Our Work
Devolution
Giving power to residents, not just regions.
As England enters a new era of devolution, Tpas is calling on the Government to ensure that power is devolved not just to regions, but to residents.
For more than 35 years, Tpas has championed resident voice across social housing, helping to shape national policy and supporting landlords and residents to work together more effectively. We believe that embedding those same principles within England's devolved system of government is the next step in ensuring resident voice influences decisions at every level.
Why it matters
In our new policy paper, From Devolution to Participation, we warn that as powers over housing move away from Westminster, residents must be given a clear role within the new regional government structures, so the mistakes of the past are not repeated.
Devolution must not create another layer of decision-making that is disconnected from the people it serves. Resident voices should instead become a defining feature of England's devolved housing system, giving people a meaningful role in shaping housing investment, regeneration and the future of their communities.
What we are calling for
The paper calls for every combined authority in England to establish a Regional Resident Voice Framework, linked to housing, regeneration and investment decisions. It recommends:
- Establishing regional resident advisory panels
- Linking tenant scrutiny evidence with strategic housing investment
- Supporting tenant-led organisations
- Ensuring residents receive clear feedback on how their involvement has influenced decisions
Together, these measures would move resident engagement beyond regulatory compliance and make it a defining feature of England's devolved system of government.
The country and the housing sector have learned, often through tragic and painful experience, what happens when residents aren't listened to. We cannot afford to repeat those mistakes as power moves from Westminster into the regions. Real devolution isn't just about giving communities more local leaders. It's about giving them a genuine voice in the decisions that shape their homes, neighbourhoods and futures.
The social housing sector has spent years building better ways to listen to residents at an organisational level, but that insight rarely reaches the people making strategic decisions about housing, regeneration and investment. If combined authorities are going to shape the future of our communities, they need to start treating lived experience as evidence, not anecdote.
Read more
Read our blog on what devolution really means for residents, or download the full policy paper from our Resource Hub.