Moving from Tokenistic to Meaningful Engagement: Creating Space for Every Tenant Voice
Thursday 18th of June 2026
Moving from Tokenistic to Meaningful Engagement: Creating Space for Every Tenant Voice
Our recent Tpas webinar ‘Inclusive Tenant Engagement’, explored one of the biggest challenges facing housing organisations today, how we move from simply hearing resident voices to genuinely creating inclusive and meaningful opportunities for all tenants to shape services.
Drawing on findings from Kai Jackson’s Is There a Seat at the Table? research, the session highlighted an important reality: many traditional engagement spaces continue to be dominated by certain groups, while diverse communities often remain underrepresented. This matters because some of the least represented groups also report lower levels of satisfaction with housing services.
The session explored the barriers that can prevent people from getting involved, including accessibility issues, trust, language barriers, formal meeting structures, caring responsibilities and the timing of activities. One key message throughout was that engagement should not be a “one size fits all” approach.
We introduced the TABLE principles for inclusive engagement:
- Tailored training
- Actively engaging communities
- Bringing everyone together
- Listening to voices
- Focusing on underrepresented communities
The conversation also looked at the difference between tokenistic engagement and meaningful engagement. Meaningful engagement is planned, well-resourced and demonstrates to tenants how their feedback has influenced decisions and improved services.
Attendees shared examples of successful approaches already taking place within organisations, including informal community groups and activities that create more comfortable environments than traditional committee-style meetings. There was also discussion around practical ways to improve inclusivity, such as:
- Using flexible engagement methods and meeting times
- Considering cultural and religious dates
- Making communication accessible and jargon-free
- Introducing buddy systems for new panel members
- Building trust through transparency and feedback
One of the strongest messages from the session was that organisations should stop expecting one method to capture every voice. Instead, the focus should be on creating multiple routes for participation and actively reaching out to communities that may not traditionally engage.
Thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to the discussion.
If you couldn’t attend the webinar, don’t worry, the session was recorded and is available for members to catch up and revisit the conversation. You can download here
We are also running this session on 25th September at 11am, you can book your place here