Our customers have their say in pioneering ‘Climate Jury’ launching today

Today four of our customers are making history by becoming part of a ‘Climate Jury’ – the first of its kind – to help tackle climate change in their homes and neighbourhoods.

The Social Housing Tenants’ Climate Jury is made up of 30 tenants from FCHO and four other northern housing associations: Karbon Homes, Salix Homes, Thirteen Group and Yorkshire Housing. Together jury members will consider how tenants, social landlords and others can work together to tackle climate change in homes and neighbourhoods. It will make also recommendations to the social housing sector on how tenants would like to see landlords approach the net zero challenge.

The project is being led by the Northern Housing Consortium (NHC), which represents the views of housing organisations in the North of England, and it will be and overseen by an independent panel.

Shared Future, one of the UK’s leading experts in organising citizens’ juries, will be facilitating and running the sessions.

The jurors, selected to reflect the diversity of residents living within social housing and varying opinions on climate change, will meet for 30 hours over ten sessions between now and the autumn.

Jury sessions will be used to explore both climate science and its impact,  and the way climate change can be addressed at a local level. Jurors will hear from a series of invited experts, take part in group discussion, and work together with facilitators to develop recommendations.

Our Chief Executive, Donna Cezair said: “Cutting the carbon footprint of our homes and business and providing customers with high quality, energy efficient, safe places to live is a priority for us and it’s great to see our customers engaged and passionate about sustainability, too. The jurors’ views will not only shape our work here at FCHO and here in Oldham, but they will influence policy in the wider housing sector and I’m delighted that our customers are taking part in this pioneering project.”

NHC Chief Executive, Tracy Harrison said: “With over 1 million social rented sector homes across the North requiring green upgrades, the scale of the challenge to transition to net zero is clear.

"Councils and housing associations are ready to rise to this challenge, but these are people’s homes first and foremost, and so we cannot succeed in doing this without talking with our tenants, understanding their concerns and motivations, and listening and acting upon their recommendations.”

The final report and recommendations of the Social Housing Tenants’ Climate Jury will be launched at the NHC’s Northern Housing Summit in November.

Each Social Housing Tenants’ Climate Jury session will be recorded and members of the public will be able to watch these videos on the Northern Housing Consortium’s website.