Friday, 25 May 2012

TENANT'S ENPOWERMENT - I'M NOT CONVINCED

Posted in: Discussion | Policy forum

23/02/2010 9:23 am

Junior

Junior

Posts: 649

Having participated in the National Conversation and read Professor Cave's report, the regulations do appear to be 'reasonable', but I am not at all sure that they will deliver tenant empowerment.

I am not convinced that even when everything settles down, that these regulations will begin to even the balance of power between a tenant and a landlord.

A landlord has immense power: through their networks able to command top lawyers to threaten and pursue tenants through the courts; through their employees/staff; through patronage and creating committees consisting of 'nodding dogs' or 'nodding horses' as I understand social landlords call them. Also the power to silence criticism and encourage mediocre performance within their own organisations through poor leadership and governance.

For many tenants it is very difficult to begin to make a complaint, and often impossible for them to succeed because of not understanding how the system works, and also not having the gifts - or support - of how best to articulate and write a persuasive letter, and keep on writing! Advice centres such as CABs have enormous waiting lists, and how many tenants can afford to spend several days in a queue for a harassed advice worker?

I have recently attended a joint presentation by an RSL on Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) together with an officer from the local council who is responsible for dealing with ASB in the borough, expecting that the Council would have some interest in monitoring the performance of RSLs in the local area for ASB.

Instead I found that was not the case and that the Council had no interest in monitoring the RSLs in its area on this aspect of local concern. Yet local authorities are supposedly strategic housing bodies, and (good) housing is more than just bricks and mortar. The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) proudly claims that it is funding - and the TSA is regulating - RSLs that are places of community and 'places to be'. I cannot see any expectation reflected in the proposals for Councils to fill this gap.

And the law itself considers the tenant as a solitary individual with a (corporate) landlord.

There seems to be nothing in the proposals to cover tenants rights and the right of tenants to be represented by associations such as tenant and resident associations. Is this something that could be looked at to make tenant empowerment more of a practical possibility?

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Fingers

Fingers

Location: South Yorkshire
Posts: 12

26/02/2010 2:46 pm

TENANT EMPOWERMENT

EVA: You are correct in the question you pose in that you are not convinced as to the interpretation of Co-Regulation and if the outcomes will work if there is a lack of “tenant empowerment.”
Tenants have stated for more years than I care to remember “if only I could be CEO I could resolve the issues in no time at all.” That statement was, and still is poppycock.

Tenant empowerment if it is to be meaningful will rely on tenants accepting their responsibility to engage and be responsible for influencing decisions. Tenants should never deride those that accept some of the responsibility that management brings. If tenants do not agree with how things are being run, then get together with like minded others and change the circumstances.

Tenant Empowerment will bring opportunities for those that are willing to grasp the options open to them, but to stand on the sidelines and malign the efforts of others, without taking up the challenge, demeans those tenants.
Yes there will be tenants that poor performing housing associations and their staff belittle, but that undermines the efforts those tenants try to bring into the challenging process that is social housing.

Good landlords will grasp co-regulation as a tool within their box to strengthen the participation of their tenants. After all the six standards are only the minimal acceptable, it will be for local standards to be developed over the next twelve to eighteen months to enhance the measure for social housing and how tenants engage in that process. That process and that alone will measure how positive “Tenant Empowerment” will be in ensuring tenant issues are listened to and acted upon.

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kass

kass

Posts: 629

28/02/2010 2:17 pm

Fingers Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:46 GMT

You forget that any little progress made for tenants empowerment has come from tenants realising they were being abused and have kept asking for change.
Tenants would have never gone about asking for empowerment if there was no abuse of their rights.
Independently by whatever is going to happen in a year or two until social landlords abuse of residents persists tenants will go on asking for real empowerment.

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Fingers

Fingers

Location: South Yorkshire
Posts: 12

28/02/2010 7:45 pm

KASS:-

The only point that I was trying to make when I stated “if only I could be CEO I could resolve the issues in no time at all.” That statement was, and still is poppycock, was that it is all too easy to create a blame culture and to blame everyone but ourselves.

