Plans to give Calderdale's social housing tenants a bigger voice

Social housing tenants in Calderdale will be supported to have a bigger and more diverse voice.
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Calderdale Council’s Cabinet agreed to back recommendations aimed at improving tenants’ representation in housing associations which are partners locally.

The review by scrutiny board councillors Coun Jenny Lynn (Lab, Park) and Coun Peter Caffrey (Con, Northowram and Shelf), later joined by Coun Audrey Smith (Lab, Sowerby Bridge) into social housing, asks providers to consider following Tenant Participatory Advisory Service (Tpas) guidance on engaging with their tenants to give them a bigger voice in a two-way process of sharing information and ideas, enabling them to influence decisions.

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Providers will also be asked to consider ways to broaden representation of tenants, with current reps predominantly white, male and slightly older.

View of houses over HalifaxView of houses over Halifax
View of houses over Halifax

The report to Cabinet says providers could consider different recruitment methods, more flexible approaches to meeting times and removing any physical, cultural or financial barriers to tenants’ involvement.

The working group met with a variety of stakeholders including representatives from three of the largest social housing providers in the area, Together Housing Group, Yorkshire Housing and Connect Housing, and a number of tenants housed by Together, the biggest provider in the area.

Coun Lynn told Cabinet there were around 14,000 social housing tenants in Calderdale and they had taken evidence from three main providers among 16 or so housing associations that existed.

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Cabinet member for Regeneration and Resources, Coun Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot) said the recommendations were good ones and would help give tenants an increasing stake in how their homes were managed, building a strong sense of place.