WATMOS Project Management. We were appointed in December 2010 to Project Manage the proposed transfer of three London Borough of Lambeth Council estates to the Walsall based Walsall Alliance of Tenant Management Organisations (WATMOS). The three estates (Ethelred, Magdalen, and Thorlands) are all managed by their own Tenant Management Organisations. This is the first time in England that TMOs have proposed stock transfer to another landlord that is itself made up of TMOs (WATMOS is made up of eight individual TMOs). After a very hard fought campaign, with a big anti-transfer push by Defend Council Housing, the ballot result announced in November 2011 produced a 51.1% ‘Yes’ Vote on a 68% turn out. This unique transfer will give Lambeth tenants on the three estates the opportunity to further develop self-management and ensure a major programme of improvements to their homes.		The World’s Smallest Independent Tenant Adviser Job? After having worked as ITAs in the two largest stock transfer ballots in the UK, Glasgow and Birmingham with around 80,000 properties each, we were very pleased to be appointed in October 2011 by Liverpool City Council to be ITAs to a proposed stock transfer of just 3 homes in Liverpool. The homes were never transferred when Liverpool City Council transferred its homes in the South Liverpool area following a tenant ballot. As ITAs we have been working directly with the tenants involved to understand their options and to make an informed choice about them.
Working with two Estate Management Boards in Rochdale Almost 20 years after working to develop the pioneering Estate Management Boards on the Hollin and Turf Hill estates in the Rochdale Council area, Steve Sharples of PS is again working with both EMBs to develop new management agreements in the event the forthcoming stock transfer ballot results in a transfer to Rochdale Boroughwide Housing. The original Hollin Management Agreement pre-dates the Right to Manage and the Modular Management Agreement (MMA), whilst the Turf Hill Agreement is based on the original 1994 MMA. So we have started from scratch in working with both EMBs to determine what they want to retain, and to change.		Caerphilly ITA The Caerphilly Tenant and Resident Forum chose us to be the Independent Tenant Adviser in Caerphilly in February 2011. We have worked with them to set up a new Tenant Panel to contribute to the Offer Document, and to elect from that Panel tenants to sit on the Shadow Board. If tenants support the proposal in a ballot the 10,900 council homes in Caerphilly will transfer to a new community mutual organisation called Castell Mynydd.
Rochdale ITA. We were also appointed early in 2011 to be the ITA in Rochdale. The council’s proposal here is also to set up a new community mutual organisation, which would be the first of its kind formed via stock transfer in England. The community mutual organisation proposed in Rochdale, the home of the co-operative movement, would have an ownership structure that included tenants and staff, as well as the Council itself. Cliff Mills of the Mutuo organisation is advising the Council, Rochdale Borough wide Housing ( the current ALMO that would covert into the mutual organisation in the event of transfer), and the Rochdale Tenant’s Panel, on the structure of the proposed new organisation.		Norwich Tenant Participation Review. We have been working with Norwich City Council to review its tenant participation system. Back in early 2009 the Council had received a very adverse inspection report on its housing service, including its approach to tenant participation. The Council responded by making major changes in the structure and operation of the service. We were asked to review what had been achieved in the two years since inspection, and produce proposals for further developing tenant participation , particularly in the light of the evolving regulatory structure. Our proposals involved the development of a formal system of participation, with key roles for Scrutiny and Complaints Panels, alongside the further development of informal and individual forms of involvement.

Fife Tenant Participation Review. With around 31,000 homes Fife Council is one of the biggest council housing landlords in the UK. We were appointed in late 2010 to review its tenant participation system as a prelude to the production of a new three year Tenant Participation Strategy (the development of which is a legislative requirement of the Scottish Government). Fife is unusual in having three active Tenant and Resident Federations, which it supports to employ directly their own professional staff, and which have direct responsibility for developing and supporting individual tenant and resident organisations. Our proposals take account of the latest proposals from the Scottish Government on the ‘outcomes’ that will form part of the Scottish Social Housing Charter. They centre on the development of a much stronger area focus for tenant participation and a re-balancing of the relationship between individual and collective forms of involvement.	HOLTS EMB MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT	Following on from the work we did as ITA in Oldham, we have been working with Holts Estate Management Board in Oldham to develop a new management agreement between the EMB and First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) following stock transfer from Oldham Council to FCHO.
		In May 2011 we were also chosen by tenant representatives of Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing in Loughborough to work with them to train tenants and staff on the principles of resident scrutiny, and then to work with them to develop a resident scrutiny function across all service delivery areas.
		Welcome Back, Jim! Finally, we are pleased to welcome back to PS, Jim Mitchell. Jim worked with us in Scotland from 2000 until 2005, having previously worked with Chris Bailey of PS in the Liverpool Housing Action Trust. Since then he has worked on a variety of tenant advisory projects, most notably as ITA in Newport. Jim is working with us on the projects in Fife, Rochdale, and Caerphilly.
Community Right To Build. In July 2010 the Government announced a new ‘Community Right to Build’ programme, which will allow local people to initiate and develop proposals for homes, shops, community, and play/recreation facilities in their local area. We have produced a simple leaflet to explain how it will work, and how PS Consultants can help. Have a look at the leaflet.		Visit the News Archive