Hackney,
20
July
2021
|
15:36
Europe/London

Your Homes, Your Voice - Have your say on the future of Housing Services

moving together launch

Everyone who lives in Hackney’s council homes and estates is being urged to get involved in Housing Service’s biggest-ever conversation and consultation. This will help Housing Services better understand how it can get residents more involved in the work it does. This may include improving services, getting involved in tenants and residents’ associations, and developing new community-led initiatives on our  estates. 

Resident engagement means giving residents the chance to have a say in decisions that affect their homes and estate. This helps to drive improvements in the way housing services are managed and delivered - and can improve resident satisfaction as residents will have had more say in the service they receive. Resident participation can also lead to the development of community activities that take on issues beyond housing, such as health, employment and community development.

In order to drive more involvement, the Council will be carrying out a range of outreach work - starting now and continuing over the summer - with tenants, leaseholders, shared owners and renters. This will include hosting in-depth, resident focus groups and workshops; carrying out an all-resident survey; and reaching out to seldom-heard groups. 

Some of the key questions we are asking residents are:

  • What can we do to make it easier for you to become more involved in working with us? 
  • What is stopping you engaging with us or getting involved in some of our formal participation arrangements, such as tenants and residents associations or area panels? 
  • How can we better include everyone from our diverse communities? 
  • How can we make better use of technology to involve you, while supporting those who may not have access to WiFi or digital devices such as smartphones and tablets?

The feedback received from residents will inform a new Resident Engagement Strategy for Housing Services, which will be produced in partnership with residents and published next year. Residents will be updated regularly on the progress of this work. 

The strategy will set out a new way of working which involves everyone more effectively in our service planning, decision-making and service delivery, and will aim to strengthen community participation and engagement across our estates. 

Cllr Clayeon McKenzie, Cabinet Member for Housing Services
Our residents are the heart and soul of Housing Services. And our job is to serve you in the best possible way. 

We can only do that by understanding what you want - through developing closer, more positive and transparent working relationships between you and our teams, built on mutual trust.

We know this is a challenging time, with many of you currently dealing with the impact of the pandemic, but it’s really important we hear from you now so we can create and build a better future together.
Cllr Clayeon McKenzie, Cabinet Member for Housing Services
Helder Da Costa and Steve Webster, Co-Chairs of the Resident Liaison Group
We already have strong, active voices within some of our communities, but we need to hear from so many more of you, especially in estates and neighbourhoods where there are no resident representatives. And these voices need to be more diverse too, to reflect our many communities. Only you can truly help drive change, show Housing Services where they need to improve, and help shape how they can do things better.
Helder Da Costa and Steve Webster, Co-Chairs of the Resident Liaison Group

Get involved

You can have your say by visiting yourhomesyourvoice.commonplace.is

We’ll also be hosting focus groups and workshops shortly for residents living in our Council homes and estates as part of this engagement work. If you’d like to take part in one of these, please express your interest by emailing get.involved@hackney.gov.uk or with “Resident Engagement Strategy as the subject line, or phoning 020 8356 2088 and leaving your details so we can get back to you.

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.