Gateshead's Experience of the Tpas Accreditation Process
Monday 9th of June 2025
The regulatory framework for social housing strongly emphasises listening to tenants and acting on their views. Gateshead applied for the Tpas accreditation to independently test our current approach and identify areas for improvement.
We experienced numerous benefits through the accreditation process, such as:
- The opportunity to enhance our self-assessment against the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, as Tpas standards closely align with it.
- A clearer understanding of how well we demonstrate our ability to meet the accreditation criteria.
Tpas provided external scrutiny and challenge, which helped us prepare for our recent regulatory inspection in January. Their validation confirmed that our customer engagement efforts are robust and of a high standard. In April 2025, the Regulator awarded us a C2 rating against their Consumer Standards stating that we are, ‘delivering the required outcomes of the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard’ and ‘committed to treating tenants with fairness and respect.’
Achieving the accreditation also reassured the Regulator, our elected members, and our tenants about our strengths and highlighted areas where we need to improve. While both outcomes represent significant achievements for Gateshead, we recognise the need for further improvements. We will address the recommendations over the next 12 months to ensure we continue improving our services to our customers.
The Tpas accreditation process sharpened our focus on how we engage with residents and the outcomes we achieve for our customers in Gateshead. Our refreshed Resident Influence Strategy will incorporate Tpas' recommendations to help us strive for excellence and deliver the best possible services to our customers.