EastendHomes Residents Conference - open to all?

EastendHomes have announced that a Residents Conference will be held on 14th June at 1.00 pm in The Centre at the British Street Estate.

PARTICIPATION LEVELS

Last years conference was attended by about 70 people including 25 of those EEH staff. That means only 45 tenants attended which is a pretty poor turnout given that EastendHomes manage 3,500 homes across the borough.

EEH say that numbers will be limited and asked that people informed them by 28th May at the latest if they wished to attend so that they can plan for the event.

MERA notes that the time of the event means that nobody who is working on that Monday afternoon will be able to attend.

We think this is unfair to working people and unrepresentative of what people think. Not everybody who lives on the Estates are retired or unemployed or mums at home with small children.

Of course if EastendHomes really wants people to participate then it would book somewhere big enough at a time which people can attend.......

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

EastendHomes also state that

The conference will feature discussions around areas identified by the Tenant Services Authority, the social housing regulator, as key to the interests of residents.

You can see or download the Tenant Services Authority Regulatory Judgement on EastendHomes. This includes comments like

The estate management boards, one for each housing area, are made up of local residents. These boards monitor services provided to the housing areas and also play a crucial role in involving tenants in the decision making process of the association.

What is unclear is how tenants get to raise issues which matter to them.

We think the emphasis should be on:

• maximising participation by tenants and
• discussing topics which matter to tenants

If you think that you should be able to say what you want to discuss and meet at a time which is convenient to you please contact please contact Peter Griffiths on the number given on the poster EastendHomes and let him know what you think.

You can also tell MERA what you think at any time. Contact details are in the side column.

The Tenants Services Authority: For Information

Regulation

The TSA has recently published the new regulatory framework that social housing providers have to meet from April 2010.

At its heart are six standards, and against each of these, the TSA has described the outcomes landlords should meet and our specific expectations of them.

Empowerment & Safeguards

This is what the Tenants Services Authority has to offer Tenants

Tenants

We’re the champion for tenants of affordable housing in England – standing up for their aims and interests and putting their needs first. In this section, you can find out more about how tenants can help us improve standards of services in affordable housing and what tenants can expect from the new regulatory framework.

Find and compare landlords
Find out how your landlord is performing and compare them with other housing associations in your area.

The standards your landlord has to meet
Tenants, landlords and other stakeholders have helped us to shape the six standards that now apply to all social housing providers.

What does the regulatory framework mean for you?
This booklet sets out a summary of our standards and what you can expect as your landlord works to meet them.

Get help to challenge, influence or control the management of your housing services
The Tenant Empowerment Programme can help you get independent advice, training and information on how to challenge, influence or control how your housing services are delivered.

How to make a complaint
Find out what to do if you want to make a complaint about your landlord or us.

If you need more help or information, please contact us.

Link: Tenants Services Authority