September 2014 - Dwell Director releases report on study tour

Dwell Director, Alison Cadman visiting with the chair of a community land trust in England

In 2013 our Director Alison Cadman was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to travel to Australia, the UK and USA to study the growth of not-for-profit social housing organisations.

The growth in the provision of social and affordable housing by not-for-profit organisations has significantly changed the landscape of social housing in the UK and now increasingly in Australia. The scaling up of these organisations – through government financial investment, the transfer of stock, and other initiatives – has proved to be a highly successful method of increasing the quality and supply of social and affordable housing. There is now a huge amount of evidence-based experience that New Zealand can learn from.

"One of the stand outs for me was how different the housing associations in the UK are from anything we have in New Zealand," says Alison. "If you visit one as part of a tour or conference or read their website, then you might think they are the same type of organisation as many social housing organisations in New Zealand. But really experiencing and exploring what they do revealed to me a whole new world. They house a range of people and provide a range of services. I was inspired by these social enterprises and organisations that are about stable and strong communities and providing tenant-focused services."

Read her report "Unravelling Housing" here.