You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Our verdict on the NHF’s Together with Tenants plan
Inside Housing warmly welcomes the Together with Tenants plan, but it will be actions rather than words which really matter, writes Martin Hilditch
Kate Henderson said there was “a massive opportunity to do things differently” when she took over as chief executive of the National Housing Federation (NHF) towards the end of last year.
In an interview with Inside Housing, just days after starting the job, she was very clear about her top priority for change – “empowered tenants”. She also said as she picked up the reins: “I don’t just want to meet members in board rooms; I want to meet residents, I want to see the homes housing associations have built and hear what people think.”
This week, the outside world got an insight into what Ms Henderson did next. The Together with Tenants draft plan is the first big announcement made under her tenure – and it sets out to transform the balance of power between tenants and associations.
In a nutshell, the plan would place a new requirement in the NHF’s code of governance (which the majority of associations adopt) for boards to be accountable to tenants and residents. There will be a new tenant charter setting out what tenants and residents can expect from their landlords.
It says that tenants and residents should have “the power, information and agency to hold their landlord to account, and the charter will provide a mechanism to make this happen”. It talks about the need for a “culture of respect”.
READ MORE
The NHF is also working with the Centre for Public Scrutiny to convene a new tenant advisory panel to guide the development of the plan. The application process is open until 15 March and applications
are open to all housing association tenants and residents.
Alongside this, the NHF has backed calls for a national voice for tenants to be set up.
Together with Tenants has the potential to represent a massive step forward for the sector. If this is the NHF’s direction of travel under Ms Henderson then it is the right one.
So, what questions remain? Well, there are still plenty of details to be ironed out. Yes, it is correct that tenants should have the right to influence decisions – but to what extent is this a partnership of equals and what real control will tenants have over outcomes?
A common complaint from tenants is that scrutiny procedures are designed or redesigned so those who ask awkward questions are marginalised. What input do tenants get in setting the terms of engagement in the first place?
Then there is the question of a national voice for tenants.
The NHF is right that progress in this area is vital. But, in pushing for it in this report, it effectively highlights the fact that it is action and not words that are now needed.
Almost two years after the Grenfell Tower fire, there still have not been any proposals from government.
This is now insultingly slow progress – and an action plan is urgently needed.
These questions aside, Inside Housing warmly welcomes the Together with Tenants plan. But ultimately the important thing is tenants’ verdict.
Consultation is open until 19 April and tenants and housing associations should fill out the online questionnaire or get in touch with the NHF directly in order to influence the final plan.
Martin Hilditch, editor, Inside Housing
At a glance: the NHF’s Together with Tenants plan
Together with Tenants is a draft plan drawn up by the National Housing Federation (NHF) with the “aim of creating a stronger, more balanced relationship with tenants and residents”. As of 13 March, 86 associations had signed up to it.
The NHF says a stronger relationship is needed after questions were raised following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017.
The aim of the plan is to introduce new expectations at board level; set clear commitments for tenants and residents; and give tenants and residents a louder voice, a stronger rule in scrutiny and more influence locally and nationally. It also aims to “provide a clear link to regulation”.
The plan proposes four actions:
- A new requirement in the NHF’s code of governance for boards to be accountable to their tenants and residents
- A new Together with Tenants charter setting out what tenants and residents can expect from their housing association landlord
- Tenant and resident oversight and scrutiny of the charter, with a report on how their landlord is doing against the charter commitments
- A closer link with regulation
The housing associations signed up to Together with Tenants
As of 13 March, 86 housing associations had already volunteered to be early adopters of the Together with Tenants plan. They are:
- Accent Group
- Accord
- Alpha Living
- Anchor Hanover
- Arawak Walton
- Arhag
- Aspire Housing
- Beyond Housing
- Black Country Housing Group
- Bolton at Home
- Broadacres
- Broadland Housing Association
- Byker Community Trust
- Calico Homes
- Clarion
- Coastline
- Colne
- Community Gateway Association Preston
- Connexus
- Cotman Housing Association
- County Durham Housing Group
- Derwent Living
- EMH Group
- English Rural
- Estuary Housing
- Gateway Housing
- Gentoo
- Gloucester City Homes
- Great Places Housing Group
- Greenfields Community Housing
- Hastoe
- Home Group
- Incommunities
- Islington & Shoreditch Housing Association
- Johnnie Johnson Housing
- Lincolnshire Housing Partnership
- LiveWest
- Livin
- Living+
- Luminus Group
- L&Q
- Manningham Housing
- Metropolitan Thames Valley
- Mosscare St Vincent's Housing
- Network Homes
- North Star
- Ocean Housing Group
- One Housing Group
- Ongo
- Onward
- Optivo
- Orbit
- Origin Housing
- Peter Bedford Housing Association
- Phoenix Community Housing
- Places for People
- Plymouth Community Homes
- Radcliffe Housing Association
- Radian
- Raven Housing Trust
- Riverside
- Rochdale Boroughwide Housing
- Rooftop
- Rosebery Housing Association
- Settle
- SHAL Housing
- Shepherd's Bush Housing Group
- Soha Housing
- South Lakes Housing
- South Western Housing Society
- South Yorkshire Housing Association
- Sovereign
- Stonewater
- Suffolk Housing
- The Community Housing Group
- The Pioneer Group
- The Wrekin Housing Trust
- Together Housing Group
- Torus Group
- Trent and Dove
- Wakefield and District Housing
- WATMOS
- Women's Pioneer Housing
- Wythenshawe Community Housing Group
- Yarlington
- Yorkshire Housing
