Affordable housing provider Karbon Homes is at the head of a new social movement to increase prosperity and community pride to countless communities with its innovative approach to place-shaping. 

With over 30,000 homes across the North East and Yorkshire it’s only natural that affordable housing provider Karbon Homes has a strong sense of place.

Building strong, sustainable places for its communities is in its blood, and Karbon believes everyone deserves a fair chance to realise their potential. However, one issue Karbon appreciates better than most is that whether people get that chance depends largely on where they live.

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While some areas are well connected, with vibrant local economies and strong community services, for many communities’ life hasn’t been that fair and over time they have become “left behind”, where opportunities are out of reach and people become trapped in cycles of poverty, leaving life hard, stressful and more expensive.

Karbon recognises that providing good homes and quality services is just one part of the picture in helping theses left behind communities to thrive.

So they commissioned research and launched the Fair Foundations report, highlighting the issues and calling on central and local Government, and like-minded anchor institutions, to join a “movement of change”.

The latest initiative is a blueprint to help society work differently in left behind places. It summarises the evidence that supports Karbon Homes’ approach and describes the steps being taken. But equally importantly, it is also a request for help, support and partnership.

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This powerful framework helps Karbon Homes to understand the experience of living somewhere on a relatively low income, digging far below the headline numbers on wages and GDP that are widely used to discuss economic development, and focusing attention on the availability and accessibility of the essentials for everyday life.

By combining a sound business head with a social heart based on strong values, the company builds sturdy foundations for even more people.

For Karbon Homes’ executive director of growth and business development Charlotte Carpenter the wider impact is central to the company ethos.

“I started my career in the civil service moving to the region in 2002 and working for organisations such as One North East,” she says “I have always had a passion for the role housing can play in the wider economic success of the region.

“There are still a number of areas in the North East that economic success hasn’t reached and sections of the community feel like they have been left behind. We felt there was a role for Karbon Homes to help deliver what these areas want and need.

“Organisations like Karbon Homes, anchor institutions within many left behind communities, can do a great deal to help drive the economic success of those areas in the long term.

“We came to the conclusion that we need to take an approach that is more focused on strengthening the foundational economy, including the essential  goods and services that are necessary for a good and dignified life. Housing, public transport, the quality of the High Street and food outlets, leisure centres and health and social infrastructure are all key.

“But we needed a conceptual framework to do that which is why we commissioned research and launched Fair Foundations.”

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The region has seen a number of previous Government policy initiatives, aimed at regenerating areas and supporting them in order to thrive. These included New Deal for Communities and the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders. But so far they have had little impact and many of the areas continue to struggle in a climate that is challenging for the whole country. 

With the current cost of living crisis the need for change has never been so great and Charlotte maintains that the key indicator is the amount of residual household income people have at the end of the month.

The Fair Foundations report calls for central and local government intervention and for them to understand the importance of measuring residual household income.

Charlotte says: “Many sections of the community don’t have the necessary income to lead a dignified life. This has a knock-on effect on the local economy. So, we are asking the Government to reform the benefit system to ensure lower income families have a good quality of life if they cannot work.

“For those who have jobs, the system needs to be refined to make work pay. For instance, a family with a household income of £37,000, made up of benefits and salary, if they were to double this with extra hours or by securing a second job, they would only see an extra 20 per cent, and that is before transport costs, work equipment or covering childcare costs. Double the hours but they are not much better off and sometimes can find themselves even worse off.”

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She also says they are urging the Government to look at Treasury funding rules to enable housing associations to spend grants on improving existing homes rather than increasing the net number of houses.

“The region’s homes are not of the right quality for today’s housing aspirations and the North East economy,” she says. “Poor public transport links are also holding people back from finding improved employment.”

The report features a whole set of recommendations for anchor institutions around what part they can play in improving a community.

“Do they pay staff the living wage, for instance,” she says. “Is there more we can do to support customers into employment?”

Karbon Homes has recently run a new scheme, called New Start, to support adults over 25 into long-term employment with job matching and paid placements to meet their needs.

“That scheme has been really successful, bringing a number of housing association tenants into work, some of whom have not been in employment since the 1980s,” says Charlotte. “This has proved to be a win-win because it helps get people back into work and also supports local businesses with recruitment.

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“In Stanley, an ex-mining town in County Durham which is just one of the ‘left-behind’ communities within which we have a significant presence, we have set up a skills hub on the high street and are looking at issues around childcare including before or after school clubs. We’re also trying to improve the quality of the infrastructure to reverse the decline of the High Street and the paucity of local retail and job opportunities.

Along with boosting its liveability, improving the physical fabric of a place also plays a big role in improving a community.

“There is a psychological impact on a proud and vibrant community, which remembers what the area used to be like, when iconic buildings become derelict as this represents a physical decline and shows the area to be a shadow of its former self,” says Charlotte. “So we have been buying key buildings, such as the Old Board School on Stanley Front Street, which is no longer used, has become derelict and a target for antisocial behaviour and is psychologically damaging for the place. We are now consulting with local residents to see the best way of using this building to bring more vibrancy and pride back into the community.”

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Karbon is asking fellow housing associations, local businesses, community projects, and other anchor institutions within these communities to join it on its journey. It believes the issue isn’t one that can be tackled alone and it wants to join forces with others to create focused coalitions where resources and expertise are pooled. The aim is to help kick-start a virtuous circle of change, focusing efforts on areas where the most difference can be made.

“We have had so much interest in the report since we published it and we are developing a network of like-minded organisations because we know we cannot do this on our own,” adds Charlotte. “This really is a movement for change.”

For the full Fair Foundations report visit karbonhomes.co.uk/media/15558/fair-foundations-report.pdf.