Offer Document - Plymouth Community Homes

EYour rights
At a glance
• Your key rights and entitlements would be protected.
• Tenants would be given a new assured tenancy agreement, the conditions of which could
only be changed with their individual written consent.
• Tenants would still be entitled to buy their homes, if they are entitled to buy now with
the Council.
• Tenants’ Right to Buy discount would transfer across and continue to grow up to the
maximum allowed.
• Tenants would still have the right to pass on homes (succession) and the right to exchange.
• Tenants’ entitlement to claim Housing Benefit would not be affected by transfer.
36

Your rights
Would tenants’ rights be affected if the transfer goes
ahead?
Tenants’ key rights and entitlements would be protected with Plymouth Community Homes.
Most Council tenants are secure tenants. However, they would become assured tenants with
Plymouth Community Homes.
The main difference is that as a secure or introductory Council tenant, rights are set down in
law by Acts of Parliament.
As an assured tenant with the association, rights would be covered partly by Acts of
Parliament and partly by a legally binding contract (the Tenancy Agreement) between a tenant
and the association.
Because the rights of
an assured tenant
can be less than for
a Council secure
tenant, the
association has
agreed to extend
tenants’ rights to
match existing
Council tenancy
rights.
This extension is
in the Proposed
Tenancy Agreement
see Part N and not
imposed by Acts of
Parliament.
Tenants who have
been given a tenancy
within the last year
are currently
introductory tenants
but they would
become assured
tenants on the date
of transfer.
E
37

How would your rights compare?
Your key rights as a tenant of Plymouth Community Homes would be protected and be very
similar to your rights as a Council tenant.
Rights
The Right to live in your home
without the threat of being evicted
without good cause
The Right to refuse changes to
your Tenancy Agreement (except
for rent and service charges)
without your consent
The Right to Buy your home with
a discount
The Right to Acquire (see page 40)
The Right to pass on your home
when you die (succession)
The Right to transfer and exchange
your home
The Right to sub-let part of your
home or take in lodgers
The Right to repair
The Right to carry out
improvements and receive
compensation
The Right to be consulted about
housing management
The Right to information about the
management of your home
The Right to manage
Yes
No
Yes*
No
Yes
Yes*
Yes*
Yes
Yes*
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plymouth
Community Homes
Yes
Yes
Yes (called the
Preserved Right
to Buy)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No - but see 39
* not available for introductory tenancies
38

Your rights
What rights would tenants
lose?
The only right you would not have (because
it does not apply to Registered Social
Landlords) is the statutory right to manage
(which allows tenants to set up a Tenant (or
Resident) Management Organisation,
subject to certain rules).
Although you would not keep this right by
law, the association would be firmly
committed to working with tenants to
support them in getting involved in the
management of their homes, to the extent
that they want. It would respond positively
to requests from tenants who wish to
become more involved in the management
of their homes (see Part H).
How would tenants’ rights
be protected?
If the transfer takes place, tenants would be
asked to sign a new Tenancy Agreement
(see the proposed Tenancy Agreement in
Part N). Tenants’ rights in that agreement
cannot be changed without their permission
once it has been signed.
This provides a greater protection against
change to the agreement than exists with
the Council. The only things that can
change without tenants’ permission are the
annual rent and existing service charges
although these changes are limited by the
Government’s current rent policy (see Part
D for further details).
The Stock Transfer Advisory Group (a group
of tenants and leaseholders who have been
involved in the process) and the
Independent Tenants’ Advisor were
extensively consulted in drawing up the new
Tenancy Agreement.
Would tenants still be able
to buy their homes?
If tenants have the Right to Buy their home
with the Council, they would have a
Preserved Right to Buy with Plymouth
Community Homes and discounts would still
apply and be worked out in the same way.
This right remains with tenants or any
member of their family who succeeds them,
even if they later move to another home
which is owned by the association, as long
as it is not exempt from the Right to Buy.
Also, if they have the Preserved Right to Buy
and later move to a council home in another
area, they would still have a right to buy and
any discounts would include their time as a
tenant of Plymouth Community Homes. The
Preserved Right to Buy would not transfer
with tenants if they move to a home with a
different Registered Social Landlord.
Introductory tenants do not have a Right to
Buy with the Council, but Plymouth
Community Homes has agreed to give
transferring introductory tenants a
contractual right to buy (in the tenancy
agreement) which gives the Right to Buy
their home on the same terms as the
Preserved Right to Buy.
If transfer goes ahead and in the future
tenants buy a flat from Plymouth Community
Homes through the Preserved Right to Buy,
tenants would no longer have the right to
have a loan from the Council to cover
service charges. Such loans are only
available to leaseholders purchasing under
the Right to Buy and not the Preserved
Right to Buy. However, the association
would plan to introduce a payment plan,
to assist leaseholders in paying for major
repairs.
What is the maximum
discount and cost floor?
Transfer would not affect your eligibility for
discount on the purchase of your home. Any
discount you have built up with the Council
would transfer with you and continue to
grow while you are a tenant of the
association.
E
39

