Moray Council are developing a new Local Housing Strategy to set out how the Council and partners deliver housing and housing services over the next five years. A survey has been launched to find out about the housing issues that matter most to residents in Moray.
How you can help
Please fill in the survey – We need your input to make sure that the strategy reflects the needs of our communities. It only takes 5 minutes and responses are anonymous.
Please share it with others – Every response matters! Please share with family members, friends, and colleagues and encourage them to take part. If possible, help us reach more people by sharing it within your networks and on social media.
We are excited to share that NETRALT is a Finalist in the Tenants Information Service National Excellence Awards 2024 in the Excellence in Digital Engagement category!
The Excellence in Digital Engagement award recognises creativity in developing meaningful digital engagement opportunities. NETRALT’s nomination focused on our first collaboration with Northern Tenants Partnership (NTP) to bring tenants, residents and communities together to broaden the reach of engagement by offering innovative, digital engagement opportunities.
A North East tenant and social landlord group celebrated success last month at the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) National Good Practice Awards ceremony in Clydebank.
North East Tenants, Residents and Landlords Together (NETRALT) won Best Practice in Developing Communities award for its groundbreaking work involving young people from across Aberdeen, while NETRALT member and Castlehill Housing Association tenant Colin Stewart won the coveted Alan Ferguson Tenant Champion of the Year award.
NETRALT embarked upon an innovative city-wide project to engage and collaborate with young people via research aimed at exploring youth knowledge and aspirations.
The project involved staff from Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeen Foyer, Castlehill, Grampian and Langstane Housing Associations, as well as young people from Aberdeen City Youth Council (now Aberdeen City Youth Movement) and the Scottish Youth Parliament.
The report will be used in Aberdeen’s Local Housing Strategy, as well as being a link to a child-friendly city and will make an impact on services and the resources that young people are reliant on.
NETRALT’s co-chairs Katie Taylor and Catherine Coutts were delighted to accept this prestigious award on behalf of the group and were joined by one of the young people involved, Rebecca Cuthbert.
Catherine Coutts said: “We engaged with young people, not just as a demographic to fill a quota; this went way beyond youth involvement and co-production. Young people designed, distributed, compiled and launched the survey to ensure that captured views were authentic. The survey achieved its aims, with 595 responses forming the basis of a report authored entirely by young people themselves.”
Katie Taylor added: “Housing is such an important topic; it has a direct impact on young people and they should have a say in what happens. It is vital that they feel their voice is listened to and this project is step towards establishing a city youth housing network to ensure this happens.”
Aberdeen City Council Communities, Housing and Public Protection convener, Councillor Miranda Radley, said: “It’s fantastic news that North East Tenants, Residents and Landlords Together have received national recognition by winning the Best Practice in Developing Communities award at the Tenant Participation Advisory Service National Good Practice Awards. “My congratulations go out to everyone involved and I am pleased their hard work has been recognised nationally.”
Colin Stewart receiving the Alan Ferguson Tenant Champion of the Year award
Castlehill Registered Tenants Organisation (CaRTO) chair Colin Stewart has helped support the organisation to get involved with scheme inspections and to support communities via CaRTO’s funding scheme.
Colin is always a friendly face when he meets tenants and is able to help with his knowledge and lived experience of being a social housing tenant.
An active member of NETRALT and a well-kent face throughout not just the North East, but nationally, due to his role as chair of the North of Scotland Regional Network, he is also the only tenant member of the Housing to 2040 Strategic Board.
Colin has spoken in parliament to communicate tenant comments and evidence to the Local Government, Housing & Planning Committee to inform its consideration of the first report to Parliament on the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act.
Tenant participation officer Catherine, who nominated Colin for this award, explained: “Colin is a force of nature and a worthy winner of this award because of his unfailing enthusiasm and dedication to the social housing sector and the wider community, from grassroots level to national strategic board level. His voluntary work has resulted in positive changes and improvements to many people’s lives across Scotland.”
Social housing tenants have a statutory right to have a say in the running of their homes, but what does that mean in practice?
TPAS Scotland has been providing support in this very field for over 40 years and has launched a new campaign to help housing organisations and tenants to build better relationships as we recover from the pandemic.
To discuss this campaign and all things tenant participation, Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black are joined by Colin Stewart – a Castlehill Housing Association tenant and Scottish Housing Regulator board member, Louise McNeilage – a tenant and community engagement facilitator at Scottish Borders Housing Association, and Helen Barton – an associate at TPAS.
TPAS Scotland and The Regional Networks have come together to consult with tenants and landlords on how social housing rent is set in Scotland.
We would appreciate you giving your views by filling in the enclosed survey to help identify how landlords are setting rent, what rent setting best practice looks like, and how tenants can get more involved in the rent setting process.
This survey, for tenants/residents should take less than ten minutes to complete and will cover many aspects of the rent setting processes. If you require assistance completing the survey, please call TPAS Scotland on 0800 049 5761.
Please click the blue button below to get started. Thank you for your time.
The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) is the independent regulator of registered social landlord (RSL) and local authority housing services in Scotland, working to safeguard and promote the interests of tenants, people who are homeless, and others who use social housing services.
Committed to ensuring tenants are at the heart of our regulation of their landlords, the Regulator is delighted to invite applications from across Scotland for the recruitment of twelve motivated and enthusiastic individuals to take on the role of Tenant Advisor for a period of three years, and provide an independent and unique perspective on our work.
Individuals from all walks of life, with focus on protected characteristics, are encouraged to apply for this voluntary positionand be instrumental in shaping the future of social housing services in Scotland.
Tenant Advisors are tenants of either RSLs or local authorities who volunteer to participate in regulation work and support the Regulator by:
· Testing landlord services by acting as mystery shoppers, and assessing information and materials produced by landlords for their tenants;
· Reviewing SHR draft publications and website facilities, and helping SHR to make sure material is both accessible and user friendly for tenants; and
· Asking other tenants for their views when we assess the quality of service provided by social landlords to give us a direct, user perspective to add to other regulatory evidence.
Experts in housing, community development, and engagement practice, the Tenants Information Service (TIS), will work in partnership and support the Regulator in our recruitment of Tenant Advisors.
George Walker, Chair at the Scottish Housing Regulator explains:
“Our role is to protect tenants’ interests and to drive up the quality of services which social landlords deliver. We can only do our job effectively if we understand what is important to you. Tenants are a diverse group with different needs and priorities and it is important that we work with the most diverse group possible to understand these and take account of them in our work. So, I’d encourage as many different types of tenants with experience of the wide range of services that social landlords provide to apply. We will work with our Tenant Advisors to get your perspective on the services provided by social landlords across the country.”
Applicants do not need any formal qualifications, training, or experience to become a Tenant Advisor, and will receive ongoing support to ensure their role will be fulfilled confidently, although essential skills include:
· Basic IT skills (i.e. navigating emails, websites, and documents)
· The ability to interpret information from reports
· A willingness to learn and build new skills
· The ability to listen to and express views in a constructive way
· Communicating well in both a written and verbal capacity
Ilene Campbell, Chief Executive at TIS added:
“We are thrilled to work alongside the Scottish Housing Regulator in their recruitment of twelve Tenant Advisors. This voluntary role is a fantastic opportunity for tenants across Scotland to get involved and play an active role in improving social housing services.
“Individuals of all characteristics are invited to apply and will gain opportunities to take on new challenges and build on personal development skills. If you are passionate about making a positive change, we would love to hear from you.”
The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) is the independent regulator of registered social landlord (RSL) and local authority housing services in Scotland, working to safeguard and promote the interests of tenants, people who are homeless, and others who use social housing services.