The TSA is a new independent regulator charged with  promoting and championing the interests of tenants in social housing in England. The TSA launched on  1 December 2008 and will initially focus on the regulation of all homes owned by housing associations and co-ops.  This will be rolled out across all social housing in 2010.

The role of the new regulator is threefold:
To champion the needs and aspirations of both existing and future tenants and residents and build a detailed  understanding of what they want from their housing and their landlords
•To promote choice for tenants and providers of affordable homes; encouraging a growing and competitive market in exceptional management services and publishing market defining research that will shape the future of affordable housing provision
•To challenge providers of affordable housing to meet and exceed the highest standards of organisational delivery through the establishment of a new standards framework that promotes choice and excellence and challenges mediocrity and complacency

One of the first tasks of the new regulator will be to lead a ‘National Conversation’ with existing tenants, future  tenants, landlords and other stakeholders.  The feedback from this will be used to draw up the new standards framework that will be rolled out in September 2009.
The National Conversation launches on 19th January 2009 and will include:
•A programme of regional events to gather the views of tenants from each region
•A research programme that will interview tenants and prospective tenants  from across England
•A resource pack to enable tenants and local tenant groups to run their own Local Conversation events and feed their views into the debate

You can find out more about the TSA on its website www.tenantservicesauthority.org and from 12 January this will include a link to the National Conversation Website where specific details about the Conversation will be available.  You can also register for email updates from the TSA website to keep you informed of progress.
InSTEP will be including feedback from the National  Conversation in their 2009 regional conferences.