Hate incidents in social rented housing

The aims of this research were to:

• ascertain how widely the Toolkit is used, including identifying examples and whether its aims have been met
• identify, where the Toolkit has not been used, whether an alternative approach has been adopted and, if so, how successful this has been
• identify if improvements are needed to the Toolkit or suggest alternative processes for achieving the Toolkit’s aims
• further capture what work social landlords in Wales are doing to tackle hate incidents and assess how this work might be improved

The research was carried out between June and November 2012.

The research found that the Toolkit is used by just over a third of social landlords in Wales mostly by Registered Social Landlords. Social landlords who do not use the Toolkit indicated that their methods follow the ethos of the Toolkit.

Stakeholders generally view the Toolkit as a helpful reference guide for social landlords to ensure their policies and practices are effective for tackling hate incidents.

The research identified a range of approaches and good practice that social landlords are using to deal with hate incidents. It also touched upon the complexities of hate incidents, the importance of adequate social landlord staff training and effective monitoring of hate incidents. The Toolkit was identified as a useful resource to increase an organisation’s awareness of hate incidents and their ability to recognise them as such.