Housing association tenants deserve same rights as council tenants, says London Councils

Housing association tenants should be granted the same rights as local authority tenants - that's the key message from the London Councils response to the government's tenant empowerment consultation.

While broadly supportive of the government's proposals to encourage greater involvement of tenants in managing their homes, London Councils is concerned that housing association tenants are not being offered the same opportunities as council tenants.  

Local authority housing tenants currently have a statutory right to establish a tenant management organisation (TMO) - whereby tenants and leaseholders can vote to collectively take responsibility for managing their homes.

However, the government does not currently propose extending this same right to tenants of housing associations or registered social landlords (RSL). London Councils has warned that this undermines government's concept of 'Every Tenant Matters' and will mean that RSL tenants will be disadvantaged.

London Councils executive member for housing Councillor Jamie Carswell said:

"We are broadly supportive of the government's proposals to increase tenant engagement and empowerment - particularly through encouraging TMOs. London Councils is committed to a thorough Right to Manage process, which enables meaningful engagement with the wider tenant community. London local authorities have led the way in this area, and London Councils recently established the Community Engagement Taskforce to identify how best to improve tenant and resident engagement in the capital's housing agenda.

"One of the clear messages from that report is that we must do more to encourage tenant empowerment and involvement across all sectors. This is why I consider it a shame that the government is not extending the statutory right to establish a TMO - currently enjoyed by local authority tenants - to those in housing associations. Failure to do so results in different rights for different tenants - which completely undermines the government's concept of 'Every Tenant Matters'."

For the full London Councils response, please see:

London Councils' response to Tenant Empowerment Consultation

For the Communities and Local Government consultation document, please see

Tenant Empowerment - A consultation paper Opens in a new window

Information on the Community Engagement Taskforce

For press enquiries please contact: Chris Hogwood on 020 7934 9757
Chris.hogwood@londoncouncils.gov.uk  Fax 020 7934 9777

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