Resident inspector training gives new power to residents

Posted by MHP on February 22, 2010 | No Comments |  Print this article |  Send to a friend

Metropolitan Housing Partnership has been working in partnership with Housing Quality Network (HQN) to train a team of residents to become resident inspectors. The training, the first of its kind, is intended to empower residents and enable them to cast a critical eye on the services provided by their landlord. The programme is in response to the co-regulation agenda of the Tenant Service Authority (TSA).  MHP and HQN will be holding joint seminars to share their experiences.

Co-regulation is top of the TSA agenda and MHP hope this seminar will help other organisations involve residents in service improvement beyond the traditional mystery shopping role.

The residents have been trained to the short notice inspections methodology and have undertaken three inspections as part of their training. The programme has gained the interest of Places for People who have already signed up to partner with MHP in a second wave of training.

MHP and HQN will be holding seminars to enable other RSLs to learn from their experience and hope the programme becomes an exemplar model of resident involvement.  The jointly organised seminars will share MHP’s and HQN’s experiences, challenges and successes and give advice to other RSL’S on how to set up their own resident inspector programmes.  The resident inspectors themselves will be sharing their experiences of the programme, its impact on resident-organisational relationship.

The seminars are tailored to housing providers and residents. They will take place in Nottingham on 29 March and in London on 1 April 2010.

The areas that will be explored within the forums will include:

• The inspectors’ journey and what they have gained
• Developing a basic action plan – how to get going.
• Why resident inspectors, and why now?
• What you need to do as an organisation to make it work

The forum will be chaired by Gill Stead, Operations Director of HQN, who says: ‘HQN is delighted to be working with MHP on this resident inspector training project which is demonstrating how co-regulation can really benefit landlords who are prepared to be innovative. It is truly inspirational to see how MHP’s new resident inspectors are grasping this opportunity and are making a difference to their housing services. I hope that many more landlords will follow MHP’s lead.’

Adebukanla Adesanya, a resident inspector said of the programme: ‘Becoming a resident inspector gave me a greater understanding of housing and what service I should expect from my landlord. This gave me confidence.’

She continues: ‘It has been very rewarding to see that changes in services are being made as a result of our inspections and it has enabled me to improve services for other residents. I hope that the programme continues and more residents get inspired and see the changes that can be made.’

While Pat Goldfeather expressed her delight at the programme added: This programme has shown the importance of resident empowerment of this kind. MHP have gained received positive feedback from the residents and the TSA which is hugely encouraging.’

Kate Russell, Director of Policy and Performance and Pat Goldfeather, Customer Service Development Manager will discuss co-regulation and the MHP approach..

Further details can be obtained by contacting Pat Goldfeather at pat.goldfeather@mht.co.uk or 0115 988 7314