Ring in the changes

Happy New Year and I hope you all had a peaceful and joyful Christmas.

2009 will be a critical, challenging and also an exciting time for The Homes and Communities Agency and The Tenant Services Authority - the two bodies formed out of the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships.

The HCA, the housing association funding body and headed up by Sir Bob Kerslake will have to prioritise how it’s going to invest an £18 billion pound budget in a turbulent housing climate. Alongside the TSA - the new regulatory authority chaired by former Housing Corporation Boss, Antony Mayer - the two functions herald a new and unified approach to housing investment and a much more focused regulatory regime.

For residents, the TSA is particularly significant in that a high proportion of Board members are tenants, and will emphasise value for money and tenants’ needs.

This, combined with the inclusion of the Housing Minister’s post – currently occupied by Margaret Beckett – to the Cabinet, affords Housing a significant profile in Government affairs which has taken many years of tenant campaigning and lobbying to achieve. It’s only in Denmark where a tenant actually sits in the Cabinet and helps shape housing policy.

As far as Irwell Valley is concerned, we believe we have a full range of opportunities for tenant involvement from basic information and tenant management e.g. Windsor Albion Co-operative in Salford through to resident decision-making at committee and Board level. If you don’t please let me know.

I still believe that the best form of resident and tenant involvement takes place in the neighbourhoods and we’re actively supporting this through our new neighbourhood management team – you may have read about the improved services in our Christmas newsletter – and I urge you to bring forward your views to help us utilise your fantastic knowledge and experience.

I hope you are pleased with the new Gold Service we launched in December and will be grateful to hear from you with any comments. You can drop me a line or email to: tom.manion@irwellvalleyha.co.uk

I look forward to hearing from you and building on our successes. See you soon