Tenants Groups

MBHA has 14 local tenants groups - a mixture of informal groups and registered groups - and a further 13 national tenants panels. We are committed to consulting and working with all tenants groups, however small. To see whether there is a tenants group in your area, have a look at the Tenants Group Register to see where there are groups currently operating. If there is already a group in your area, please contact the Tenant Participation Officer and she will put you in touch with the group. If there is not one in your area, you can set one up yourself! We provide full support and advice and can help through the whole process.

Groups form for many reasons including:

• housing transfers or remodelling issues
• to discuss repairs, housing services or problems with neighbours
• to increase the sense of belonging to a community
• campaigning on certain issues eg better play facilities or better housing conditions.

Setting up a Group

If you are interested in setting up or joining a tenants' group, we will be happy to help you. To find out more information about setting up a group you will need to download our full tenants group start up pack.

The Tenants Group Start-up Pack includes:

• Registering a Tenants' Group
• Tenants Group Registration Form
• Tenants Information Service Guide

We can also send a member of staff to a meeting to offer help and advice about how to proceed. If you have any questions or would like a copy of the pack sent out to you, please contact your Tenant Participation Officer.

So what have our tenants groups been up to?

Blackwood Court Tenants Association. Not only do they now have their own website (see www.blackwoodcourtrto.org.uk) but T-shirts and merchandise to advertise their group. As a group they also did an excellent 'question and answer' session at the Tenants Day on the 7th of October - see the Tenant Day 2005 page for more information.

Pipe Street Gardens Tenants Association had a fantastic fundraising barbecue in August to raise funds to continue to work on their own garden. Chairperson Jennifer Evans also spoke at the Tenants Day about her experiences of tenant gardening. You can find out more on Page 9 of Issue 18 of the Messenger.

Ballantrae Court RTO have reformed. They now have appropriate support in place and the group runs much more informally. We hope they will now enjoy their group again!

John Smith Place, Tarbert now have a Tenants Association that as well as addressing community issues, also runs social events such as Burns suppers. Their group has a liaison worker to get the views of those who are housebound.