Is there a place for optimism in Housing today?
I have been mulling this topic over for some months now. My initial thought was that there certainly is room for optimism and being the optimistic person that I am, I still think there is.
A Winston Churchill quote seems particularly pertinent for this:
“The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
It is tough to be optimistic in Housing today. Universal Credit, lack of supply, ever increasing demand, rent reductions in England (I could go on) – there are lots of issues facing the world of Housing. But taking Churchill’s quote, we’re faced with many difficulties today in Housing, but isn’t each difficulty also an opportunity?
I think we need to stay as optimistic as possible, despite all of the difficulties the sector is facing. That’s certainly what I’m trying to do day-to-day, especially in providing leadership to my teams at work. It’s not the easy road to take, but working in Housing, do we really ever get to take the easy road? I’m yet to hear anyone working in Housing who chose Housing as being an ‘easy’ profession!
The dictionary definition above of optimism fits well with this. For me its all about hope and confidence about the future of Housing. Despite the challenges, I’d argue that as a sector we will rise to the task and aim to excel.
The image at the top of the page is one that I use quite often in my powerpoint and prezi’s. It also forms a key part of my Twitter bio background. Quite apart from being exactly how I approach work on a daily basis, I really do think that the ‘glass is always full’ approach is an important one worth remembering and worth savouring. Mind you, I have on several occasions been called the ‘eternal optimist’ (which I obviously take as being a compliment) and one of my most popular catchphrases at work apparently is ‘it’ll be fine’!
But what do you think about this? Is Housing the place to be as an optimist? I’d be really interested to hear your views………………..
Brett Sadler 
Good post Brett and like you I am an eternal optimist always looking for positives in any difficult situation.
This is the most challenging situation for housing I have known in which to stay optimistic.
This is where great leadership is required across the sector. Yes it’s incredibly challenging to keep building affordable homes given the constant barrage of hurdles thrown in our way but maybe we need to completely reinvent our business models to accommodate this rather than trying to make a now square peg fit in the round hole.
Thanks Kevin. I had this post drafted last year and at the time I couldn’t bring myself to mention optimism (in the face of welfare reform), but this is the new world of #ukhousing – regular challenge and change – so the landscape has and will keep on changing.