Hampshire residents raise the standard

Nearly 200 residents and officers from across Hampshire have celebrated the launch of a unique pilot scheme that changes the way they work together to raise housing standards across the county. Listen to podcast

The Hampshire and Districts Residents' Forum is the biggest, and only county-wide scheme in England and represents 100,000 tenants from 10 social housing landlords. [see full list below]

The scheme is one of 39 pilots supported by the Tenants Services Authority (TSA), which regulates social housing.

TSA chief executive Peter Marsh, who came to the launch in Southampton on 24^th March 2010, said: "We are about securing a fair deal for tenants. With a shortage of 1.5 million social housing homes across England, if you are not getting a fair deal you can't just hand back the key and walk down the road to get a new key."

He praised Hampshire for getting together in this novel way and said: "I am most proud of creating an environment of empowerment and involvement. To have brought landlords and tenants together has been a remarkable achievement!"

The new Forum aims to make residents and landlords equal partners in delivering excellence in service delivery, such as:

• Involving more residents in the running of their organisation
• Developing service choices
• Taking account of different customer needs

For the very first time there will be a single county-wide standard in how housing providers involve residents in determining their local services, and give residents better value for money.

Residents will also be able to compare services from the other landlords, something that has never happened before.

Beryl White, a Winchester City Council tenant is convinced Landlords will deliver on the new standards. She said: "We are all working to the same end, we're all working together as partners in the forum and we have an equal say in what goes on. Landlords who fall behind will be encouraged to come up to standard."

Her view is echoed by Sandra Feenan, Group Resident Involvement Manager at First Wessex. She said: "I am so pleased to be part of this project. I'm amazed at the commitment and the dedication of the residents.

"I think it makes a difference in the residents' ability to make changes and for us as a landlord to listen to them. It could be something really simple."

Sandi Naylor, from Portsmouth, a resident with First Wessex Housing Association, added: "I think it's really a good idea because you are getting what the residents want and not what's written in black and white.

"We've spoken to well over a thousand or so residents and this is how we've come about with these new standards."

Local speakers included Dick Wylie, a resident with Sentinel Housing Association in Fleet. He said: "It is about working together. We're a lot of different parts. If we work together we'll be brilliant!

"Things like how repairs are done, and how we can improve them. That's where the tenant comes into it, because the tenant is the customer! The only way you know what people want is to ask them, so they've got to go out and ask them!"