TEP Changes
New regulation and guidance to encourage and support tenant empowerment come into effect on 1 October 2008 as new Right to Manage regulations and changes to the Tenant Empowerment Programme are introduced.
The Tenant Empowerment Programme, which supports the Right to Manage initiative, allows tenants to gain independent advice, training and information and helps them to challenge, influence or control how their housing services are delivered in their communities.
The new guidance introduces a voluntary route to tenant management. As a result of this:
• For the first time, housing association tenants will be able to apply for Tenant Empowerment Programme funding which has previously only been available to local authority tenants.
• Tenants in both the local authority and housing association sectors will be able to choose to take control of a limited range of services, operations or budgets through the creation of new 'Local Management Agreements'. These are designed to give tenants an 'easy entry' to tenant management without the need to take on full responsibility.
• A process for starting full tenant management without the need for tenants to serve notice on their landlord will also become available.
The regulatory changes include:
• The number of ballots required will reduce from two to one, to make the process quicker and less complicated
• A new, enlarged pool of Lead Advisors will be available to guide tenants through the process of preparing to manage
• Approved Assessors will be recruited to give an independent and robust assessment of competencies.