Tenants and leaseholders get up early
for Milton Keynes conference
May 2011
Canterbury tenant and leaseholder
representatives attended the ARCH conference held in Milton Keynes
on 19 May 2011. More than 120 tenants from across England
attended to hear about the latest housing issues and give their
views.
At the conference, the Tenants' Group
chair, Jennifer Holmes (a West Lancashire District Council tenant)
launched a new booklet called 'Home Truths: Tenants' Tales of
Council Housing.'
Jennifer said:
"As someone who lives
in a council home and is proud to do so, I get sick and tired of
negative media stereotypes of council tenants. 'Home Truths'
challenges that image.
Resources are scarce
and there are tough issues facing councils and their tenants.
But local authority tenants are no different to anyone else and we
wanted to show the positive side of life in council
homes."
The conference also covered a range of
subjects, including the
Localism Bill, how council housing is financed, and tenant
scrutiny - where tenants are involved closely in the way that their
landlord is run.
There was also a good workshop
about the Tenant Services
Authority and how future changes to council housing will
affect tenants.
In spite of the early start (which
meant leaving Canterbury at 6.30 in the morning!), we all felt that
it was a very interesting and valuable day.
Background
ARCH (the Association of Retained
Council Housing) was set up for councils who have not transferred
the ownership of their housing stock to housing associations, and
aims to bring them together to get the best deal for their
tenants.
You can find out more about what they
do by visiting their website.