Yes there are some tenants that have fought long and hard over many years. If Co-regulation is to work it will rely on the tenant movement as a whole accepting the responsibility to engage with our landlords and supporting them where appropriate, and challenge if that is the only way forward. We tenants must garner the knowledge to challenge effectively, only when we have that knowledge in place will we be able to make Co-regulation effective and a process that will serve us well.

But there again May 6th may have a change for us all.

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kass

kass

Posts: 629

28/02/2010 9:11 pm

Fingers Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:45 GMT

I wanted to point out that from the day since social housing started tenants have only been asking for good decent services from good decent landlords and nothing more.
No tenants would have dreamed of asking for empowerment and some standard of control if the landlords had delivered anything acceptable. They didn't and they don't. The greatest majority of tenants, like everybody else, have their lives to lead, and most of the tenants are having very hard time at trying to get jobs, get something done for themselves and their families, etc. and are only been asking they were allowed to do so. And they have not been allowed to. To the point now that unless tenants take control for themselves off all these burocratised landlords we will never be allowed to progress in any way. We have been pushed to demand some empowerment by our desperate conditions, and far from controlling anything all we want is to be allowed to get on with our lives. But unfortunately now we got to take REAL control of as much as possible with all the reposnsibilities that come with that because our landlords are simply not going to deliver anything close to what we actually need...

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jerry mouse

jerry mouse

Posts: 3

27/06/2010 3:23 pm

London and Quadrant want me out, so there going to have to pay, I will slow things up, it could go on for years, and one day we will end up in court, that will be a few thousand down the drain, makes no difference to me, I won't be paying the cost. I'ts pay back time, housing what a fun way to spend one's time, it's a never ending story, work hard play hard, if that's what they want, I'm giving it to them.

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kass

kass

Posts: 629

12/08/2010 12:41 pm

Jerry mouse,

what'sthe last development with your case?  Any progress?

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Rick Campbell

Rick Campbell

Location: Macclesfield CHESHIRE
Posts: 416

13/08/2010 9:24 am

I too am unconvinced with tenant empowerment in that far too often there are the perceived 'nodding donkeys' and 'lapdogs' who by the fact that they outnumber those who are not actually prevent proper empowerment.

Somewhere around thr 90%plus mark of our tenants here do not take any part in the resident involvement structure at all, and, apparently they are happy with the services provided thereby adding credence to the landlord's staff assertion that everything is fine and dandy!

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kass

kass

Posts: 629

13/08/2010 9:45 am

Exactly... and becauase residents who are frail or old or weak or ill one way or another have no energy to complain, social landlords go about boasting they have a high degree of residents satisfaction.

And even residents who have some energy to complain find complaint procedures extremely punishing and in the end useless tehy give up too.  and because they have given up complaining the lanlords go about boasting they solved their complaints. 

and if you really try to go all the way with a complaint, the landlord makies sure to twist it in such a way, to make it look you are a vexatious complainant.

Social landlords certainly know to solve complaints with the minimum of effort.  

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Tumultuous Lurker

Tumultuous Lurker

Posts: 73

13/08/2010 12:14 pm

"and 'lapdogs' who by the fact that they outnumber those who are not, actually prevent proper empowerment."

An alternative view of that situation might be that the moderate majority effectively ensure that extreme views are either excluded, or at least shown to be what they are. The same thing happens (luckily) in national politics.

TL

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Rick Campbell

Rick Campbell

Location: Macclesfield CHESHIRE
Posts: 416

13/08/2010 12:25 pm

I, as usual, take your point TL but these perceived lapdogs are preventing other people from more actively scrutinising and monitoring services (simply because of the prevailing personality culture) and, as such are preventing continuous improvement.

As recently as last week, they even admitted that they had been ineffective in thier handling of things but STILL prevented others from endeavouring to perform challenging scrutiny and monitoring.

By the way, the vast majority of these "perceived lapdogs" have only recently (since transfer) become involved AND refer to some tenants as "these people on those estate" in a most derogatory manner.

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Junior

Junior

Posts: 649

13/08/2010 2:13 pm

Rick I love you come and live in London.  I agreed with you can you explain why the nodding dog's/lapdog's do not understand whom they suppose be they for (is it not for all Resident's).  Its seem none of them had a title in their lifes and  need a title and need to rub shoulders with the Management and Board. 

I believe in respect but at the same time I believe if the Management and Board need to be told then got to be told.

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