[KF] Housing Minister John Healey announced that for the first time all 8 million tenants in public housing will have the right to clear standards of service from their landlord. From 1 April 2010, tenants in council or housing association homes will have these standards protected by the Tenant Services Authority (TSA).
For tenants, this could mean getting involved in agreeing with their landlords target response times for routine repairs, the right to choose a convenient time to have work done or priorities for neighbourhood improvements.
The TSA has brought forward draft national standards based on what tenants say matters most to them - including repairs, maintenance and antisocial behaviour. Examples of the standards include:
In addition, tenants and landlords will agree local priorities that will become their own standards of what they can expect. These local standards should include details of how tenants can be involved in scrutinising performance and what happens if local standards are not met.
The TSA is already piloting this local approach in a number of areas - specific examples include:
Where national standards are not met, the TSA will work with landlords and tenants to improve performance. Where necessary, the TSA will be able to use new enforcement powers to ensure that tenants get a good service. These can include issuing enforcement notices or even transferring the management of properties to another provider. In addition, housing associations can face fines or be forced to pay compensation to their tenants.
New Standards for Tenants will be Enforced
The performance of the social housing regulator in meeting its targets and an update on how the organisation is working to ensure there is sufficient funding to build new homes were on the agenda at the Tenant Services Authority's (TSA) first open Board meeting.
Members of the public were invited to attend the open meeting as observers to hear the Board also discuss plans for a new fund for Family Intervention Projects to encourage landlords to tackle problem families, and Board member activity and expenses.
TSA Chairman Anthony Mayer said open meetings would give the public an opportunity to see how the TSA Board operated and discussed key issues of concern to tenants and landlords.
At Board meetings, part one will consider items of an open nature. Part two will consider items exempt from open publication because they cover confidential matters, such as the formulation of policy. Open Board papers will be published on the TSA website the week before meetings.
2010 Meetings
Meetings are in London unless otherwise shown above.