Capturing ‘Home’ at the Urban Periphery: Forging relationships through tenant engagement in a South Wales housing association

The role of tenant engagement is now pertinent to social housing landlords, housing associations and local authorities in the UK, as a way to encourage the active engagement of tenants in community development and support initiatives and to grow tenant wellbeing. For social housing providers, the ‘home’ and its deeper narrative for many marginalised groups is relatively unknown. The Well-Being of Future Generation’s (Wales) Act (2014) and the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act (2014) both actively encourage authorities to think holistically and innovatively about supporting community wellbeing and sustainable development at different scales, and to foster diversity and inclusivity.
This research takes as its focus, Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association (MTHA), based in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales; a town
that has experienced deindustrialisation, peripheralisation, and some of the UK’s highest levels of socioeconomic
deprivation. The research aims to explore the wider ameliorative role of tenant participation meetings and events
outside of their regulatory agenda and boundary. It draws on a number of tenant engagement initiatives facilitated by
MTHA, including committee meetings, youth group activities and career-support advice workshops. The research finds
that, through tenants participating in these events, they utilise a neutral platform to provide stories about their everyday
living experience, and share these with MTHA and the wider group. This is found to forge a two-way benefice, to
provide tenant empowerment, and enable social landlords to support future tenant development, investment and support
networks.