This section tells you about our commitment to promote greater resident involvement both in the delivery of our services and in the wider neighbourhood.
See below 12 ways how to get involved. Please contact our Resident Involvement Manager on 020 7704 7349 for more details.
We aim to provide a locally-based and efficient housing management service to our residents across four London Boroughs. To ensure this is done ISHA actively promotes the involvement of residents as part of its Resident Involvement Strategy.
We are always looking for different ways of involving resident in the way ISHA works and also in the wider community and neighbourhood. We know that some people are not interested in turning up to regular meetings but may have particular interests or might like to come to occasional events to discuss particular issues.
ISHA actively promotes the involvement of residents as part of its Resident Involvement Strategy. The community we serve is varied and we aim to make sure we do not exclude any residents from our work on consultation and involvement.
For example, we will provide translations of materials and arrange for interpreters to go to meetings when necessary as well as pay all reasonable travel and child care costs when we ask you to come to a meeting.
We update residents regularly with information about our activities and consult them on how we develop our services.
We provide relevant information to residents through meetings publications and electronic communications systems and our Electronic notice board outside the entrance of our office at 102 Blackstock Road.
In addition all our estates have a number of notice boards, which we and residents update regularly. You will find information there we need to share with you, as well as information from local residents and other groups. We also provide high quality information in our reception area.
Customer consultation, including consultation with residents, is a continuous programme in which we review our main policies, procedures and strategies, giving feedback to our customers as part of this process.
We use the following 12 methods to consult and communicate with our residents:
You can always register your comments by writing to us or telephoning us. We will soon be introducing a suggestion box on our website at www.isha.co.uk.
2. Estate inspections
These are undertaken on a monthly or quarterly basis on all our estates to monitor standards of cleaning, grounds maintenance (grass cutting, shrub pruning etc.) and communal repairs. This is to ensure these works are in accordance with the specification (i.e. contract) for carrying out such works and standards are in accordance with residents’ requirements.
The inspections are publicised in advance via our newsletter ISHA News and on estate notice boards. The Tenancy Services Manager undertakes them and Estate Officer and residents are welcome to attend these to give their feedback on standards of service delivery.
We hold meetings on all our estates to provide residents with the opportunity to raise matters of concern. We will hold special meetings before any major estate decoration or improvement programme to obtain people’s opinions on colour schemes and any design issues. These are always well publicised beforehand
We have residents’ groups operating in a number of our estates. Some of these groups are formally constituted Residents Associations; others are informal groups that meet a few times a year. The residents invite staff to these meetings and together they discuss issues and problems on the estate. The activities of these groups are diverse, some work with local Police and other organisations in the area. Some plan and organise activities for young people or social activities for the whole estate.
Where needed, our Resident Involvement Manager provides support to these groups in terms of linking them up with other relevant agencies, help with fund raising, planning and managing the activities that the group decides. We also support these groups financially and provide training or networking opportunities for them where appropriate.
If you are interested in setting a group where you live, please contact our Resident Involvement Manager on 020 7704 7349 who will work with you to make it happen.
This group is a means of consulting with residents as the type and standard of repairs service they require.
The group is comprised of residents and is facilitated by the Property Services Director. The object of the group is to establish new service standards for future repairs.
If you are interested in joining this group please contact our Maintenance Manager on 020 7704 7332.
These meetings look at our new developments and examine ways to ensure that their design actually reflects what residents want.
We will be asking residents who are prepared to do so to volunteer to act as a sounding board for new ideas. If you volunteer you will be contacted periodically by telephone, email, letter or even by text to obtain your opinion on new services we intend to develop or how we might improve existing services.
This is made up of residents who meet once every two months to discuss various issues of wider relevance to the whole of ISHA and our residents. The Forum recommends how services should be delivered.
If you would like to join this forum, please contact the Resident Involvement Manager on 020 7704 7349.
Our Board has responsibility for:
- Setting our overall business plan
- Approving our policies; and
- Monitoring our performance to make sure we meet our
performance targets.
There are currently two residents who are members and we are committed to all our residents who wish to join the Board, having an opportunity to be put forward for membership.
Training is available to all members of the Board to support them in meeting the responsibilities they have for governing our work.
The main three main sub committees are Housing Services, Development and Finance and Resources. Residents are involved in all these sub committees.
ISHA surveys all our residents a minimum of every three years to ascertain how you feel about the service we provide. We publish the information in our residents’ Newsletter ISHA News and on our website.
We carry out other surveys on our repairs service and our cleaning and grounds maintenance (grass cutting, shrub pruning etc.) services. We also provide questionnaires for those visiting the ISHA office and for tenants moving into our properties.
In addition, we will sometimes provide information and ask residents to give us their opinions on specific issues by writing to all residents in a particular block or area.
Our residents’ Newsletter, ISHA News is sent out four times a year. This contains news and developments relevant to ISHA’s residents as well as the contact details of key staff and services.
If you would like to become involved in the production of our newsletter, please contact us.
The 12 methods outlined are all on-going. We also occasionally hold residents’ focus groups to consider specific issues. When we do so, they will be well publicised through the newsletter.
ISHA is committed to helping residents play an active role in their communities. The work we do includes:
In the first instance, if you are interested in any of the above options (or have other ideas) for resident involvement or community development, please get in touch with ISHA on 020 7226 3753 or email us on Isha@Isha.co.uk. A face-to-face meeting could be arranged to discuss your ideas.
There are also a number of local and national agencies that are a useful source of information and advice:
TPAS. The Tenant Participation Advisory Service is a national organisation, providing advice, information, training, conferences and seminars in all aspects of involving tenants in their housing management.
Address: 5th Floor Trafford House, Chester Road, Manchester, M32 0RS
Tel: 0161 868 3500
Free help line: 0500 844 111
Website: www.tpas.org.uk
National Tenant Resource Centre : This is a national charity offering training and support to everyone living and working in low-income communities across the UK to deal with problems such as crime and anti-social behaviour, poor quality housing and lack of services.
Address: Ince Lane, Wimbolds, Trafford, Nr Chester, CH2 4JP
Tel: 01244 300 246
Website: www.traffordhall.com
Quest Net: The Quest Net provides a range of services for tenants and community workers, including free telephone conferences on subjects such as fundraising, getting involved in wider community partnerships, crime, drugs and anti-social behaviour. You can take part in these conferences from your own telephone, with no cost to you.
Address: 1 Belmont, Lansdown Road, Bath BA1 5DZ
Tel: 01225 466 222
Website: www.quest-net.org
IVAC: Islington Voluntary Action Council. Works with voluntary groups, including tenant groups, providing support, training, representation, financial services and information.
Address: 322 Upper Street, London, N1 2XQ
Tel: 020 7226 4862
Website: www.ivac.org.uk
Hackney CVS: Hackney Council for Voluntary Services provides support, training, advice and information to voluntary groups in Hackney.
Address: The Print House, 18 Ashwin Street, London, E8 3DL
Tel: 020 7923 1962
Website: www.hcvs.org
