The Social Housing White paper 2020 and Together with Tenants

Official Adopter of Together with Tenants logo

In November 2020 the Government published the conclusions of its 2018 housing consultation green paper ‘A new Deal for Social Housing’ to address the lessons learnt as a result of the Grenfell Tower Tragedy.

The White paper, which is  a statement of government policy, continues a strong focus on health and safety and customer involvement in how we deliver their services. It builds on the themes of a continued strong focus on Health and Safety and placing a greater emphasis on tenant satisfaction, engagement and how we listen to our tenants in the delivery of our services. It presents a charter setting out seven commitments that social housing residents should expect from their landlord. You can view the Charter for Social Housing Residents White Paper by using this link.

In 2019 we became early adopters of the National Housing Federations (NHF) ‘Together with Tenants Plan’.

Together with Tenants Plan

To view GCH’s position, please hover over the boxes below.

Agreed Action

Supporting a new requirement in the Federation's Code of Governance for Boards to be accountable to their tenants and residents - This means that GCH will be assessed by the regulator on their compliance with this commitment.

GCH Position

GCH values the voice and experience of tenants with two Tenant Board members on our Board, a strong Tenant Panel reviewing our performance, policies, the results of our transactional surveys and the management of complaints. The Board uses this insight to inform decision-making and develop the Corporate Plan.

Agreed Action

Adopting the new Together with Tenants Charter framework - which has allowed us to develop specific standards / targets on the issues that are important to our tenants whilst also clearly setting out what they can expect from GCH.

GCH Position

This has been developed with and approved by Tenant Panel.

Agreed Action

Ensuring that there is strong tenant oversight and reporting of progress against the charter.

GCH Position

Monitoring methods have been agreed with Tenant Panel and progress is reviewed by them quarterly and included within our Annual Report.

Agreed Action

Supporting tenants and residents having a stronger collective voice with the Regulator.

GCH Position

Together with Tenant Panel, we are currently working with the Federation, other housing providers and tenants to agree how tenants can have a voice in changes and monitoring of consumer regulation and the key performance indicators set out in the Social Housing Green Paper.
The plan influenced the detail of the Government’s White Paper and working with Tenant Panel agreed a new GCH Tenant Charter.

GCH Tenant Charter

Relationships...

We will treat all tenants and residents with respect in all of our interactions. Relationships between tenants, residents and GCH will be based on openness, honesty and transparency.

Communication...

Tenants and residents will receive clear, accessible and timely information from GCH on the issues that matter to them, including important information about their homes and local community, how GCH is working to address the problems, how GCH is run and information about performances on key issues.

Voice and influence...

Views from tenants and residents will besought and valued and this information be used to inform decisions. Every individual tenant and resident will feel listened to by GCH on the issues that matter to them and cam speak without fear.

Accountability...

Collectively, tenants and residents will work in partnership with GCH to independently scrutinise and hold us to account for decisions that affect their homes and services, and the quality of the homes and services we provide.

Quality...

Tenants and residents can expect their homes to be good quality, well maintained, safe and well managed.

When things go wrong...

Tenants and residents 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.

We are currently working with Tenant Panel and the GCH Board to review our performance and the 2019 Tenant’s Charter against the requirements of the Social Housing White paper and develop an action plan to ensure we fully comply with all aspects.

We are in the process of updating our Tenant Engagement Strategy for 2023 – 2026