40
Under current rules, if you buy your home
under the Right to Buy or Preserved Right to
Buy, the amount you pay is decided by
using a formula set by Government. The
price is determined by the market value of
the property less your discount (based on
years as a council or Registered Social
Landlord tenant). With the Council the
maximum discount is currently £30,000.
Under current rules, the same limit, set by
Government, would apply if you transfer to
the association and use your Preserved
Right to Buy.
As with the Right to Buy, there would be a
minimum price that tenants would have to
pay to buy their home with the Preserved
Right to Buy. This is known as the ‘cost
floor’. The cost floor is the minimum price
that tenants could pay for their home even if
their discount would take the price below
this amount.
Government rules on the cost floor mean
that tenants could not buy their home for
less than it cost the association to repair
and improve it.
If transfer goes ahead, the cost floor would
be the total amount spent by Plymouth
Community Homes on carrying out any
works (including improvements) to homes
and its designated garage or parking area if
there is one.
It also takes into account the cost of works
to provide or improve communal facilities,
fees paid by the association to professional
advisors and administrative costs (although
these administrative costs are capped at
£2,000).
The cost floor is most relevant where a
housing association has recently spent a
large amount of money improving the
property and its associated facilities (for
example a property’s garage) or where large
amounts of money have been spent on
repairs and maintenance.
There are three main differences in the way
the cost floor would be worked out with
Plymouth Community Homes compared to
how it is calculated now with the Council:
• Plymouth Community Homes would be
able to take into account all costs
incurred during the 15 years prior to an
application to buy (the Council can only
take into account costs in the 10 years
before). This takes account of the fact
that the association would operate under
a different financial regime from the
Council. The 15 year period starts at the
point of the housing transfer.
• Plymouth Community Homes would be
able to include in the cost floor the cost
of the catch up repair works which
would be carried out to tenants’ homes,
even if these costs have not actually
been incurred at the time of an
application to buy. This is because the
cost of the repair work has been allowed
for in calculating the price payable to the
Council for the home.
• The range of expenses included in the
cost floor is broader with Plymouth
Community Homes. Cost floor legislation
recognises that some homes need extra
repair and improvement works and so
the costs of running the housing service
are higher.
In some cases the effects of these changes
may reduce the amount of your discount,
but for the majority of tenants, it is likely that
the new cost floor will have little or no effect.
The Right to Acquire
After transfer existing and new tenants
would be able to buy their home under a
new right, the Right to Acquire, as long as
certain criteria are met. This scheme is
based on a grant rather than a discount and
is usually less generous than the Preserved
Right to Buy scheme. Tenants who
transferred from the Council can also
exercise this right if they choose.
The maximum grant for homes in Plymouth
is currently £9,000. Tenants cannot combine
both the Right to Acquire and the Right
to Buy.

Your rights
Would tenants still be able
to pass on their home?
Yes. Plymouth Community Homes’ tenancy
agreement allows the same people to take
over the tenancy (when a tenant dies) as
under a Council secure tenancy. As with the
Council, tenants’ homes can only be passed
on once, other than in exceptional
circumstances.
The new tenancy agreement with Plymouth
Community Homes would ignore any
previous successions to the tenancy with
the Council. So if the transfer goes ahead,
all transferring tenants would start again with
their right of succession (even if they have
already used it when they were tenants with
the Council).
So, if for example, a tenant succeeded to a
sole tenancy from a joint tenancy on the
death of their partner this would be
disregarded. This would then allow a son,
daughter or other close relative living at the
home at the time of the tenant’s death, to
take on the tenancy (subject to certain rules
and provided there was no underoccupancy).You
would not have this if you
remained a tenant of the Council.
What about transfers or
exchanges?
Plymouth Community Homes would help
tenants wishing to transfer or exchange
homes, both within its own housing or within
other landlords. As with the Council, tenants
would still need to get permission to do this.
If a tenant transfers to another property
owned by the association, they would keep
all their rights including the Preserved Right
to Buy with discounts (provided it applies to
the new property).
In addition to keeping the Right to Exchange
with other tenants, the association would
participate in national mobility and exchange
schemes where appropriate to help people
to move to council or Registered Social
Landlord homes outside Plymouth.
Would tenants still be able
to take in lodgers and
sublet part of their home?
Yes. They would be in the same position as
they would be with the Council.
They would still be able to sublet part of
their home, with the association’s
permission, and take in lodgers.
They would need to notify the Council of
their change in circumstances if they receive
Housing Benefit, because, as with Council
tenancies, this could affect their entitlement.
Would the association have
more rights to obtain
possession of transferring
tenants’ homes?
Plymouth Community Homes would
undertake not to use any of the additional
grounds for eviction which could be
available under an assured tenancy.
This is to make sure tenants’ rights to live in
their home match as closely as possible
those they have now with the Council.
For further details, see the Proposed
Tenancy Agreement in Part N.
fact
You would still be
entitled to buy your
home.
E
41

Would tenants still have a
right to have repairs carried
out?
Yes. This means that if the association or its
contractors failed to carry out certain types
of repairs within set time limits, tenants
could require the association to appoint
another contractor to do the repairs.
As with the Council, tenants would have the
right to compensation if that contractor also
fails to do the repairs within a set time limit.
Would tenants still be able
to keep their pet?
Yes, provided that they keep to the terms of
Clause 8 of the Tenancy Agreement (see
the Proposed Tenancy Agreement in
Part N).
Would the association
consult tenants in the same
way as the Council?
Yes. The association would consult with,
and provide tenants with information. This is
one of the terms in the Tenancy Agreement
(see the Proposed Tenancy Agreement in
Part N).
The association would aim to improve the
ways tenants are involved in the running of
the service. For more information see
Section H.
What about new tenants
coming in after transfer?
The association would initially grant people
who become tenants after the transfer a
‘starter tenancy’ for their first 12 months as
a new tenant. (This is similar to the
introductory tenancy that new tenants are
given for the first year of being a Council
tenant).
A starter tenancy would give fewer rights
and less security of tenure than the
association’s full assured tenancy.
The starter tenancy is an added measure to
deal with anti-social behaviour by ensuring
that tenants are made aware of the standard
of behaviour expected of them. This type of
tenancy would allow the association to take
action more quickly should a tenant, or
visitor(s) to a tenant’s home, cause a
nuisance to other residents or anti-social
behaviour in the area.
If there are no significant problems in the
first 12 months, the new tenant would
transfer to a full assured tenancy.
42

F
Delivering
At a glance
better local services
Plymouth Community Homes would:
• Continuously improve its housing services.
• Introduce a Handyperson Service within two years of transfer to help tenants carry out
minor jobs which are the tenant’s responsibility. A charge would be made for this service.
• Introduce a £10 million environmental improvement budget for the first five years which
would be targeted, following discussions with tenants and tenants’ groups.
• Establish a programme, within two years of transfer, of offering annual visits to all tenants in
their homes.
• Actively deal with anti-social behaviour in conjunction with partner agencies.
• Review grounds maintenance services within two years of transfer.
• Extend the gardening assistance scheme to all tenants within two years of transfer.
A charge would be made for this service.
43

Providing the housing
services
Plymouth Community Homes would be
committed to maintaining and improving the
existing housing management services.
Most importantly, the association would
continue to provide locally based services
within Plymouth, ensuring that tenants have
access to advice and assistance on:
• Rents (see Part D).
• Tenancy management and tenancy
conditions including anti-social behaviour
(see Part I).
• Day-to-day repairs and improvements to
your home (see Part C).
• Sheltered housing and community and
lifeline alarm services (see Part J).
A better service
Plymouth Community Homes would
constantly try to improve its services. It
would seek tenants’ views on the quality of
the service it provides.
The association’s plans include:
• The introduction of a new Customer
Focus Committee, which would oversee
and receive reports from Continuous
Improvement Groups. These groups,
made up of tenant and leaseholder
volunteers and staff, would review
performance, assess feedback on
services, recommend and monitor the
implementation of improvements.
• The introduction of a Handyperson
Service within two years of transfer to
help tenants carry out minor jobs which
are the tenant’s responsibility. A charge
would be made for this service.
• A garden assistance service within two
years of transfer, which would be subject
to a charge, available to all tenants.
• Providing a 24 hour freephone repairs
reporting helpline, for tenants to report
repairs at any time, including reporting
repairs online.
.•
Providing training in customer care to all
staff within one year of transfer, and a
rolling programme of customer care
training thereafter.
44

Delivering better local services
• Actively dealing with anti-social
behaviour with partner agencies,
including enforcement of tenancy
agreement conditions.
• Ensuring there are staff in each housing
team to provide expert advice and
support on anti-social behaviour in
conjunction with the Council’s Anti-
Social Behaviour Unit, within six months
of transfer.
• Providing tenants with information about
the Housing Service on a regular basis
e.g. by way of a quarterly newsletter.
• Producing a new, comprehensive tenant
handbook in different, easy to read
formats, within one year of transfer.
• Introducing, in agreement with the
occupants of individual blocks, a
communal stairway cleaning service
(subject to an additional service charge)
within two years of transfer.
• Improving the standards of the
Caretaking Service by drawing up a new
job specification including monthly walkabouts
and new monitoring standards
within one year of transfer.
• Carrying out ‘customer feedback
surveys’ for tenants leaving their homes
or transferring to another property
owned by the association.
• Establishing a programme, within two
years of transfer, of offering annual visits
to all tenants in their homes to give
tenants an opportunity to discuss any
issues relating to their tenancy.
• A review of the grounds maintenance
service within two years of transfer. This
could cover consideration of an
enhanced grounds maintenance service
including grass cutting for communal
areas, picking up grass clippings,
trimming of shrubs in communal
landscaping and autumn leaf collection.
Attention could be given to the needs of
groups of tenants, for example to older
tenants in specialist accommodation.
• Achieving an external quality
accreditation, for example Charter Mark,
Quality Housing Standard within two
years of transfer.
Housing offices
The association would aim to provide locally
based services through a network of offices.
These services would be developed in
consultation with tenants.
Customer comments,
suggestions and
complaints
Plymouth Community Homes would
recognise that complaints and feedback
from tenants form a crucial part of the
continuous improvement process.
A published complaints policy and
procedure would explain to tenants how
complaints can be made, how they would
be processed and how quickly they would
be informed of the outcome.
fact
Services would be
improved and new
services would be
introduced.
F
45

The association would become a member of
the Independent Housing Ombudsman
Scheme. If a tenant wanted to take their
complaint further after going through the
procedure, they could then refer the matter
to the
Independent
Housing
Ombudsman.
The
association would expect to comply with
recommendations made by the Independent
Housing Ombudsman after investigating a
complaint.
Tenants would also be able to contact one
of their local Councillors or their MP, in the
same way as they can now.
Finding out what tenants
want
Plymouth Community Homes would
welcome any feedback it receives from
tenants and leaseholders and would use it
to help identify its strengths and
weaknesses. It would also help to make
improvements to the service.
The association would carry out surveys to
find out how well tenants think it is doing in
various areas of the service. These surveys
may include: telephone interviews or postal
questionnaires, mystery shopping or slips
returned on individual repairs. At least one
service specific survey would be carried out
each year. In addition the association would
continue to complete the statutory survey of
tenants every three years.
The association would work with tenants,
through the Tenant Participation Team and
through PETRA, to continuously develop its
knowledge and understanding of what
tenants want.
Equality and diversity
various groups of tenants, leaseholders and
staff forums the association would be
committed to:
• Implementing and regularly reviewing the
Equality and Diversity Policy.
• Ensuring that all staff and tenant
representatives are trained within one
year of transfer in providing services to
tenants that take account of their
individual needs.
• Nominating individual members of staff
and the Board to ‘champion’ the needs
of tenants with disabilities, Black Minority
Ethnic (BME) backgrounds, and the
needs of younger and older tenants.
• Making the needs of tenants with
disabilities and those from BME
backgrounds a specific responsibility of
the Customer Focus Committee.
• Establishing a tenants’ Continuous
Improvement Group, which would
concentrate on service delivery to
tenants with disabilities and those from
BME backgrounds.
• Developing a workforce that is
representative of the communities
it serves.
Plymouth Community Homes is committed
to treating all staff, tenants and leaseholders
in a way that takes account of their
individual needs. Following discussions with
46

Delivering better local services
Equal access for all
Plymouth Community Homes would be a
customer focussed organisation, tailoring
services to promote equality and diversity.
The aim is to ensure all tenants can readily
access the service irrespective of age,
gender, race, disability, sexuality or faith. To
make sure that this is achieved the
association would aim to:
• Ensure that appropriate methods of
communication are used, based on
tenants’ individual needs, for example
ensuring that information can be made
available in large print, Braille, on audio
tape or computer disk, online and in the
major languages used by the population
of Plymouth.
• Continue to provide services for tenants
who are hearing impaired including a
British Sign Language interpreter if
necessary.
• Ensure tenants with English as a second
language can access the services they
need through an interpreter or translation
service as required.
• Work closely with Black and Minority
Ethnic (BME) communities to take into
account their housing needs when
developing services in the future.
• Ensure its offices are accessible by
those with a physical disability.
• Work in partnership with the Council and
other agencies to help ensure that
homeless, vulnerable and other excluded
groups are able to access the
accommodation and services they need.
• Create homes which take account of the
particular needs of tenants with
disabilities and cultural needs.
• Ensure that people with disabilities and
those from BME backgrounds are
encouraged to apply for employment
with the association and receive
appropriate support, training and advice
if appointed.
F
What would happen if tenants vote ‘no’
and homes stay with the Council
Existing services would be reviewed, with a view to withdrawing
any non statutory services that are not fully funded by service
charges, and reducing statutory services to a basic legal minimum.
The current annual environmental improvement budget of £220,000 which is used to
improve estates would be redirected to meeting the Decent Homes Standard.
The grounds maintenance service would be reviewed with a view to reducing the
maintenance of many communal open spaces currently funded by the Housing
Revenue Account.
Existing contracts and service level agreements with other agencies would be
reviewed, with a view to either ceasing funding, or reducing to a statutory minimum.
There would be no programme of estate inspections.
47

GStrengthening communities
At a glance
Plymouth Community Homes would:
• Work with residents, the Council and other agencies to make neighbourhoods places
where people want to live and work now and in the future.
• Establish a Community Development Team within two years of transfer.
• Develop with residents a plan for North Prospect, aiming to build on the work already
carried out.
• Work with the Council, Devonport Regeneration Community Partnership, and Devon and
Cornwall Housing Association to complete the rehousing of tenants in Devonport to enable
the building of new homes.
48

Strengthening communities
Encouraging community
development
Over three years the Council’s Housing
Service has funded and supported a Tenant
Participation Team to encourage the
involvement of tenants in the decisions we
make about their homes, services and
neighbourhoods.
The association would build on these
foundations by, within two years of transfer,
establishing a City-wide Community
Development Team with a dedicated budget
to help the association fulfil its ambition of
building communities and creating
neighbourhoods in which people would
choose to live, and working positively to
encourage and support resident
management initiatives and with existing
resident management organisations.
Letting vacant properties
After transfer Plymouth Community Homes
would participate in a choice based lettings
scheme, aiming to ensure empty homes are
allocated in a way that promotes choice,
considers people’s needs and encourages
the development of sustainable and
balanced communities.
The association may feel that particular
areas would benefit from a local lettings
policy, which is where for example there may
be issues with a high number of young
children, and action is required to resolve
the problems that may arise.
Local lettings would be implemented in
liaison with the Council and following
consultation with existing residents. This
would support other initiatives to ensure that
neighbourhoods remain or become places
where people choose to live.
Sustainable tenancies
After transfer Plymouth Community Homes
would sign all new tenants up as starter
tenants. After a year their tenancies would
be made full assured tenancies if there were
no contravention of tenancy conditions, for
example anti-social behaviour.
The association would plan to refer tenants
where appropriate to a Tenancy Support
Service that helps vulnerable tenants
establish and keep their tenancies.
North Prospect
Introduction
As in many other parts of the City, North
Prospect residents have a strong sense of
community, and are proud of the area in
which they live and like the neighbourhood.
The area, however, continues to experience
major social and economic challenges and it
ranks as one of the most deprived
communities in England. Residents who
have been involved in discussions and
consultation events have told us they would
like to see this addressed.
Resident involvement in the area is strong
and residents have played a large part in
developing a vision for North Prospect. If
transfer goes ahead, Plymouth Community
Homes would build on the work carried out
by the North Prospect Partnership and
Strategic Urban Futures (StUF), in
partnership with residents, in developing a
masterplan for North Prospect.
The masterplan would address both the
structural defects affecting the housing
stock and aim to make the neighbourhood
sustainable.
G
49

The case for regeneration – problems
with housing
North Prospect has unique problems over
and above achieving the Decent Homes
Standard. Many of the homes have
structural defects that will require attention,
including:
• Structural cracking.
• Wall tie failure.
• High dampness readings at a low level
(failed damp proof course).
• High dampness readings to ground
floors (failed or absent damp proof
course).
• Bridged damp proof course.
• Penetrating dampness.
• Condensation.
As the majority of properties are semidetached
houses, the structural problems
are also likely to affect owner occupied
properties in the area.
The case for regeneration – sustainability
The current population size and household
income levels limit the number, quality and
type of facilities and amenities the
neighbourhood can support, such as shops
and businesses. Any regeneration would aim
to increase facilities and amenities.
Key principles of regeneration
Plymouth Community Homes would be
committed to developing a masterplan for
North Prospect, building on the work carried
out by StUF and in consultation with
residents.
The masterplanning process would
incorporate the following key principles
highlighted by residents during community
consultation:
• Predominantly houses rather than flats.
• No net loss of social housing.
• Tenure mix i.e. social rented, private
rented, owner occupation, including low
cost home ownership.
• Accommodation for different household
types, i.e. single people/childless
couples, family housing, older people.
• Addresses needs of both owner
occupiers and tenants.
• Ongoing resident involvement and
consultation.
• Green areas/open spaces included
within the masterplan.
• Community safety/security features
designed-in.
• Infrastructure issues, e.g. parking, to be
included within masterplan.
Where it may be necessary for residents to
move from their existing home, as part of
any regeneration project, Plymouth
Community Homes would, in
consultation with residents, draw
up a re-housing policy sensitive
to the needs of residents,
including those who wish to
remain in the area.
50

Strengthening communities
Role of partner organisations in
developing and delivering the
regeneration masterplan for North
Prospect
Plymouth Community Homes recognises
that residents need to be at the heart of the
process and would continue to consult with
residents through the North Prospect
Partnership or other relevant agencies to
ensure that they continue to have a central
role in the masterplanning process.
Due to the scale of problems in North
Prospect, Plymouth Community Homes
would seek the involvement of the Housing
Corporation and English Partnerships (or
their successor organisation, the Homes
and Communities Agency). As Plymouth
Community Homes would be primarily
focusing on achieving the Plymouth
Community Homes Standard in all its homes
across the City, it would need to work with
partner organisations to help develop and
deliver the masterplan for North Prospect.
This could include the use of development
partners to deliver new social housing.
Assistance to owner-occupiers
Plymouth Community Homes would explore
the possibility that owners and prospective
owners could benefit from the whole estate
improvement to be carried out within North
Prospect. Options could include:
• Buy-in to improvement works.
• Offer of Shared Equity.
• Compulsory work on owner/occupied
properties.
G
Implications for North Prospect in the
event of a ‘no’ vote
In the event of a ‘no’ vote. Plymouth City Council would be
subject to existing financial restrictions. As things stand it
cannot afford to borrow the money needed to carry out any regeneration scheme.
The Council would therefore have to reconsider the options available for the estate,
including the future ownership of the properties. Planning for the future would
continue but may be more limited.
51

Devonport
The Council is in the middle of a process of
rehousing residents from Curtis Street, Duke
Street, Granby Green and Granby Street,
and transferring the empty properties to
Devon and Cornwall Housing Association,
which then demolishes them and builds new
homes in their place.
If the transfer to Plymouth Community
Homes takes place this process would
continue.
Tenants in these properties would become
tenants of Plymouth Community Homes
who, working with the Council, would be
responsible for rehousing them.
Tenants would receive the same home loss
compensation and disturbance package that
they would have received as a tenant of
the Council.
Building on the work already carried out by
Devonport Regeneration Community
Partnership and the Council, Plymouth
Community Homes would respond positively
to requests from its tenants and
leaseholders to consider alternative
approaches to management of the housing
stock such as Resident Management
Organisations. (please see Part H).
Where appropriate it would provide advice
and support to resident controlled
organisations which wished to develop
social enterprise initiatives.
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HInvolving you in running the service
At a glance
Plymouth Community Homes would:
• Include tenant involvement as a function central to all services.
• Enhance tenant involvement in all aspects of the service.
• Encourage tenants to get involved in the management of their homes at a level that suits
them best.
• Encourage greater participation in tenant groups.
• Include budgets in its business plan for tenant involvement and PETRA.
• Adopt the existing Tenant Participation Compact and continue to develop and improve it.
• Carry out regular customer satisfaction surveys.
• Work closely with special interest groups such as Plymouth United Sheltered Housing and
Disabled Tenants Action Group.
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What is Plymouth
Community Homes’ policy
on involving tenants?
The association would be committed to
genuinely involving tenants in the running of
the housing service, through its written
constitution. It would support tenants to
become involved by aiming to:
• Offer a range of ways for tenants to get
involved that suit them.
• Encourage more tenants to become
involved in tenants’ groups.
• Listen to tenants’ feedback and respond
to it.
• Ensure tenants can share in decision
making, for example, through tenant
representative structures, membership
and tenant Board Members.
• Ensure individual tenants have
opportunities to influence the decisions
made about their homes and
neighbourhoods.
• Invite tenants’ feedback on services and
proposals.
• Include a budget in its business plan for
tenant involvement.
• Include funding in its business plan for
PETRA to enable it to continue to provide
independent support to residents’ and
tenants’ groups which include tenants
and leaseholders of the association and
represent their collective interests.
• Recognise any residents’ or tenants’
group which is properly constituted and
adheres to an agreed equality and
diversity policy.
• Provide a community support fund,
including tenant group start up and
development grants.
• Provide office and IT facilities for involved
tenants.
• Provide and work with tenants and
tenant representatives to allocate an
environmental and estate security
budget, working towards devolving part
of the budget to recognised groups.
Involving young tenants
The association would work in creative ways
to involve young tenants and young families
in decisions made about their homes and
neighbourhoods and would hold familyfriendly
events with provision for child care.
For more information see section L.
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Involving you in running the service
The Tenant Participation
Compact
The Council’s Tenant Participation Compact
has provided it with a focus for the further
development of tenant participation in the
management of the housing service.
Plymouth Community Homes would honour
the principles and standards for tenant
participation that have been negotiated
between the Council and its tenants. The
association would aim to develop and
improve the existing Tenant Participation
Compact and Resident Involvement
Statement as part of its annual review of
tenant involvement.
Providing information on
involvement
The association would be active in
publicising its activities and the ways in
which you could get involved. It would
produce and distribute a newsletter for all
tenants four times a year. It would work to
develop ways of measuring and monitoring
resident satisfaction with services, for
example, through questionnaires and
feedback from events, the results of which
would be publicised together with how the
association intends to respond.
It would produce a new updated tenants’
handbook setting out the services available
and the main contact points. This would
also give tenants more information about
their tenancy and the association’s policies.
How could you get involved
in Plymouth Community
Homes?
There would be a wide range of ways in
which you could become involved:
• Becoming a Member of the Board of the
association or being co-opted onto one
of its committees.
• Participating in your local tenants’ group
and becoming involved in your local
housing service and community issues.
• Joining the Interested Tenants Network
(ITN). The ITN are tenants who would
like to be involved. The ITN receive
regular mailings which include invitations
to meetings and events, draft policies for
tenants to comment on, and information
about changes to services.
• Getting involved in a Continuous
Improvement Group. This includes
groups that look at specific areas of
service e.g. repairs and groups that
examine services for specific groups of
customers such as tenants with
disabilities.
• Attending one of the regular roadshows
and conferences it would run to look at
specific areas of the service and seek
tenants’ feedback.
• Responding to surveys in the tenants’
quarterly newsletter.
• Helping to write and edit a tenants'
newsletter.
H
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Becoming a member of
Plymouth Community
Homes
Plymouth Community Homes would
encourage all tenants and leaseholders to
become members of the association.
Membership would be open to all tenants
and leaseholders over the age of 16. Where
there is a joint tenancy each joint tenant can
become a member. Members would have a
role to play in helping shape the key
strategies and policies of the new
organisation that directly affect tenants and
leaseholders, with each member having
a vote.
Normally in housing transfers, membership
voting rights are collectively held, with
tenants holding only a third of the votes.
For Plymouth Community Homes, tenants
and leaseholders would hold 55% of the
membership voting rights, the Council would
hold 30% and independents would hold
15%.
Members would be able to exercise their
right to vote at events such as the Annual
General Meeting. Any Board proposals to
change the rules governing Plymouth
Community Homes would need membership
approval.
The association would be obliged to provide
a report to its general members at every
Annual General Meeting on its performance.
Resident management
After transfer you would no longer have the
Right to Manage as set down by Acts of
Parliament.
However, after transfer, the association’s
policy would be to respond positively to
requests and to provide appropriate support
and encouragement to tenants who wish to
take on the management of their own
homes, estates or neighbourhoods, using
the same guidance as currently applies to
the Council.
The association would also support and
allow any Resident Management
Organisation (RMO) proposal that had
already secured the support of the Council
prior to transfer.
An RMO could take on a range of
responsibilities for a particular housing
management area or estate, after entering
into a management agreement with the
association. This would only happen if the
tenants directly affected by a proposal voted
in favour and other set conditions are
satisfied. Establishing an RMO would mean
that a tenant-run body would become
responsible for some of the functions that
were previously carried out by the
association.
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Involving you in running the service
The Right to Manage, set down by Acts of
Parliament for Council tenants, is funded by
Communities and Local Government (CLG).
This funding would not be available to new
RMOs after transfer. The association would
therefore seek funding from either the
Housing Corporation under their Community
Training and Enabling Grant Programme or
from other appropriate sources. The
association would have a budget to assist in
making up shortfalls in the grant funding for
the RMO, provided any funding would not
adversely affect other tenants. A strategy
would be developed to promote and provide
opportunities for increased tenant and
community control of their housing and
communities.
The association would continue positive
support for the existing Estate Management
Board (EMB) at Pembroke Street,
Devonport, as agreed in the existing Estate
Management Agreement. The association
recognises that Pembroke Street EMB
wishes to continue to develop wider
community development based services, in
addition to its contractual housing services.
Where these services meet with the overall
aims and objectives of the association, it
would aim to develop a budget to financially
support this development.
Monitoring the quality of
service
Plymouth Community Homes would
encourage tenants’ groups and the ITN to
become involved in monitoring its
performance through joint estate inspections
with tenants and the regular provision of
performance statistics. It would also
produce other information, for example
newsletters, to these groups and an annual
report to all tenants which explains how the
association has performed in the previous
year.
H
What would happen if tenants vote ‘no’
and homes stay with the Council
There would be a reduced Tenant Participation budget.
The Council projects that it would be unable to support existing
Tenant Participation structures and would continue with a basic level of involvement
based on the statutory minimum requirements to consult tenants about housing
management.
There would be limited ongoing support for residents' groups.
Limited information would be available for circulation to tenants – based on one
newsletter a year.
57