FAQs

As a tenant you have a number of rights that are enshrined in law. These include:

The right to be secure in your home
The right to pass your home on to another person
The right to have your home repaired and the Right to Repair
The right to carry out improvements and the right to compensation for improvements carried out
The right to buy your home
The right to transfer or exchange your home
The right to be consulted
The right to take on management of your home

A Tenants’ and Residents’ Association (TRA) is a group formed by local people who join together to work for common aims. A group may come together for a whole range of reasons, for example to tackle environmental problems on an estate or conduct a road-safety campaign, and can become involved in all types of activities from running a community building to organising activities for young people.

Although all groups are different, they do share common aims and objectives, which can include identifying and trying to solve problems that affect tenants and residents, campaigning on particular issues, organising community events and creating a sense of ‘community spirit’. Also, many landlords consult TARAs on housing management issues and TARAs often become the main representative of tenants’ views in an area or on an estate.

A constitution is a formal document, adopted by most tenants’ associations, that states the aims and objectives of the association and how it will be run. Many informal groups can work well without a constitution, but if groups want to be more formal or want to apply for grants etc., then a constitution is necessary.

There is no legal requirement on what should be included in a constitution for a tenants’ and residents’ association, but sometimes landlords may want certain clauses included before they are prepared to recognise a group. You should ask your landlord about this when producing your constitution.

Tpas can provide examples of constitutions

The Homes and Communities Agency is the national housing and regeneration agency for England. They contribute to economic growth by helping communities to realise their aspirations for prosperity and to deliver high-quality housing that people can afford.

They regulate the standards in social housing including the Tenant Involvement and empowerment standard.

They provide investment for new affordable housing and to improve existing social housing, as well as for regenerating land.

It is easy for small problems to gather momentum and for disputes to arise. There are both ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ disputes – healthy disputes can result in productive discussions and better decisions being made, however if communication breaks down and relationships are affected the situation becomes unhealthy – and can quickly get out of hand and become destructive. Unresolved disputes also damage the trust that is so essential for effective working.

If things seem to be stuck and aren’t moving forward mediation might be a good option to consider. An independent mediator is neutral and will work confidentially to help those in dispute reach an agreement that everyone is comfortable with. Failing that, if the dispute continues you may want to follow your landlords complaints procedure by raising an official complaint.The first person to tell about a problem with housing is the landlord. They might be able to put things right.

If the landlord cannot put things right, you can then contact the Housing Ombudsman.

For more detailed information on complaints and how to resolve them contact the Housing Ombudsman http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/

Credit unions are financial co-operatives which are owned and controlled by the members who use their services. Whilst many credit unions employ staff, all board members are volunteers who are elected from the membership, by the membership. Members of a credit union pool their savings together and the savings then provide a pool of funds from which loans can be made.

Any profits that the credit union makes, once expenses are paid and a contribution is made to reserves, go back to the members in the form of a dividend. Membership of a credit union is open to anyone who fits the limits of the common bond – e.g. is a member of the relevant trade union or lives within a certain area. A new member may have to pay a small membership fee. Credit unions are regulated by the Financial Services Authority and savings held in a credit union are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, just as they would be in a bank or building society.

Traditionally, credit unions have offered a savings and loans service, but many are now offering a much wider range of services to their members including the Credit Union Current Account.

For further information and to find a credit union near you visit the Association of British Credit Unions Ltd (ABCUL) website: http://www.abcul.coop/page/aboutsite.cfm

An Annual Report is a regulatory requirement under the Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard so all boards / Councils should be signing off to the HCA that they have done one.
The annual report was introduced to allow tenants to hold landlords to account for their performance and the information provided should equip tenants to challenge as well as being a useful document to share information and celebrate success.

HCA standard
Registered providers shall support their tenants to develop and implement opportunities for involvement and empowerment, including by:
(a) supporting their tenants to exercise their Right to Manage or otherwise exercise housing management functions, where appropriate
(b) supporting the formation and activities of tenant panels or equivalent groups and responding in a constructive and timely manner to them
(c) the provision of timely and relevant performance information to support effective scrutiny by tenants of their landlord’s performance in a form which registered providers seek to agree with their tenants. Such provision must include the publication of an annual report which should include information on repair and maintenance budgets,