Welcome to HQN and The Housing Quality Network

Blackpool Coastal Housing annual report 2010

Barchester Annual Report

A mock-up intended to make you think, not to lay down the law

The Governor

The fourth issue of HQN's magazine for boards, executives and leaders

Top architects and housing experts to think up age friendly homes of the future

Top architects and specialists including Sir Richard MacCormac and Professor Anne Power are amongst those recruited to take on the challenge of making sure homes of the future meet the needs of our ageing population

TSA funding to recognise and promote best practice and innovation

A new project to identify and promote best practice by social housing providers in England has been launched by the TSA. HAs, LAs and ALMOs are invited to make bids of up to £9,000 to support the development of agreements between landlords and their tenants to develop 'local deals'

What does excellence look like? Resident involvement

Network briefing by John Wheeldon looking at the attributes of excellent three-star organisations inspected by the Audit Commission in 2007 and 2008. This briefing covers resident involvement

Draft Housing (Scotland) Bill: a commentary

Network briefing by Dave Alexander on the draft Scottish Housing Bill which is the subject of current consultation. The briefing looks at the proposals in detail, and offers a commentary on the consultation questions posed by the Government

Neighbourhood Management

Neighbourhood Management is an approach that enables local communities and service providers to work together at a neighbourhood level to improve services and quality of life

Empowering communities to influence local decision making - A systematic review of the evidence

This study used a robust, replicable method to systematically review the domestic and international evidence base around community empowerment. The aim of the review was to make sense of variable and often competing or contrasting evidence in order to identify which mechanisms empower; in what ways, and in what contexts

Communities Progress Report

In July 2008 the government published the White Paper Communities in Control: Real People, Real Power which aims to pass power into the hands of local communities. This progress report sets out progress made since the publication of the White Paper and provides a timeline for future implementation

Empowering communities to influence local decision making - Evidence-based lessons for policy makers and practitioners

This CLG report draws on a systematic review of community empowerment to provide evidence-based lessons for policy makers and practitioners

Complaints/compliments toolkit

The Network's popular self-assessment toolkit by Gill Stead

Co-regulation: What does the TSA really mean?

Network briefing by Kate Murray finds out from Peter Marsh, Roy Irwin, and chief executives

Hazel Blears: Local people key to unlocking greater savings

Councils must listen to the views of local people to work smarter and make greater efficiency savings, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has announced

Hazel Blears backs 'revolution to recycle' buildings

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has unveiled a series of measures to back a people's revolution to recycle buildings by putting real power in the hands of locals to support communities during the downturn and beyond

Tenants want more involvement in housing management, says new report

The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) report Understanding Tenant Involvement explores the attitudes that social housing tenants have towards involvement in housing management and decision making

WeCan! - Spring 2009

Quarterly CLG magazine for people interested in getting involved in and influencing the delivery of services in their local area

Challenge to landlords to give tenants a greater say

Social housing landlords need to focus more on their tenants and involve them in making decisions about services, according to the Chief Executive of the Tenant Services Authority (TSA)

TSA calls for housing associations to examine stock to improve services to tenants

Housing associations that streamline the ownership and management arrangements of their homes can improve services to tenants, according to the Tenants Services Authority (TSA)

Thousands of tenants prove that it is good to talk

Thousands of tenants are proving that it is good to talk by getting their voices heard in the Tenant Services Authority's (TSA) National Conversation - the largest ever consultation with social housing tenants

National Tenant Voice begins to take shape

Plans for the new independent National Tenant Voice (NTV), which will give tenants a say on the housing issues affecting them, have been published and accepted by Ministers

Citizens of Equal Worth: The Project Group's Proposals for the National Tenant Voice - full report

CLG’s project group report (Citizens of Equal Worth) makes clear recommendations to government on the role, remit and governance of the National Tenant Voice

National Tenant Voice plans agreed - an update for tenants

This note sets out what has happened since the consultations, how CLG see the NTV being set up and how tenants can find out more and get involved

Citizens of Equal Worth

CLG Executive summary of the Project Group's Proposals for the National Tenant Voice

The potential of migrant and refugee community organisations to influence policy

A Joseph Rowntree report on a partnership set up to test how migrant and refugee community organisations could change policies and practices that are crucial to the lives of their communities

Empowering Birmingham's migrant and refugee community organisations

Joseph Rowntree report which explores how migrant and refugee community organisations (MRCOs) can be supported and trained to collect evidence from their communities that will help influence policy and service provision

Councils are crucial to getting communities through the downturn

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears today welcomed the Prime Minister's commitment to councils providing pivotal support to communities through the global economic downturn

Citizenship survey - citizens feel a strong sense of belonging

Communities and Local Government survey

County Councils Rising to the Challenge: Community Empowerment at work in our neighbourhoods

Speech by Sadiq Khan MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Communities in Control: Real people, real power - Government response to the improving local accountability consultation

A summary of responses to the improving local accountability consultation and the government's response to the consultation

