We want to make sure customers are at the heart of decision making at EHA. Our Tenant Engagement Policy outlines our commitment to listen actively to customers views and act where we can.
‘Tenant engagement’ is the act of using tenant insight and input to improve services, and making them more efficient. Engaging with, and involving tenants happens across four main, interlinking levels.
There are four levels our tenants can be engaged with us – from accessing the information they need, up to leading the business by being on our Board (see below). In between this, there’s our Tenant Opinion Panel and our Scrutiny Panel – more on these groups later.
We aim to involve our tenants at the start of developing changes and new services. We use a tool to look at the impact the change or service has on our tenants and the influence they have, so we don’t miss the opportunity to ask our tenants what they think. Where something affects our tenants directly and there is opportunity to influence (ie not a legal requirement), we will seek opinions and use them to inform our work.
If it’s something that affects our tenants but is a change directed by the government or a legal change, we will make sure to keep tenants informed; usually via Viewpoint, or by direct communication where necessary.
How can I be involved?
We offer ways to be involved across all four levels of engagement:
Information
We know that many of our tenants prefer to be kept up to date, and have access to relevant information, rather than to be involved.
Viewpoint is our primary way of sharing information our tenants need, as well as information they might find useful. We circulate the newsletter every other month.
Viewpoint is interactive, so within the newsletter, you will find quick links to websites, emails and relevant staff for added convenience. If you have any feedback on Viewpoint or have ideas for articles, please email [email protected].
You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter under @EdenHousingUK
Consultation
EHA’s Tenant Opinion is our growing community of tenants who want to tell us what they think, around services they are interested in. We send opportunities to give opinions via online surveys, then use the feedback to shape or update our services.
If you’d like to join our ever-growing panel of service changers, email your details to [email protected]. You can also join our tenant only Facebook group here.
Participation
Scrutiny Panel
Our tenant Scrutiny panel acts as the Association’s ‘critical friend’, reviewing our services to see where we can improve. They select areas by looking at performance information, complaints data, or when a service is due for a review.
Management
Eden Housing Association is managed by our Board, who make sure the Association operates effectively in line with EHA’s Corporate plan objectives, and its legal and moral obligations to tenants.
Find out more about our Board here. We welcome tenants to join, and currently have 2 members who are also EHA tenants on our Board. These members have additional insight as a customer of the Association’s services, allowing them to consider a tenant’s perspective more accurately. If you are interested in joining our Board, and would like an informal discussion around the role, please contact [email protected].
Together with Tenants
Eden Housing Association is proud to have signed up to the National Housing Federation’s Together with Tenants Charter. Find out more what this means here.
We have agreed to the following commitments:
Relationships – We will treat our tenants with respect. Relationships with our tenants will be based on openness, honesty and transparency.
Communication – Residents will receive clear, accessible and timely information on the issues that matter to them.
Voice and influence – we will seek your views and use them to inform decisions. All our tenants will feel listened to on the issues that matter to them and can speak without fear.
Accountability – Collectively, our tenants will work in partnership with us to independently scrutinise and hold us to account for the decisions we make around the quality of their homes and services.
Quality – our tenants can expect their homes to be good quality, well maintained, safe and well managed.
When things go wrong – our tenants will have simple and accessible routes for raising issues, making complaints and seeking redress. They will receive timely advice and support when things go wrong.
In 2021, our Scrutiny Panel reviewed EHA’s performance against these six commitments. Working with TOP tenants, they considered whether EHA meets each of the 6 commitments.
The Panel’s final report concluded that EHA is ‘Together with Tenants’, however made a number of recommendations for improvement. Action is currently being taken via EHA’s ‘cross team action plan’ by the appropriate teams to drive improvement, and reviewed regularly by our Board.
EHA Fund
Led by our Scrutiny Panel, we recently launched our new fund, exclusively for EHA tenants – the Eden Housing Association Training Bursary and Neighbourhood Fund.
EHA tenant can apply for up to £50 on behalf of a group they’re involved with, to fund refreshments for their local play group or plants for their gardening group, for example. The bursary fund provides £50 towards training, which can be used towards fees, resources, transport etc towards some training you’d like to do.
If you’d like to find out more, the application form and funding guidance are listed on the right hand side or email your funding idea to [email protected].
EHA Fund Application