Benefits of getting involved

How to get involved - video guide

There are many ways you can get involved to help us improve our service to you.

Members of our tenant scrutiny team have made several recommendations to improve our services. Recently they worked with Property Services on ways to make it possible for tenants to report and track the progress of communal repairs. They also recommended changes that have been adopted to help us speed up how we deal with complaints. Tenants are best placed to make local improvements in their communities. Tenant group successes have included setting up and supporting foodbanks, organising litter picks, supporting local art walks, planting trees and landscaping communal gardens, supporting learning disability projects, organising community events like fayres and BBQs, and establishing community growing areas.

If you'd like to know more about the ways you can participate, just email tenant.involvement@lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk for more information.

Our 'Tenant Involvement Strategy 2023 - 2027' sets out the many ways you can get involved, whether you have 5 minutes or lots of time to spare. It's all about how we engage in meaningful consultation and involvement and how what you tell us is used to shape the way that we provide housing services.

Tenant involvement strategy 2023-2027 (PDF, 1 MB)

Listening to Eastbourne Residents (LET)

Following responsibility for the housing service being moved back under the management of Eastbourne BC the above group was set up to represent the views of tenants in Eastbourne and work with officers to support service and performance  improvements. LET meet quarterly with their AGM in October each year which is an open meeting for all tenants to attend.

Eastbourne's Residents' Voice

Residents' Voice represents the views of Eastbourne residents. The group meets quarterly, and we are working with members to review how we engage in Eastbourne and support residents to influence Homes First policies, services, and performance. Meetings are now open to all tenants and leaseholders in Eastbourne which has encouraged new people to become involved and have their say. Every meeting also has a virtual connection via Microsoft Teams which some have found a valuable aid to participation. Eastbourne Residents' Voice also oversee a community improvements budget of £36,000 which tenants can apply to fund projects which benefit their community and local area.

Tenants of Lewes District (TOLD)

The Tenants Organisation of Lewes District (TOLD) represents the views of tenants across the Lewes District. The TOLD Committee meets quarterly to discuss topical housing issues and Homes First performance. Open meetings are also held twice a year to which guest speakers are invited. The committee also manages a community improvements budget of £20,000 which tenants can apply to for project funding which benefits their community.

Tenant Scrutiny Team

We have a scrutiny team made up of Lewes District and Eastbourne tenants to help us review and improve our housing service on an ongoing basis. Tenant led scrutiny reviews are overseen by TOLD/LET who commission trained tenants to carry out in-depth service reviews on a service area. The scrutiny team make evidence based recommendations to the Homes First Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and agree improvement plans which are monitored by the TIE panel.

Over the past four years the scrutiny team have reviewed complaints, rents recovery,  voids, damp and mould.

The work of the scrutiny team demonstrates that when tenants get involved, they can make a difference.

Transactional Surveys

We have developed a 'moment in time' feedback approach to capture your thoughts on a service you have received. Asking for feedback when the experience is fresh in your mind gives us great insight and helps us to improve and develop our services. We are currently running transactional surveys for our complaints service, major works, new lets and repairs. These surveys are carried out by a company called Acuity and comply within the General Data Protection Regulations.

Tenant Quality Checkers

We are piloting an approach to involve residents in checking the quality of our communal cleaning service in retirement housing. Once the pilot is complete, we will review how it went and explore how to extend the approach to other schemes.

Tenant Focus Groups

These are informal, but structured discussion groups with other tenants which allow you to share your views and shape key services, such as the allocations process.

Retirement Housing Forum

We have set up a joint Eastbourne and Lewes Retirement |Housing forum which comprises members from each of the retirement schemes elected by residents. The group meets quarterly at their AGM each year they agree an action plan with officers and feedback to retirement residents through their newsletter. 

Tenants Annual

Every year we hold an annual event for involved tenants as a thank you for their contribution and to discuss plans for the coming year.

In addition we hold activity / walk about events.

The Virtual 300

The Virtual 300 is a way you can get involved and have your say without leaving home. We regularly email members to ask what they think about new policies, service improvement ideas and even competition entries. You can get involved as much or as little as you like, but to encourage participation we give a £50 prize to the most active member every year.

Help to get involved

We offer practical support to all residents who wish to get involved such as computer equipment and training to get on line. We also help with out of pocket expenses such as travel.

We also provide training courses for involved residents in the last year in addition to recommending training sessions with;

4 Million Homes - Guidance and training on resident rights and how to stand up for them

TPAS - we are members of TPAS and tenants can sign up for free - TPAS bring tenants, landlords and contractors together through a wide range of services, independent and impartial advice, support, consultancy, and training.

We ran four training sessions over the last 18 months  

• The Housing Revenue account and how it works
• Performance management - understanding the numbers
• Holding your Landlord to Account
• Strategic thinking

If you'd like to know more about any of the ways you can participate, just email tenant.involvement@lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk for more information