The longer summer days have returned, and I hope you are enjoying the sunshine and slightly warmer weather.

I’m pleased to share this latest update covering key discussions from our recent Community Voice meeting. Our group is made up of myself and other tenants who live in the Salford area.

We work together with ForHousing to take action and signpost to partners when it’s needed.

Together we understand the importance of listening and learning from tenants, like me and you, about crucial matters affecting our neighbourhood.

We want to have our voices heard and be a part of influencing what happens in our homes and communities.

Let’s take a look at the latest news and discussions from June’s Community Voice update.

Janette Ball, Chair of Community Voice

We want everyone to feel safe in their home and proud of our neighbourhood. The Community Voice meetings give us a chance to talk to ForHousing about any concerns or worries people have.

ForHousing’s team then considers our views and speaks with other local organisations and partners working in the community to make sure someone takes action.

In our meeting, we talked about the ongoing littering problem in Peel Estate. We’ve organised some community litter pick days to get on top of this problem, and a new hub with litter-picking equipment will open in Little Hulton in July.

ForHousing agreed to help spread the word about these litter-picking days so look out for information in upcoming tenant newsletters.

We also shared ongoing concerns about fly-tipping, with the Salford Litter Heroes telling us there has been an increase in incidents in our area.

There’s already been a big effort to address this issue, including a partnership of lots of local agencies being launched in 2022.  Volunteering has continued to grow since, especially among children who are even encouraging their parents to get involved.

An update on pest control was discussed at the meeting. ForHousing has signed a new contract with Premier Pest Control which will last for the next three years. They have already provided helpful suggestions – some of which seem to be having a positive impact.

We recently did an exercise looking at noise nuisance issues and came up with 42 recommendations for ForHousing to consider.

I’m pleased to report that nine of the recommendations have already been put into action. We decided that noise nuisance will stay linked with Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB), as they are closely related. A full report on noise nuisance, including ForHousing’s next steps, will be sent to Community Voice members soon.

ForHousing always aims to improve its services for tenants, by listening and learning from our experiences.

An update on its complaints procedure was given, and ForHousing told us that tenant satisfaction with complaints had risen from 37% to 44%.

There is still a lot of room for improvement, but we hope this is a step in the right direction.

ForHousing also updated us on improvements to some of the letters that are sent to us. Through tenant feedback and focus groups, they have now improved the way letters are written to ensure they are clear and easy to understand.

We were also given an update on the Tpas regional forum. Tpas promotes, supports and champions tenant involvement and empowerment in social housing across England. We were pleased to hear that there was positive feedback from tenants from the forum.

We also heard the latest on the newly established Tenants’ Repairs and Maintenance group which is there to listen to tenants, act upon feedback and hold us to account.

If you have had repair work carried out in the last six months, you can expect to receive an invitation to share your experiences. If anyone else is interested in joining the group, please fill out the form here and ForHousing will be in touch with more details.

ForHousing is changing the way it is going to provide employment support services in the community. It has decided to close its Skills Centre as there are lots of other services that are similar to this in the area (they have stressed all current students getting a qualification will be supported). It will mean that it can invest more in other services that help people get back into work.

We were given an update about a change to how housing associations like ForHousing will be regulated. The Regulator of Social Housing will carry out inspections (that are a bit like an Ofsted inspection for schools) that will include a new consumer standard.

The consumer standard will look at four main areas:

Safety and Quality: Our homes must be kept safe and in good condition. This includes timely repairs and maintenance, and ForHousing knowing its health and safety responsibilities.

Transparency and Accountability: ForHousing needs to be open with us, treat us fairly, and listen to our concerns. We should be able to influence decisions and hold them accountable.

Neighbourhood and Community: ForHousing must work to ensure our neighbourhood is secure and well-maintained, and that we feel safe in our homes.

Tenancy: ForHousing must manage tenancies fairly and ensure homes are allocated properly.

We’ll keep you informed when ForHousing has its first inspection, and what the rating is.

As Community Voice members, we are dedicated to working with ForHousing and local organisations to make a positive impact in our neighbourhoods.

In the meeting, we discussed the Community Fund, which provides financial support to activities and local groups that help people and communities to thrive. There has been more budget set aside for the fund this year.

Despite a large demand for the Community Fund, there have been no applications for the Local Area Improvement Fund (LIF) which can award up to £3,000 for small environmental projects.

If you think your local community group could benefit from support from the funding, please get in touch or apply for funding here.

For those not online, Community Development staff can assist with phone or in-person applications and paper forms can be sent by mail.

Play Streets

ForHousing is continuing to organise its popular Play Streets sessions for children, which provide support for families across Salford.

These sessions are really popular, so we’ll discuss additional funding and expenses at future meetings.

ForHousing’s Youth Clubs also received positive feedback. They provide ForHousing with an opportunity to engage with young people and provide the support or advice they may need.

We hope that this positive impact continues to benefit our community.

Recently, the government moved people of state pension age into receiving Universal Credit. This is causing some tenants a lot of stress and confusion.

Concerns were raised that this change may confuse the system into thinking people are in arrears when they aren’t. The ForHousing team agreed with our concerns and would like to remind everyone of its Money Advice Service, which can help with money issues before things hit a crisis point.

The service can also help tenants with filling out exemption forms and offers advice on more difficult topics such as debt or drugs and alcohol abuse. Whilst it can be hard to admit over the phone to strangers that you are struggling, the calls remain strictly private and confidential.

The Community Voice group is currently actively recruiting new members, so if you are interested in representing your local community and working with ForHousing to make improvements, please get in touch here.

ForHousing wants to understand what matters most to us and we really appreciate more tenants giving their time and input to groups like these so ForHousing can listen and learn.

We’ll continue to share future updates with you. Do spread the word about the tenant newsletter with your family and friends, this is published every three months, and you will be able to view the latest version here.