Thousands of residents have their say on the new Resident Engagement Strategy
More support for residents groups, better communication from services and more information on community projects - these are just some of the issues being raised by tenants and leaseholders from a consultation on resident engagement held this summer.
The Council received over 6,900 responses to questions on improvements they would like to see in Housing Services. Information has been collected via surveys, focus groups, face to face visits on estates and at fundays over the summer.
As part of the consultation- called ‘Your Homes, Your Voice’- the Council is doing outreach to get the views of seldom heard residents including younger people, older people and contacting voluntary groups that work with specific groups.
The responses received from residents are now informing the new Resident Engagement Strategy for Housing Services, which will be produced in partnership with residents, with a draft version published for consultation in spring 2022. Residents will be updated regularly on the progress of this work.
The Resident Engagement Strategy will inform how the service will do things better in the future - setting out a new way of working to involve everyone more effectively in service planning, decision-making and service delivery, and will aim to strengthen community participation and engagement across estates.
We have been impressed by the approach to the Resident Engagement Strategy. Housing Services are keen to really understand what works well, and what doesn’t, and are keen to improve their approach to resident engagement. As active residents we are making sure that we hear from as many residents as possible so that the final strategy makes a difference.
When residents have more say in the services they receive, it helps us ensure that services are delivered in a way that meets everyone's needs - so we can have a better service all round.
I want to thank all of the people who took the time to share their opinions and concerns with us - we will use this information to develop more transparent working relationships between you and our teams.
We know the last few years have been a challenging time for everyone with the impacts of the pandemic - that is why we are more determined than ever to have the resident’s voice at the heart of what we do so we can create and build a better future together.
The consultation results can be viewed online at: https://tinyurl.com/resengstrategy
The insight from ‘Your Homes, Your Voice’ is already beginning to change how the Council engages with residents. Other areas and departments in the Council will also be brought in, so there is a cross-Council approach to engagement that works best for residents.
Some of the most important issues for residents were improving communication and wanting to hear more about projects and events in the local community.There were also concerns raised about how responsive the council is to issues raised by residents and how these are followed up - this is now being fed into the strategy for how the council can tackle these issues and ensure a high quality service right across the board.
The next stage is to look at how Housing Services respond to the issues and challenges arising in the consultation work - with the Tenant Participation Advisory Service helping to engage residents and staff in this process.
Get involved
There is still time to send in your comments by emailing get.involved@hackney.gov.uk or with ‘Resident Engagement Strategy’ as the subject line, or phoning 020 8356 2088.
You can also join the Hackney Matters group, an online citizens’ panel of local people, who are regularly asked for their views on a range of Council issues. We will be seeking views from this panel as we develop our strategy: hackneymatters.org.uk/about_us
Key findings from Your Homes, Your Voice
- 30,340 Council managed homes
- 20,990 Tenancies
- 9,350 Leaseholds
- Fewer than 1 in 10 are housing residents are active in their Tenants and Residents Association - however around 20% of people do want to get involved
- The top theme from the survey that would improve Housing Services engagement was better ‘listening to residents views, concerns, complaints or suggestions’
- Residents want to be engaged in different ways:
- 45% want to be consulted about their home & where they live so they can have choices
- Just over 32% want to be more actively involved in the way Housing Services make changes to services
- 22% want to get information about changes affecting their home and where they live
- When asked what was the one thing which would improve Housing Services engagement with our residents, the most popular answer was ‘listening to our views/ concerns/complaints/suggestions’, followed by ‘better communication’
- 26% of responses received stated that the reason they did not get involved in community activities was because they ‘did not know what community activities are available’.
- Residents want to see more activities for children and young people, health and fitness classes, employment and training support, and gardening/ grow projects