Blears - real help for communities in Barnsley

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has begun a series of visits across the country to see first hand how local leaders are making use of devolved powers in responding to pressures facing their communities, explain what government is doing to provide real and practical support and find out how they can further help authorities to get on with the job

Hazel Blears - Supporting communities to support individuals

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has unveiled measures that will see young people from some of the nation's most deprived areas getting involved in activities that will introduce them to a world beyond their immediate neighbourhoods, involve local communities in efforts to raise their aspirations and aim to break the cycle of deprivation that blights some of our communities

TSA Board member named in the New Year Honours List

TSA board member Dennis Rees has been awarded the OBE for his services to housing in the New Year Honours List

Guidance on meaningful interaction: How encouraging positive relationships between people can help build community cohesion

This guidance is Communities and Local Government's first attempt to set out what we know about meaningful interaction, based on research findings and the views of expert practitioners

Guidance on building a local sense of belonging

Last year CLG worked with the Citizenship Foundation to publish the Citizens' Day Framework. This guidance is the next step and suggests ways in which councils, voluntary groups and other organisations can encourage a sense of belonging

Civic Pioneers Case Study Review

In the spring of 2007, funding was made available through the Community Empowerment Division to Civic Pioneer local authority areas to carry out projects focusing on community empowerment. This Review presents case studies of each of the twelve funded projects, together with a simple analysis of the lessons learned from these experiences. The report represents valuable learning for practitioners and policy makers

Citizens of Equal Worth: putting tenants at the heart of government

Network briefing by Nigel Long summarises the now publicised recommendations of the NTV project group

Fair Rules for Strong Communities

A cross-government plan setting out the values and characteristics that ministers believe matter for strong communities. The purpose of the plan is to provide a clear statement of the government's understanding of the issues facing communities and its approach to addressing them

Stop press - Delivery team for Tenant Services Authority’s National Conversation announced

HQN and the Northern Housing Consortium (NHC), who provide a range of membership services to clients in the housing sector, have formed a partnership to deliver a comprehensive events programme. This will include both tenant-led and TSA-led events for tenants, prospective tenants, landlords and providers

Community ownership and management of assets

A Joseph Rowntree review of evidence on community organisations owning or managing assets, including buildings and land

New legislation to help build stronger communities

The government has published wide-ranging legislation that will give local people new rights to shape local services and give greater responsibility to local authorities to promote economic development helping communities respond to local challenges

Tenant empowerment: turning fine words into best practice

Network briefing by Nigel Long explores tenant empowerment, including tenant-led areas of good practice

Promoting inter-generational understanding through Community Philosophy

Communities can bring younger and older people together in ways that may be uncomfortable for both groups. Young people’s behaviour may be labelled 'nuisance', while older people's views may be labelled 'intolerant'. This Joseph Rowntree study summarises an independent evaluation of the 'Thinking Village project', which was designed to develop intergenerational understanding in a neighbourhood, using the principles of 'Community Philosophy'

Communities in Control- Real power, real people - Redress review

The Empowerment White Paper 'Communities in Control: Real people, real power' announced the government's vision for empowering communities. As part of this it set out that there would be a review into the feasibility and practicality of introducing and extending the idea of redress for citizens where services do not meet expectations. The review will also take a wider look at how the customer can really be put at the heart of local service delivery

Code of Service Delivery and Accountability

NHF draft Code which has been developed following consultations with tenants around the country, and responses to an online questionnaire. The Federation is now seeking further feedback from its members and their tenants on the content of the Code

Closing date 8 December 2008

Blears invites ideas to improve local communities

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears today called on councils to work closely with their residents to unearth new and innovative ideas to improve their local area and make places in which people want to live, work and raise a family

New regulation and guidance to encourage and support tenant empowerment to come into effect

New regulation and guidance to encourage and support tenant empowerment has now come into effect as new Right to Manage regulations and changes to the Tenant Empowerment Programme are introduced

Residents’ choice: Guidance on tenant management and other options supported through the Tenant Empowerment Programme

This handbook gives guidance to residents living in social housing who are considering taking control of housing and related services. It looks at how residents can get advice and consider their choices for having more influence over services in their neighbourhood

Local choice, local control: Statutory guidance on tenant management for local authorities and local authority tenants

This guidance is given under the Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations 2008, which provides that all those who are exercising functions under the Legislation are required to take into account this guidance

National Tenant Voice

Network briefing by Sheila Adamson looks at how proposals for a National Tenant Voice are developing

The Cole Report: delivering cross-domain regulation for social housing

Professor Ian Cole was appointed to chair a panel of independent stakeholders tasked with producing recommendations to government on how to extend the scope of the Tenant Services Authority to include local authority social housing. This report presents the set of final recommendations

Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Tenant Services Authority (TSA)

Network briefing by Charlie Hughes summarises the background to splitting up the Housing Corporation's functions of funding and regulation and reminds readers of the reasons and objectives behind this change