Money, Money, Money – The challenges of involving tenants in

financial decision makingNina Langrish TPAS Cymru

Francis Bevan Merthyr Valleys Homes

• Austere budgets• Welfare reforms – rental income

• Increased demand• Affordable rents• Calls for transparency and accountability• Regulation framework• Tenant Scrutiny• ‘customer’ expectations• Competition• Landlords doing more ‘non housing’

initiatives

Drivers for involving tenants in the financial aspects of the landlord’s works

• Priorities take account of tenants views

• Improved services

• Improved tenant satisfaction

• Better Value for Money

• Openness and transparency in financial decisions

Benefits

What do we mean by Participatory Budgeting?

Participatory budgeting directly involves tenants in making decisions on the spending and priorities of the social landlord

This means engaging tenants (and residents) to discuss and vote on spending priorities, make spending proposals, and vote on them, as well giving tenants a role in the scrutiny and monitoring of the process and results to inform subsequent PB decisions.

A look at how Merthry Valleys Homes has involved its

tenants in financial decisions

Francis Bevan

What are the key challenges in involving

tenants in financial decisions?

Small Group Exercise

Tenants should:

• be involved in prioritising resource allocation,

shaping services, identifying areas for

improvement and the redirection of savings

• make informed choices between costed service

options within available resources what services

are developed and to what standard, and (by

implication) what does not get done

Role of tenant

Tenants should:

• Monitor financial performance, using a range of

performance and benchmarking data, and hold

the social landlord to account

• be involved in discussing and setting budgets for

all departments

Role of tenant

• Organisation-wide agreement and support

• Agree approach (use the pyramid of involvement)

• Recruit for specific skills

• Provide training for tenants who wish to be involved

• Participatory Budgeting exercises for all departments

What Needs to be in place?

• Group Exercise

• How are tenants involved in financial descions in your organisation?