How do I set up a residents association?

Most Tenants and Residents Associations are set up by a few volunteers who want to make a difference in their local area. To find people in your area who may be interested, you could talk to your neighbours or begin by putting up notices in your building or in local shops and places such as the Post Office, library, GP's surgery, nursery, pubs or community centres.

Identifying a key issue or issues can be a very powerful recruiter which can convince people for the need for a tenants and residents association. These issues can range from a big planning issue such as major redevelopment to more local problems such as young people having nowhere to meet or play.

In order to launch your association, you will need to call a public meeting for everyone in the area, elect a chair, secretary treasurer and other committee members. You will also need to draw up a constitution.

 Constitution

Southwark Council and other authorities and groups will only recognise and consult with tenants and residents associations that are:  

Indeed Southwark council insists that tenants and residents associations are governed by a set of rules or constitution that conforms to a model constitution.  A copy of this model constitution can be downloaded from our publication & download page of this website.

 Encouraging involvement

Many tenants and residents associations have difficulties in recruiting and keeping new residents. As a result, many Associations do not reflect the age, ethnic or gender profile of the area they represent.  Research undertaken in Southwark in 2000 showed that only 30% of committee members were under 40 and only 17% of committee members identified themselves as Black or from a minority ethnic background.  There are a number of things the tenants and residents associations can do to improve the situation. For example, you should try to:  

More information and advice can be found on how to get more people involved in tenants and residents associations in the document called How To Increase Participation produced by Southwark Council’s Housing Community Development Section in 2004.  A copy can be downloaded from our document page.

 Financial Responsibilities  

Tenants and residents associations organise trips, social events, provide stationery and printing newsletters. All this costs and like all organisations, tenants and residents associations need money to run.  In Southwark Council, tenants and residents associations are eligible for grants from the Tenant Fund – From a few hundred pounds start-up grant to an annual bursary to cover basic meeting costs.  When dealing with money the adoption of a few basic policies and principles can help, these include:  

*    Avoid cash - use cheques where possible.

*    Have a financial report on every committee meeting.

*    Set a maximum expenditure that can be made without committee approval.

*    Adopt a code of practice on financial issues

*    Audit books annually and present them to Annual General Meeting

A copy of a model code of practice and more information and advice can be found on tenants and residents associations' financial responsibilities in the document called How to implement good financial practice produced by Southwark Council’s Housing Community Development Section in 2004.  A copy can be downloaded from our download page.

 Annual General Meetings

All Tenants & Residents Associations have to hold an Annual General Meeting once a year in accordance with their constitutions.  Annual General Meetings (AGMs) are an important occasion for a Tenants & Residents Association. They are a time to:

*Report back to members what has been achieved in the past year.

*Be accountable to the membership in terms of activities and finance

*Look forward to the new year by setting targets and objectives.    

*Elect the officers and a committee for the forthcoming year  

What do the Officers and the Committee do?  

The Committee

The committee is a group of people elected at the AGM who agree to meet on a regular basis to further the objectives of the T&RA. They comprise officers of the Association and other members who will take on a variety of roles over the year.  

Chair

The Chair is elected to provide leadership for the committee and the Association; they ensure that the committee officers do their job and that the committee works together.  

Secretary

The Secretary is responsible for the general administration and planning for the Association. They would set the agenda for meetings with the Chair, take minutes of meetings and distribute previous minutes and agendas for upcoming meetings. They write letters on behalf of the Association and receive correspondence from a wide variety of sources and then report on this to the committee. It can be an onerous job and for some Associations, it is worthwhile sharing some of the tasks with other committee members, e.g. taking minutes.

Treasurer

The role of the Treasurer is to oversee all monetary transactions and make sure that they are in order. It does not mean that the Treasurer is the only person that should keep track of the finances.  

More information and advice can be found on how to run an effective Annual General Meeting in document called How To Organise an Annual General Meeting.

Council Housing