Upcoming groups
HRA (Housing Revenue Account) budget engagement 2024 to 2025
How we spend our budget is very important. The money you pay in rent is used to maintain current properties and many other services besides, including investing in new homes, tenant support, specialist accommodation and more.
Every year we invite tenants to join us at budget presentations which outline our past, current and future spend to help explain why we spend what we do and where. The presentations give you a chance to ask questions and share your views, which help us manage future budgets.
We have events taking place on:
- 23 January 2025 – 6pm – 7pm online event
- 25 January 2025 – 10am – 11am online event
- 29 January 2025 – 6pm – 7pm online event
If you would like to join one of the presentations and speak with our finance and housing managers, we would love to see you. Send an email to tenant.involvement@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk, stating the date you wish to attend, and we will send you details on how to join.
You can view the draft HRA budget for 2025-2026 on our website.
We also have a short survey to help gather what you think about how we spend the rental income. It should not take you long and will help us to manage the budgets for next year.
You can complete the survey online.
Introducing our new Landlord Assurance Board
The Landlord Assurance Board is designed to make our housing service more open. As a member of the Board, you will share the views of tenants and help us shape our services as a landlord. Every voice and view within the Board matters.
To promote transparency and openness, the Board will have a mixture of members and tenants. As a member of the Board, you will be able to contribute to discussions, ask questions about how we deliver our services, suggest changes or improvements and hold us responsible.
The Board will enable you to influence decisions that improve living conditions, safety, and the quality of services our tenants receive.
We are running a consultation to develop a policy for who can be a member of this Board. To help us create this policy, we encourage you to take part in a short survey on Your Voice Matters.
The consultation started on 20 December 2024, and as part of this we are hosting an online forum on Saturday 1 February 2025, between 12pm and 2pm. The forum will be via MS teams, which means you can easily join using your smartphone, tablet or laptop. If you are not sure how to join an online forum, we will send you an email with instructions on how to take part.
We really want to shape this board around you, so if you are a tenant or leaseholder, save the date and message tenant.involvement@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk to register and receive your link.
Have your say on the Landlord Assurance Board consultation 2024
The New Consumer standards (April 2024)
We have looked at our landlord service and put together a draft Housing Regulatory Development Plan (PDF) to improve the services we provide to you.
Your feedback is important to make sure we’re on the right track.
To make it easier for you to share your thoughts, we’d like you to sign up for any of the one-off focus groups that interest you. They’ll be online and in-person, and we’ll have sessions during the day and in the evening to fit your schedule. You’ll also receive a £10 Love2shop voucher as a thank you, just for taking part!
Each focus group will have a theme of one of the following:
- governance oversight
- quality assurance
- data integrity
- tenant involvement
- professional development
- housing customer experience
- improving the effectiveness of the housing repairs service
- housing policies
To find out more or to join us on one of the groups, you can view dates and times and then contact tenant.involvement@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk to let us know what you are interested in.
Our first focus groups are on tenant involvement
The best way to have your say is by taking part in some of our tenant involvement events. Tenant involvement is about taking part in the decision-making processes on the services we provide to you. Your voices influence the choices made that affect the homes and communities where you live.
It is an evolving two-way process of communication between you and us, and we really want to hear what you think.
Why is your voice so important to us?
- you know more about how our services work than anyone else
- you know more about your homes than we do
- customers truly are at the heart of what we do
- our first consideration is: "what impact will this have on customers?"
- we want to listen and respond to the customer voice, delivering the services that meet your individual needs, in a way that is personal and professional
- customer involvement brings a deeper understanding of the real needs of customers
We have developed a range of opportunities for you to get involved in shaping and influencing the work we do and the services we deliver.
We offer opportunities to suit everyone, from responding to online surveys, being part of a focus group, joining our estate walkabouts, or taking part in our tenant engagement events and panels.
To find out more, join us online:
Thursday 16 January 1pm to 3pm or Tuesday 4 February 4:30pm to 6:30pm.
Email tenant.involvement@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk to let us know which online event you want to join and we'll send you the details.
By becoming an involved tenant, you can help to ensure that the customer voice is at the heart of all our decisions. You will also receive a £10 Love2Shop voucher, as a thank you for taking part.
To find out more about how you can get involved in the coming year email the team at tenant.involvement@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.
We look forward to hearing from you.