Leading academics at Sheffield Hallam University analysed the latest Housing Investment Programme submissions of 330 councils across the country, which for the first time featured tenant participation performance.
Housing minister Hilary Armstrong told a conference organised by the London Housing Unit and the Tenants and Residents Association of England that the new details for the HIP process created an incentive for councils to implement the Tenant Participation Compacts, which will be announced next month.
She said: "Tenants' views on their landlord and council's performance must and will play a key part in measuring overall performance as landlords, as housing managers and as local service providers."
"Through the Housing Investment and other programmes we will reward councils that do well, creating an incentive for genuine involvement and empowerment of tenants."
But Professor Ian Cole, who headed the research team working for the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, warned that few councils have analysed the benefits of their participation work, or compared outcomes with expectations.
He said evidence of tenant participation provided by councils for their HIP returns was "fairly flimsy in many cases."
He explained: "When it comes to linking up tenant participation to Best Value there is evidence that many local authorities have not begun thinking that through."
"How are local authorities going to say, 12 months down the line: 'We are performing well, poorly or averagely on tenant participation'?"
The research was first highlighted last month (Housing Today, issue 134).
Researchers found that participation was most established in London and the North West with the North East and Merseyside lagging behind.
Leading councils are ditching traditional tenant involvement methods and using sophisticated market research techniques such as focus groups, customer surveys, mystery shoppers, and user panels instead.
Source
Housing Today
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