Group of BIH employess standing in front of houses on a bright day

Tenants Forum

This has been an eventful year for the Tenants Forum with meetings dealing with many issues of concern to the tenants. For example we discussed:

  • Time scales for repairs
  • Rent collection and arrears prevention
  • Transfer of tenancies
  • The disability action plan

We also saw and approved:

  • The format of the annual Performance Report
  • The Tenants Guarantee
  • The new Rent Assessment Scheme
  • The Customer Service Standards

We also noted that the rates people had sent all tenants the wrong booklet about the new rates!

One discussion paper we examined in August 2006 was by Jill Young which led eventually to the Tenants' Get Together / Conference in September of this year.

This also involved a change in the Tenant Participation Compact and the constitution of the Forum. Thus we no longer have a large AGM - this is replaced by the Conference.

The Forum met on four Monday evenings in the year and also included an ‘awayday’ in June to Mount Stewart on the Ards Peninsula.

The Forums Executive Committee also met five times - we changed to Tuesday afternoons from Wednesdays this year and is now in the format of a "working lunch".

Mavis Hogg, our Secretary, was elected as Chairman of BIH’s Housing Committee this year. She and I serve on the BIH Board of Management and four of its committees between us. We report on them to the Forum Executive.

I would like to thank the other Forum members for all their work and commitment in the past year and also the BIH staff who look after our meetings so well.

In future I hope even more people will join their local tenants groups and that still more areas will be represented on our Forum.

Photograph of Geoff Hindley Geoff Hindley
Chairman of the Tenants' Forum