DLUHC Publishes further guidance on ‘Pride in Place’
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has recently updated its definition of pride in place, and we’re delighted to see this reflect the outcomes of our recent research. This followed a briefing we held for DLUHC colleagues to share findings from our Pride in Place: Views from Northern Communities report.
When the Levelling Up White Paper was published in February 2022, the Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) noted within the Government’s programme of missions the ambition to ‘restore pride in place’, underpinned by commitments that brought together housing decency, town centre regeneration, and civic engagement. Understanding the important role NHC members play across each of these themes, last year the NHC and partners published Pride in Place: Views from Northern Communities. Working with residents across the North, Pride in Place puts forward the northern view on Levelling Up, what makes a great place to live, and underlines the importance of NHC members as anchor institutions regeneration agents in their areas.
The NHC has been in close contact with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC) since the publication of the report including holding a briefing for Department colleagues tasked with the Government’s definition of ‘pride in place’ and the metrics which would sit behind it. We were delighted to see DLUHC publish their policy statement last month on the Levelling Up missions, including further guidance on pride in place:
“Pride in place is an emotion people feel towards the physical community that they identify with and feel a sense of attachment, belonging and deep-rooted contentedness towards. It is underpinned by their sense of safety and security, their participation and connections within the community, their engagement with local culture, heritage and sport and their satisfaction with local high streets, green and blue spaces, and physical infrastructure.”
In DLUHC’s ‘Update on the Pride in Place Mission’, the Department stated:
“Through our engagement to define the Mission, stakeholders emphasised that Pride in Place is an emotion that people feel, stemming from a sense of belonging and deep-rooted contentedness with an area. They stressed the importance of security, social cohesion and well-designed local places, all of which have been incorporated into our definition. Discussions also highlighted the importance of sports, activities, group rituals, events, connectivity and planning as key drivers of Pride in Place, on the basis that they support the social cohesiveness of local areas.”
The NHC is delighted to see such a strong connection between DLUHC’s output and our own research. As with the Government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns, the NHC will continue to highlight the role of NHC members in delivering on the important themes referenced above. As originally stated in the Levelling Up White Paper, it must also be reinforced that work to boost ‘pride in place’ is inextricably connected to improving housing decency. As the NHC’s Pride in Place report noted, residents felt that access to decent, affordable housing was a key part of their pride, providing a solid foundation to engage in the local community.
The NHC looks forward to continued engagement with DLUHC on how residents working alongside NHC members can realise the ambitions they have for areas like theirs across the North.
The DLUHC policy paper Statement of Levelling Up Missions can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-levelling-up-missions
Further DLUHC guidance on ‘Pride in Place’ can be accessed here:
Pride in Place: Views from Northern Communities was published last year by the NHC in partnership with Blackpool Coastal Housing, Karbon Homes, MSV Housing Group, Livv Housing Group, and Yorkshire Housing, and can be viewed here:
https://www.northern-consortium.org.uk/pride-in-place/
