Autumn has arrived, bringing cooler weather and plenty of rain!

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 on issues affecting the Salford neighbourhood and signpost to partners when it’s needed.

Together we understand the importance of listening and learning from tenants, like me and you. We want to have our voices heard and influence what happens in our homes and communities.

Please read on for all the latest discussions and news from our September Community Voice update.
Janette Ball, Chair of Community Voice

We all deserve to feel safe in our homes and proud of our neighbourhoods. We use these Community Voice meetings as an opportunity to share any concerns or worries with ForHousing.

The ForHousing team listens to our feedback and works with us, the council, and partners to improve our neighbourhoods.

At our last meeting, we spoke about ongoing issues with pests. ForHousing has taken steps to solve this problem, and we hope to see an improvement soon. A Scrutiny review will take place in early 2025, this will give us the chance to review whether this has worked. If you’re still having some trouble with pest control, let us know and we can work with ForHousing to look into it further.

We talked about fly-tipping in the last Community Voice meeting and ForHousing has now added details on how to report fly-tipping to the tenant newsletter. We hope this will make it easier for us to contact ForHousing about the issue.

Back in June, we talked about the ongoing noise nuisance and worked together to come up with 42 recommendations for ForHousing to think about. I’m happy to let you know that the Scrutiny Noise Nuisance Report has now been shared with the Community Voice members. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking some time to go through the recommended actions for ForHousing and explore what kind of impact they could have.

ForHousing gave an update on the redrafted Communal Areas Policy, which makes sure all communal areas are kept clean and clear for safety reasons. Any items found in these areas may be taken away, with people facing fines for their storage and return.

ForHousing confirmed that there will be a grace period from November, and the new rules will be enforced from January.

ForHousing is committed to improving services for tenants, by always listening to our feedback and learning from our experiences.

We got an update on ForHousing’s data collection exercise which better allows them to tailor services, creating a culture that places tenants at the centre of everything they do. These are still ongoing so if you haven’t already had a phone call from a ForHousing team member, you can expect one soon.

ForHousing told us about the Right Care Right Person Act, an agreement between police and health services to ensure that people get the right response to mental health incidents. Although there have been some delays, Greater Manchester Police will be using this approach soon, and ForHousing will provide us with an update in March 2025.

A new team has been created, which will focus on looking into complaints and keeping us updated throughout the process.

ForHousing also confirmed the timescales for complaints. They have five days to decide if something is a complaint or not, and then they have ten working days for Stage One complaints to be resolved.

There is now a difference between service requests and complaints—for example, a broken window would be considered a service request unless reported multiple times, at which point it would become a complaint.

When escalating a complaint, we no longer have to say why. ForHousing may ask but we’re not required to answer.

We’re happy to report that long-term complaints are being resolved more quickly—currently at 49 complaints per week, down from 102 six months ago. This number may rise over winter, but improvements are definitely being made.

A report looking into performance around complaints process will be submitted to the Housing Ombudsman.

ForHousing also told us that tenant satisfaction rates are increasing, with 72% of tenants happy with how complaints have been handled. At our last meeting, the rate of satisfaction with complaints was 44%. This shows us that we’re on the right track.

Back in 2022, ForHousing created the Live Well fund to support tenants through food donations, clothing and sanitary products, fuel, and even transport for emergency appointments. They also offer employment support, income advice, and they can refer you to counselling sessions.

The Live Well scheme is open to all ForHousing tenants, and you can either self-refer or be referred by staff and other professionals.

ForHousing encourages those who may need a helping hand to get in touch with their Neighbourhood Officer.

We were given an update on the Community Fund, which offers financial support to local groups who work hard on community projects and services.

The Community Fund poster has been updated, and we talked about adding a QR code and step-by-step guidance for the application process. ForHousing reminded us that you don’t need to be a ForHousing tenant to apply, and you can find the application form here.

ForHousing told us that the Local Improvement Funding grant will soon be up for review. This grant supports small-scale improvement projects in our communities, with up to £3,000 available for each project. We’ll let you know how this review goes.

The health check grant, now known as the Community Group Grant, is open for applications. This supports community groups, who work hard to improve our communities, with their running costs. Groups can apply for a £500 grant and those with premises can apply for £1,000. You can find the application form here. ForHousing is working on some case studies, showing how the grant has already supported local organisations.

The Community Voice group is 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.