WELCOME St Thomas Centre

Welcome to Housing Week Nicola Surman – Supported Housing Manager Sam Priestley - Service Director with lead on housing management Members of Housing Management, Maintenance and Social Inclusion teams are here this afternoon to provide information and listen to you, our tenants

Agenda 12.30pmWelcome Lunch and stalls 1.30pm Tenant Consultation 1.40pmLaunch of Creative Support Tenants handbook 1.50pm Workshops/ consultation 2.45pmBreak for coffee/tea 3.00pmThe Housing Awards 4.00pmClose and Thanks

Stalls to visit today Creative Communities – Harriet and Suzanne Neighbourhood – Laura S and Angela Tenant Scrutiny – Lorraine and Danielle Welfare Reform/Benefits – Cat and Val Accommodation & Maintenance - Errol and Derek Tenant Involvement – Lorraine G and Nicola Tenant Handbook – Catherine and Laura H

Tenants

Currently we have 986 units of accommodation that we own or manage About 300 people move in and out of our properties each year 35% of tenants are female and 65% are male 83% of tenants live in the North West 7% of tenants are under 25, 24% are % are % are % not known

Housing and Creative Support

HCA – Homes and Communities Agency (previously TSA) In 2012 Creative Support became a Registered Provider of Social Housing with the HCA. We are completing our first Annual Report and want to include your comments on what we are doing well and what we could improve. We want to give more opportunities to tenants to be involved and consulted on our housing management

Getting Involved You can get involved with our housing management in a number of ways: Tenants Meetings Taking part in surveys Being a Tenant Inspector Reviewing policies Taking part in housing strategy meetings Being on the board of trustees

Tenant Consultation We sent out a survey to tenants in summer 2012 with 5 questions about how you want to be involved and consulted. 84 tenants responded. The feedback is in your packs, here are some highlights…..

Tenant Consultation How would you like to be consulted and informed? The most popular choice was in tenants meetings (48%) and the second most popular choice was through newsletters. We will take this into account for future consultations How do you think tenants should be involved? You said by being on the board, reviewing policies, reviewing policies and being tenant representatives When we asked if you would like to be involved in a tenant inspection group 22% said they would!

Tenant Inspectors We asked you what the priorities should be for Tenant Inspectors and you said: Ensuring emergency repairs are dealt with on time Making sure gardening services are good Inspecting how rent arrears are managed and looking for improvements We will be setting the Tenant Inspection Group up over the next few months – tenants will take the lead

Creative Support’s Tenant Handbook

Tenant Handbook This is Creative Support’s first ‘Tenant Handbook’ for our tenants. The handbook tells you about Creative Support, contains useful contact numbers and provides tips for managing your tenancy. Some things included in this draft handbook: Contact details – whether you have a repair you need or want to know what your rent is or want to make a compliment or complaint, the handbook tells you who to contact. Pictures of some of the staff – ever wondered what the people you talk to at Head Office look like? Is this your first tenancy? The handbook has some hints and tips about looking after your home. Want to get more involved at Creative Support – this handbook will tell you how and who. Ready to move on and want to know how to end your tenancy? The handbook will tell you how.

Tenant Handbook We are committed to involving our tenants in all aspects of Creative Support. We hope to roll out the Tenant Handbook nationally before the end of this year. We hope you like the handbook but we would love to hear your views. We want this handbook to be for tenants with the involvement of tenants in its design.

THE HOUSING AWARDS 2012THE HOUSING AWARDS 2012

Housing Awards 2012 Tenant of the Year: Joint Winners - John Duff and Sharon Lynch Tenant's Group or Collective: Mottram Road Tenant Involvement Award: 24 Park Road Community Spirit: Joint Winners - Michael Statham and Sally Brown Recycling Champion: Julie Sheppard Environment Champion: Philip Schofield Creative Support Spirit: Alison Little Empowering Tenants (staff): David McGowan

THANKS FOR COMING!