Tenants' empowerment & the EastendHomes Residents' Conference

Today - Monday 14 June 2010 - is the day of the EastendHomes Residents' Conference.

Who: Only registered residents can attend.
Where: The Centre on British Street estate, Merchant Street - behind new Tesco on Bow Road. (see map here)
When: The conference starts 12.30pm with a buffet, proper start 1pm.

People who work want to attend but cannot due to the timing (ie 12.30pm). There is no evening or weekend alternative.

Those who tried to register late will also not be able to attend as the Conference has hit capacity for the much smaller venue being used this year. Plus EastendHomes will not admit anybody who turns up on the day without a ticket.

Please let MERA (07932 626340) or EastendHomes know if you have registered but won’t be able to make it after all. There are people on the reserve list who can then have a place.

What's going to be discussed?

The topics for discussion - as determined by EastendHomes - are the areas highlighted in the new Regulatory framework for social housing in England from April 2010

The Tenant Services Authority website provides over 200 pages to download and digest on this topic.

You can download a 'quick reference' guide "What does the regulatory framework mean for you" in PDF format

Cover of What does the regulatory framework mean for you

Various publications are also available to download - see list at end of this post.

You can also find out more by consulting:

• the MERA website - Tenants Conference
  
• the TSA Tenant Empowerment Programme.
  

Peter Marsh (Chief Executive, TSA) says

"Our standards and approach to regulation are fundamental to us and are aimed at ensuring a fair deal for tenants – who cannot in most cases simply vote with their feet and move to another provider if services are poor"

The new 'Regulatory framework for social housing in England from April 2010' identifies six standards which RTSLs need to achieve:

1. Tenant involvement and empowerment - which contains requirements relating to customer service, choice and complaints; involvement and empowerment; and understanding and responding to diverse needs of tenants
2. Home - which contains requirements relating to quality of accommodation; and repairs and maintenance
3. Tenancy - which contains requirements relating to allocations; rent; and tenure
4. Neighbourhood and community - which contains requirements relating to neighbourhood management; local area co-operation; and anti-social behaviour
5. Value for money
6. Governance and financial viability

The TSA says

"empowerment requires information, the ability to be heard, to hold providers to account, to influence service delivery and the decisions that providers take. Tenant empowerment can operate at both an individual and collective level and requires a proactive approach by providers to support tenants to share power with them over the decisions that impact on the things that matter to them.

TSA Publications in pdf format

• An A2-size foldout version of the standards is available to order in hard copy.
  
• A guide to the standards is also available.
• The Regulatory Framework for Social Housing in England from April 2010
• The Regulatory Framework for Social Housing in England from April 2010 – Annexes to the TSA’s Regulatory Framework Document
• The Regulatory Framework for Social Housing in England from April 2010 – The TSA’s Consent to Disposals
• The Regulatory Framework for Social Housing in England from April 2010 – Analysis of Respondents’ Views This sets out how the TSA took into account the responses received from the statutory consultation published in November about the TSA proposals.

TSA Publications in word format

• The regulatory framework for social housing in England from April 2010 (2041 Kb)
• The regulatory framework for social housing in England from April 2010 (631 Kb)
• The regulatory framework for social housing in England from April 2010 - annexes (1258 Kb)
• The regulatory framework for social housing in England from April 2010 - annexes (1083 Kb)
• Consent to disposals (349 Kb)
• Consent to disposals (314 Kb)
• Analysis of respondents' views (399 Kb)
• Analysis of respondents' views (308 Kb)
• Standards fold-out A2 (139 Kb)This PDF is A2 size and is provided here for illustrative purposes only.

If you have any queries please contact MERA
If you have a comments please leave it below