Tenants to keep landlords on their toes (From Herald Series)
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Tenants to keep landlords on their toes
5:50pm Monday 21st January 2013 in Didcot
HOUSING association tenants in south Oxfordshire are holding their landlord to account and will soon be teaching others how to do so.
Soha Housing, which has its headquarters in Station Road, Didcot, looks after about 5,600 homes in the area.
Its tenants are now involved in a £1.2m national training programme led by the Tenant Participation Advisory Service. Backed by the Government’s Training and Support Fund, the programme aims to give tenants the advice they need to check and improve their landlord’s decision-making and services.
One part of the funding is being used to set up tenant-led training and advice.
Carole Burchett, from Sonning Common, near Henley, a member of Soha’s Tenant Scrutiny Group, said, “We’re a bit like Soha’s own select committee.
“We want to know why and how decisions about our homes are made.
“I’m really excited that we’ll be helping other tenants do the same.”
Richard Peacock, chief executive of Soha, said: “Tenants pay their rent to us and we are accountable to them.
“I really value the constructive, well informed challenge that our involved tenants give to us.”
- For further information visit tpas.org.uk.
Comments(2)
jayzee
says...
7:04pm Wed 23 Jan 13
Myron Blatz wrote:I don't think the local politicians mean that we can't, I think they mean that they can't, do their jobs
Tenants already have the right to bring their Landlords - including local authorities - to book, and also to Court, and TPAS is just another quango. Instead, tenants should be making their duly elected City and County Councillors - regardless of political Party - repsonsible, and getting Councillors to act in the best inyerests of Tenants, Councilk Tax and Income Tax payers and the electorate, instead of local politicians 'poncing around' and telling everyone what they can't do. Your Councillors and local politicians were elected to DO things, not sit on their backsides until the next time they need your vote!
Myron Blatz says...
11:04am Tue 22 Jan 13