers and practitioners inhabit two often separate worlds. Each group has its own networks, events, debates and structures. This project would help to bring the two groups together, to achieve meaningful policy debate, practical action for research informed improvement to strategy and services, and a synergy that could help to underpin future research.

This proposal seeks to help ameliorate the current economic difficulties in the participating sectors. The problem of lack of robust evidence for the policy and practice community to use in decision making is likely to be exacerbated in the coming period, following the curtailment and in some cases cessation of nationally available data sets. A further current problem for the policy and practice community exists in the necessity for budget cuts and the scarcity of resources. This is hampering practitioners' capacity to research issues themselves, to commission research exercises and to find and select useful research to put into action. The commercial sector similarly faces economic austerity and a risk-averse climate. Its links to the academic community need further development. Commercial organisations therefore need support in developing the provision of research-based evidence from what would initially be seen as a non-viable venture commercially into a self-sustaining activity.

The project would place a University of Sheffield researcher with HQN Ltd, which operates a membership network of about 700 housing organisations. The researcher's task would be to set up and operate a bespoke network within HQN's existing base, featuring news and digests of relevant academic and other research. An impact-focused initiative working individually with four organisations to support them in incorporating academic research into their policy and practice or strategic work would form a core part of the project.

Primary beneficiaries would be: social housing organisations, tenants and residents, national and local policy makers across the UK, and HQN Ltd. Academics will also benefit.

Social housing organisations would benefit from being able to access a far wider range of academic research than currently, in a format that is helpful to them. Publications from the project would also enable more timely access to data and findings, allowing research to be used in practice more quickly. Organisations would benefit from better decision-making, based on or taking account of research evidence. Four organisations would benefit directly from individual work with the project team.

Tenants and residents would benefit indirectly from improvements in services, and possibly better value, made as a consequence of research evidence. It should also be noted that some tenants and residents are themselves involved in the running of social housing organisations, and could benefit from direct access to research.

Policy makers also require robust research evidence on which to formulate their policies and strategies, but particularly at local level their access to such information may be limited - especially in times of stretched resources. The project would enable policy makers to access a wider range of research findings, potentially enhancing their ability to encompass broader themes in their work.

All types of end users would benefit from greater capacity to get involved in the design of future ESRC and other funded research projects.

HQN Ltd would benefit in being able to offer an enhanced and innovative service to members at no extra cost. The new product would form an important part of its portfolio. In the longer term the company could gain a competitive advantage, by offering what would currently be the only such service in the housing field.

In summary, the impacts and beneficiaries are:
1 Long term: improving impacts of housing-related investments and policy. A broader set of users - who will make real investments in housing, neighbourhoods and communities; and who will make policy in these areas - will have faster and easier access to cutting edge housing research. Primary beneficiaries: social housing organisations, tenants and residents, national and local policy makers across the UK.

2 Medium term: improving the capacity of research users to get engaged in the design of future ESRC (and other) funded academic projects. Primary beneficiaries: social housing organisations, tenants and residents, academics.

3 Short term: helping HQN develop a commercially viable means of synthesising and disseminating academic research among its members. Primary beneficiaries: social housing organisations, tenants and residents, HQN Ltd.