Big Brother diary room for LMH tenants

Published by Jean Clarke for Liverpool Mutual Homes in Housing and also in Communities

A consultation event will allow tenants at a Liverpool housing association to give their views in a Big Brother-style diary room.

The opportunity is part of Liverpool Mutual Homes’ (LMH) Annual Tenant and Leaseholder Conference which is being held at St George’s Hall on Friday 26 March with a ‘health and wellbeing’ theme.

Tenants can post short videos during the conference and LMH staff will be on hand throughout the day to speak to them in the event aimed at sharing information and listening to people’s views to inform the ‘local offer’ in the wake of the Tenant Service Authority’s release of the National Standards that Housing Providers must meet from April 2010.
 

Presentations, exhibitions and entertainment will be provided by LMH, its suppliers and partner organisations to bring tenants up-to-date with progress two years on since the stock transfer of more than 15,000 homes from Liverpool City Council.

Senior staff will also explain to tenants the plans for the forthcoming year, including the launch of LMH’s 29 Neighbourhood Plans that look at the different needs of those neighbourhoods and the work that still needs to be undertaken through the £400 million regeneration improvement programme.

Information on LMH’s safer estates teams’ work to improve communities will be given along with details of its successful, award-winning Intensive Community Payback scheme.

With LMH being a tenant-led organisation, information on how tenants can get involved in the decision-making process by becoming area and board members will be explained.

Advice on rents, benefits and other schemes that tenants can take advantage of will also be provided.

Chief Executive at LMH, Steve Coffey, said: “We are approaching our second anniversary as an organisation and through our tenants, staff and partners’ hard work, have made an incredible amount of progress.

“The Annual Tenant and Leaseholder Conference is all about our tenants and helping them get more out of our services.

“We will do this by offering support and advice wherever it is needed, providing the opportunities for tenants to speak to us about anything they wish, and for us to explain what we’ve done so far, but more importantly, what we are going to do over the next year.

“The video diary room is something we have introduced so tenants can tell us anything they want in confidence and we are keen to hear their views on all matters that affect their lives.”

Schemes introduced in 2009/10 by LMH to improve standards included tenant inspections and mystery shopping, the creation of a customer involvement steering group, a leaseholder’s forum, an increase in the creation of the number of local tenant and resident associations and an email consultation group.

LMH’s work in the community has already made a significant impact with more than 1,100 cases of anti-social behaviour being reported and resolved, while LMH safer estates officers are among the first in the UK to receive the Level 5 qualification in anti-social behaviour supervision.

Outstanding physical progress has been made too, with the number of empty homes reduced from 425 to 276 and over 3,000 kitchens, nearly 4,000 bathrooms, almost 6,500 windows, more than 13,000 doors and in excess of 5,500 central heating systems have been installed.

Over 700 properties on the Daneville Estate have been regenerated with energy efficient structural cladding.

Free refreshments and a lunch buffet will be provided during the day and a contribution of up to £20 towards child care costs can be reclaimed. Translators are also available if booked in advance.

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