TPAS Regional Meeting at Tenants Hall in Middleton
TPAS, which seeks to empower tenants’ organisations, held its North East Regional Meeting at Tenants Hall on Thursday (22 October 2015). The venue was packed with people representing all corners of the North East and provided an excellent way for people to exchange tips and provide information which proved extremely useful.
The first presentation was called The Human Library. This consisted of people who were willing to speak about inequality and discrimination which they had experienced and how this had been tackled by their local Tenants and Residents Associations. Their experiences could be used by others to decide how best to deal with these matters should they arise in where they live.
The second presentation was Gill McLaren of TPAS who discussed current issues and trends in involvement. These were defined in nine steps. At first glance these looked rather business oriented the first being ”Link to your business plan” however it became clear as she went on that she was talking about aims and ambitions for tenant involvement.
The third and final presentation was from Ian Montgomery of Housing Leeds. This is the gist of what he said.
Leeds has 56,000 plus homes. 65,000 tenants, 127 Sheltered Housing schemes, 116 high rise blocks, 26 Public offices, 200 Housing officers and covers 213 square miles. I think you will agree this is a very large housing authority. It has 70 Tenants and Residents Associations and 200 involved tenants who help in running these.
There is an enormous diversity, both in types of property and communities and these are urban, suburban and rural. Over the past two years inconsistencies in good practice and support for tenants have been improved and in a survey 55% of tenants were satisfied their views were listened to and acted upon. Achievements have been a new framework which clarifies roles and relationships, local focus by way of tenant panels and better use of information.
At the end of this he handed the microphone to a young lady who represented a group called YAgi which is young adults getting involved. People between the ages of sixteen and thirty five who are tenants and leaseholders who want to help in shaping housing services and improving their neighbourhoods. It was a very interesting day and everyone enjoyed it.
This post was written by Pat Jackson using our Create an article for South Leeds Life page.
