Tenants take control

Published by Paul Diggory for North Wales Housing Association in Housing

Tenants take control

North Wales Housing has set up a new scheme to give its tenants a real say in how their housing services are delivered. Using a Welsh Assembly Government grant to pay for training, the housing association now has an active Tenant Advisory Panel working closely with board members to inform a broad range of decisions.

Garry O’Brien, Head of Asset Management at North Wales Housing, explains how the idea came about:

“We were approached by The Tenant Participation Advisory Service, which aims to create successful relationships between tenants, landlords and the government. They suggested using a Tenant Empowerment Grant from the Welsh Assembly Government to pay for training that would allow interested tenants to work effectively with us and inform various areas of our asset management agenda. We put the idea to our tenants and were really pleased with the enthusiasm they showed.”
One such enthusiastic tenant was Caroline Thomas, who has been with North Wales Housing for the past 20 years. Despite initial concerns that the Advisory Panel might just be a token gesture, designed to appease various bodies that wanted to see tenant involvement, Caroline in now fully committed to the idea:

“The officers of North Wales Housing that participate in the meetings have been at great pains to make sure that we’re aware that this is not a token panel, that our views are counted, and that they matter.”

The evidence certainly bears Caroline out. Despite only meeting for the first time just eight months ago, the Tenant Advisory Panel has already sat in on interviews as part of the tender process for a reactive repairs contract. The tenants’ views helped to sway the decision away from the cheapest quote, in favour of a contractor that they thought would deliver a service more appropriate to their needs.

According to Garry O’Brien; “In the past we may have inadvertently made decisions for residents that weren’t in their best interests. We now know that can’t happen anymore, which is undoubtedly a very good thing.”