We have a fresh new look!
The Welsh Tenants Federation has changed its name
to the Tenantiaid Cymru/Welsh Tenants. We will continue to do what we do best, which is to act as the representative voice for tenants in Wales and we remain committed to our mission to enhance and protect the rights, representations and housing standards for all tenants in Wales.
We would like to thank everyone who took part in the voting for the new name and logo – we think you’ve made a great choice!
The Wales Audit office report of January 2012 highlighted that a great deal had been achieved through the WHQS programme, but also identified that more needs to be done to delivery decent quality homes for tenants in Wales, particularly in the local authority sector. The recent run of no votes suggests that the appetite for large scale voluntary transfer appears to be on the wane. However, that run consisting of Vale of Glamorgan, Flintshire and Caerphilly, does not mean that the drive for improvements should be relaxed. The counter offers promoted as alternatives to transfer need to be achieved.
Wales Audit Office: Progress in delivering the Welsh Housing Quality Standard – main findings
Many tenants have seen substantial improvements in the quality of their housing, although the original aim that all social housing would achieve the WHQS by 2012 will not be met for some considerable time.
There have been weaknesses in the Welsh Government’s leadership and monitoring and, despite substantial investment, progress towards the WHQS has been affected by the slower than expected development of landlords’ work plans and timescales for local-authority stock transfer.
Being fair to the local authority sector, they were starting from a very different position from that of the younger housing association sector. Housing associations have had the benefit of accessing commercial loans to improve their stock unrestricted by the government’s public sector borrowing requirement rules. However, in an era of capital cuts and confidence in the construction industry faltering, we must not take the eye off the ball; we must strive to ensure that all tenants in Wales can enjoy improvements befitting of social landlords in 2012.
For those involved in the process of delivery, one of the primary issues raised by our members is a landlords’ tendency to over-rely on contractors to deliver, without sufficient oversight of the customer experience through liaison and inspection during major works programmes. Landlords who don’t keep a close eye on the delivery process risk a poor, perhaps one-off, experience going viral, leading tenants to opt out of key components of the WHQS programme which then impacts on overall delivery. When things do go wrong, landlords need to have mechanisms in place to swiftly put them right to prevent viral marketing through mechanisms such as social networking.
The Welsh Tenants are pleased to be developing a programme of work WHQS: Focus on Delivery that will work with tenants to develop a Focus on Delivery charter which we will be asking all landlords to sign up to. It will focus on communication and providing tenants with tools to effectively monitor and challenge landlords to develop and deliver WHQS.
As well as the benefit for tenants, the social and economic impacts of achieving WHQS can be huge for local communities and for the regions of Wales; the programme is potentially a major contributor to job creation, training and business growth. We are pleased to be working with Caerphilly County Borough Council tenants, officers and Arnold Philips to develop the charter. If you have tools to contribute please call our office or email WHQSfod@welshtenantsfed.org.uk
The project will be just one of the key features of our forthcoming Housing in Our Hands conference.
Dates for your diary
4 July 2012, SE ATTAIN Event, Orbits Centre, Merthyr Tydfil
6 July 2012, SW ATTAIN Event, Royal British Legion, Bynea
17 July 2012, North ATTAIN Event, Ramada Plaza, Wrexham
If you are interested in attending any of these events, please visit our website www.welshtenantsfed.org.uk or call our office for further information 01685 72392