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NETRALT and NTP working together
North East Tenants, Residents and Landlords Together (NETRALT) and the newly established Northern Tenants Partnership (NTP), joined forces to host their first interactive virtual session centred around the theme of “Working in Partnership.” The event targeted tenants, residents, community groups and staff across Scotland, bringing together a diverse range of voices and experiences.
The virtual gathering showcased good practice and insights on tenant and community involvement through a series of engaging presentations, videos, and discussions. The spirit of partnership echoed throughout the event, with tenants and staff both contributing to its success. Colin Stewart, a Castlehill tenant and NETRALT member, acted as the event’s host and provided the technical know-how to provide a digital platform for the event to take place.
The event commenced with a keynote speech by George Walker, Chairperson of the Board of the Scottish Housing Regulator, setting the tone for the day. A selection of topics was covered during the session, including youth involvement, scrutiny, community growing initiatives, participatory budgeting and Regional Networks.
With NETRALT ‘s membership covering Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, and Moray, and NTP spanning the Highlands & Islands, Orkney, Shetland, and the Hebrides, the collaboration provided attendees with insights from a wide array of tenants, community groups, and landlords.
The event concluded with an interactive online quiz, with a tenant delegate from Aberdeen City Council winning the star prize of £100 in vouchers.
Catherine Coutts, Co-Chair of NETRALT and Castlehill’s Tenant Participation Officer, explained,
“We were thrilled to partner with Northern Tenants Partnership to share the amazing work taking place in our communities. This event provided a unique opportunity for tenants to inspire one another, furthering our aims of sharing good practice, creating a valuable support network, and promoting tenant engagement far and wide.”
Suzy Boardman, Principal Tenant & Customer Engagement Officer at Highland Council, said,
“Friday’s event really highlighted what can be achieved when we pool our resources and work collaboratively. It was inspiring to hear about the great work happening all across our region and come away with lots of ideas for future partnership projects.’
The success of this collaborative event highlights the commitment of tenant participation groups to foster meaningful partnerships, share knowledge and enhance the tenant experience across Scotland.
Tenant and social landlord group celebrates TPAS award wins
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.”
More winners from the event can be found here.
Podcast: Tenant participation with Colin Stewart, Louise McNeilage and Helen Barton
Colin Stewart, Louise McNeilage and Helen Barton
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.
More information on Regional Networks is available at https://regionalnetworks.org
The link to the Back on Track programme as well as TPAS’s other services can be found here: https://tpasscotland.org.uk/tpas-scotland-covid-back-on-track-programme/
SBHA and SBTO were runners-up in the Best Practice in Digital Involvement category at the Tpas Scotland Good Practice Awards in June 2022.
Digital Involvement Runner-up Award for SBHA & SBTO | Scottish Borders Housing Association
More information can also be found on:
- Tenant Participation How can I get involved? | Scottish Borders Housing Association (sbha.org.uk)
- SBTO The SBTO | Scottish Borders Housing Association (sbha.org.uk)
- Scrutiny Scrutiny | Scottish Borders Housing Association (sbha.org.uk)
Jimmy Black has written a blog to accompany the episode, here.
All episodes of the Scottish Housing News Podcast are available here as well as on the following platforms:
Rent Setting and Affordability Survey – Tenants
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.
Scottish Housing Regulator invites applications for volunteer Tenant Advisors to help shape the future of social housing in Scotland
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.”
If this voluntary position interests you and you would like to be considered for selection as a Tenant Advisor, please visit:www.housingregulator.gov.scot or http://tis.org.uk/shr-volunteer-tenant-advisors/ to download an information pack and application form. For further information, email info@tis.org.uk or call 0141 248 1242.
Additionally, reasonable expenses (e.g. travel) will be covered to make participation in your role as Tenant Advisor as convenient as possible.
The closing date for applications is 10:00am on Monday 14th February 2022 and appointments will commence 1 April 2022 for three years.
NETRALT’s success at TPAS Awards
NETRALT are thrilled to have been placed as runners up in the Best Practice in Involving Customers in Services category at the Tenant Participation Advisory Service Scotland Awards in Aviemore on 16 November.
Colin Stewart scoops Tenant Participation Champion award
Castlehill Housing Association is delighted that our tenant Colin Stewart has won the acclaimed Tenant Champion of the Year Award at the Tenant Participation Advisory Service Scotland National Good Practice Awards 2018.
The awards were held in Aviemore and judges were bowled over by Colin’s level of involvement in tenant participation with Castlehill Registered Tenants Organisation (CaRTO). He is also a member of North East Tenants, Residents and Landlords Together (NETRALT), Regional Networks and carries out other voluntary work outside of social housing in the wider community, all of which make him a worthy winner.
Colin received his award from two stars of long-running Scottish sitcom Still Game; Mark Cox who plays skinflint Tam, and Jane McCarry a.k.a Craiglang’s resident busybody, Isa.
Our Tenant Participation Officer, Catherine Coutts, was shortlisted for the final for the Tenant Participation Champion – Staff category for her work with tenants and groups in the North East.
There was yet more success to come for Castlehill, with local partner group NETRALT being runners up in the Best Practice in Involving Customers in Services category for their ongoing mystery shopping project.