Foreword by Cllr Moseley

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• Annual Report for Tenants and Leaseholders Oct 2011
• Foreword by Cllr Moseley

Welcome to our Annual Report to tenants and leaseholders for 2011/12.This is the official means of reporting back to you on how we are doing. It reflects a year when Housing has still had very little money to spend on repairs and the Council has gone through considerable change, to save money but also to deliver services where they are most needed.

The good news is that the future is definitely brighter, with more money available over the coming years, a strategy in place addressing all aspects of housing in the Borough and much greater engagement with all our partners, to deliver the priorities that will really make a difference.

For tenants and leaseholders, there are established channels of communication and consultation. Residents’ associations allow you to have a strong collective voice and the Federation of Kingston Residents’ Associations puts in a lot of hard work to support you. Residents’ representatives have reviewed this Annual Report and we are discussing how we can change the performance monitoring to ensure that we all have a realistic picture of where we need to improve.

The official forum for tenants and leaseholders is the Housing Consultative Committee, which is open to everyone. Over the next year, discussion will be around priorities for spending the additional capital that we will have. Some of it, such as the £11.6 million for Decent Homes work, can only be spent according to government guidelines, but we will have other money to spend on general repairs, so we need feedback on what is most important to you. The change in funding will only be gradual, so do not expect an instant transformation, but there will be a real change.

We would like as many people as possible to get involved, as individuals on the Sounding Board which comments on proposals, as tenant inspectors, or as members of a residents’ association.

My thanks to everyone who has contributed over the past year and I look forward to working with you in the future.

Councillor Frances Moseley

Executive Member for Better Homes