Tenants and leaseholders' involvement
Brentwood Borough Council welcomes the involvement of tenants and leaseholders in developing and improving the Housing Service.
Resident Involvement gives tenants and leaseholders opportunities to have a say in...
- the management of their homes
- development of their communities
- improving their environments
- giving feedback on their views of their area
- help us to shape the future service
A number of tenants and leaseholders across the Borough work closely with the Council and their local communities, to have their say and help make a difference to their housing service.
Information on how to set up a residents association or monitoring committee can be found on the following How to get involved page. There is also information on ways that residents can get involved in their housing service. We hope that there is something that will appeal to most people and suit their availability.
How to get involved
There are many ways in which you can now get involved. We want residents to be able to have a say and get their opinions across, which is why we have options to hopefully meet everyone’s needs. We have methods such as attending Tenant Talkback meetings at the Town Hall, being a representative for your estate to monitor repairs and cleaning services, and being involved in email consultation groups. You will find further details below.
Tenant Talkback
This is a group of representatives, consisting of both Tenants and Leaseholders, who meet regularly with Council Officers and Councillors. They help to shape the future direction of the Council's housing service, talk about what is happening in their local community, and act as a consultative panel to give the Council a formal response on policy and procedure changes. Two representatives from Tenants Talkback are also invited to join the Council's Environment, Enforcement and Housing Committee as co-opted members, when housing related items are discussed.
Resident associations and monitoring committees
Setting up a residents association or monitoring committee begins with you and your neighbours. You are the only ones who really know what it's like to live in your area or block of flats, and you are the best people to know what could be done to improve the area and introduce a community feel to build relationships with your neighbours.
The first thing to do is to gather all those that are interested in learning more about becoming part of a residents association or monitoring committee. Decide on a meeting place and then set a date and time with your Project Support Officer to come along. Your Project Support Officer is there to provide advice and guidance about the various options on offer, however it is you the Residents who will run the group . Whether you want to go down the route of an official residents association with a chair person, treasurer and secretary and also with its own bank account for an annual grant. Or to approach it in a less formal manner, by setting up a monitoring committee, where residents get together as and when they feel necessary, and will receive funding from Brentwood Borough Council for relevant projects and social events.
The first meeting will be to talk about what you would like to see done in your area or block of flats and what support the Council can offer.
Consultations
There may be some residents who would like to be more involved but it is not convenient for them to attend formal meetings, or they may not have the time to set up a residents association.
In this case there are various consultations or surveys that tenants can be involved in. This may be communicated by email, phone or post, whatever is the most convenient method. We would use this communication to get your opinions on new policies or changes to current policies and procedures, changes to contracts and possible new upcoming projects.
Project groups
We are looking to also set up some new project groups, to work together with tenants and have their input. These will include working on items such as producing housing newsletters, contributing to the annual housing report or looking at individual projects being run at that time within the service. These groups may be a permanent fixture, or what we call a ‘task and finish’ group, where we work on a subject that is only relevant at that time.
Please feel free to look through our online documents which also includes an information sheet explaining all the ways you can get involved, and also minutes from our previous Tenant Talkback meetings.
If you are interested in getting involved in any way, or would like to discuss resident involvement in more detail please complete the online enquiry form below and someone will be in contact with you: