Richard Mandunya of Parkside, Cuddesdon, is one of only 50 people from throughout England to be selected to represent tenants of housing associations, housing co-ops and local authorities.
The National Tenant Council, part of the new organisation National Tenant Voice, will discuss policy issues that affect tenants, and the Council will have the benefit of extensive consultation with tenants and research into the experiences of tenants. The Government's aim is for tenants to have a greater influence over the services they receive. The National Tenant Voice will give tenants the chance to influence national policy by engaging with the Government and other bodies (including the new social housing regulator – the Tenant Services Authority. Richard’s first NTC meeting is this January.
There are two Soha Housing houses in Denton but 16 in Cuddesdon. With more than 5,200 homes across South Oxfordshire and 12,000 residents, there must be a heap of questions that the people who actually receive the service from Soha want to ask of the housing association. This year, for the second year running, they had that chance, as residents decided on the theme, design and content of the Soha annual report.
One of the new features of the Report is that the residents who wrote it also related something of their lives in profiles and pictures. They say, “when we first met together, what struck everyone was the range of interests and experiences the group possessed. We feel that Soha’s tenants, leaseholders and shared owners are a diverse bunch, but with something common – we’re all under the Soha roof”.
You can find the – very readable – results of their work (called, appropriately, Under One Roof) at
http://www.soha.co.uk/Corporate/ReadAboutUs/Annualreports.htm
There are large print versions, too, if you contact Liz Roberts at Soha – 01235 515 900 or freephone 08000 14 15 45.
| < Prev |
|---|