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Bolton at Home involved in project to give tenants a greater voice

Bolton at Home involved in project to give tenants a greater voice

Bolton at Home has put itself forward to be an ‘early adopter’ of a new initiative to give a greater voice to housing association tenants.

The early adopters have been selected by the National Housing Federation as part of its Together with Tenants campaign which aims to build a stronger, more balanced relationship between tenants and housing associations.

Bolton at Home will help test the federation’s new plan to give tenants a greater say on how housing associations are run, including input into decision-making at board level.

Bolton at Home is one of around 100 housing organisations across the UK to become an early adopter. Tenants and employees from these organisations can give their views on the Together with Tenants draft plan by voluntarily completing an online questionnaire.

Noel Sharpe, Executive Director of Customer and Place for Bolton at Home, said: “We’re proud of our longstanding commitment to tenant engagement but there’s always ways to become better at it.

“Together with Tenants has the potential to make our relationships with tenants and communities even stronger by giving them a greater voice at the highest levels of the organisation.

“We’re excited by this opportunity and believe it will encourage new people who haven’t engaged with us before to get involved in representing the interests of tenants.”

The Together with Tenants draft plan proposes four actions for delivering its ambitions. These actions are:

  • A new requirement in the National Housing Federation’s Code of Governance for boards to be accountable to their tenants and residents.
  • A new charter setting out what tenants and residents can expect from their housing association landlord.
  • Tenant and resident oversight and scrutiny of the charter with a report on how their landlord is doing against charter commitments.
  • A closer link with regulation.

The National Housing Federation will use the feedback gathered from the questionnaire to further refine the Together with Tenants plan. The consultation is open until 19 April.

It will then begin testing it with a group of housing association early adopters, including Bolton at Home, by working with their tenants and residents.

If you have any queries about the questionnaire, please direct to the National Housing Federation at togetherwithtenants@housing.org.uk.