On Saturday we donned our masks and gloves and headed into central London to join thousands of like-minded others in the Black Lives Matter protest. And we’re glad we did. It felt right to participate in a demonstration for positive change, both globally and at home. The atmosphere was peaceful and respectful, and renewed our commitment to opposing racial injustice and structural inequality in whatever way we can. The protest got us thinking about our company values, and we wanted to publicly reaffirm how we see our role in combating racial injustice in the UK.

Blue Door Property Guardians is committed to fighting discrimination in all forms, but especially in the UK housing market, where structural inequality on the basis of race is glaringly apparent, both in terms of home ownership and access to rental accommodation. According to the government’s 2017 Racial Disparity Audit, which compared the relative privilege of different ethnic groups, white British households are more likely to own their own homes than all ethnic minorities combined, even controlling for socio-economic status and age. White first-time buyers also pay lower deposits on average than all other ethic groups, indicative of a much higher barrier to home ownership for non-white people. When it comes to renting, BME households are overwhelmingly more likely to rent from private landlords than white households, which means limited access to social housing, and greater potential for abuse. To further compound the problem, BME households are concentrated in the UK’s most deprived neighbourhoods, where residents have poor health outcomes and lower life expectancy.

The bleak outlook for BME communities is not okay, and shouldn’t be allowed to continue. But even with widespread cooperation, this problem won’t be solved overnight. In the meantime, we’re committed to being part of the solution. Affordable housing in urban areas is scarce, and as providers of temporary accommodation for property guardians, we take our role as gatekeepers of this vital resource extremely seriously. By making low cost accommodation available to guardians of all ethnicities, we’re doing our best to ensure fair access to a rare opportunity for young professionals, post grads and mature adults to save towards home ownership. Our guardian community is fantastically diverse, reflecting the rich cultural melting pot that is London and many of the other urban centres in which we operate. Not only do our guardians benefit from safe, comfortable accommodation, but they enjoy career development opportunities in the form of guardian leadership roles, and develop wide support networks for their future endeavours. Creating equality of opportunity is one of our core values, and we welcome what people from all backgrounds bring to the company and our global guardian communities.

Mass gatherings during the pandemic come with risk, so we were thrilled on Saturday to see people of all ages and backgrounds showing up for the cause, placing their values ahead of fears. On the whole, protesters were careful about social distancing and respected each others’ space, so we felt comfortable throughout the event. If you weren’t able to attend, we hope our photos from Saturday will give you a sense of what the march was like, and inspire you to take a stand against racial prejudice in your own community. Please feel free to share this post widely!

If you’re interested in delving into the growing problem of structural inequality in the UK, here’s a link to the government’s Racial Disparity Audit, conducted in 2017 and updated in 2018. We also welcome feedback from our guardians and clients as to how we could do better in our mission to combat structural inequality in all forms within our organisation. Please get in touch!

Cover photo credit: Edward Howell on Unsplash