Your neighbourhood
Find out how to join or form a Resident Association, take part in an estate walkabout, or take control of services where you live.
Resident Associations and other local groups
No one knows your block, road, or estate better than you, so who better to represent your area? Westminster’s Resident Engagement Team currently support over 35 resident groups across the city.
Role of a Resident Association
Resident Associations (RAs) make decisions which affect their local community. They are made up of tenants and leaseholders who live in homes owned and managed by the housing service. They work closely with their local neighbourhood team to improve services and some of them organise community events for residents.
Contacting your Resident Association
RAs are independent from the council and are organised by residents. Our Resident Engagement Team helps provide groups with tools they need to be successful and supports them to be representative of their communities.
To find out if you have a RA for your area email [email protected], and tell us where you live.
Why take part in your Resident Association?
As a member of an RA, you can help to build community spirit and support other residents. This could include:
- building local support for a positive change in your area
- having regular contact with your housing officer and ward councillors
- giving residents a collective voice to shape and improve local services
- organising events in your community
- being consulted on to find out what the community feels about certain issues
- running a community gardening programme
Time commitment
Resident Association leader, committee member, 10 to 15 hours per month.
RA members, 2 to 3 hours per month.
Advice on setting up and running a Resident Association
If you do not already have an RA in your area and would like to set one up Westminster’s Resident Engagement Team can help, we offer:
- an initial conversation about what is involved
- ongoing expert advice as you set up and run your Resident Association
- cash grant to help you get set up
- templates documents for your association to use
- details about community halls and meeting rooms which are available for your use
We also offer help to new and existing associations through training, membership drives, events and answering queries about running an association.
If you are interested in setting up a Resident Association, please read the guide below or contact the resident engagement team on [email protected].
Estate inspections
Estate inspections are informal walkabouts on your estates. They normally take place between 10am and 4pm, and residents are welcome to join. You’ll have the chance to point out issues in your area, for example communal repairs, lighting, cleaning, anti-social behaviour, gardening or signage issues. Your Housing Officer will work with our teams to resolve these as soon as possible and report back to you.
Why should you take part?
This is an opportunity for residents to share their concerns with officers. We know that sometimes it can be hard to explain something on the phone or by email. On an estate inspection, you can talk through any problems in person and explain their effect.
Find out more
There are posters on your noticeboards which will tell you when your next estate inspection is happening and where to meet. You can also view these inspections which are planned up to March 2025 on the link below:
Housing Estate Inspections
Time commitment
2 to 3 hours a month.
Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs)
A tenant management organisation is a legal body which is developed to support council tenants and leaseholders to take on responsibility for managing the homes they live in.
A TMO is usually formed when residents of a block come together and look at the options for taking over services themselves. This is often through government funding, which supports improvement of social housing through resident involvement.
Steps to setting up a TMO
Before you can consider setting up a TMO and taking over management, you must:
- Have at least 25 properties occupied by secure council tenants within the area you would like to manage.
- Make sure the resident group, both collectively and individually, has been judged to be competent by an independent agency.
- Hold a secret ballot where residents can vote if they agree or disagree with setting up a tenant management organisation. The majority must have voted ‘agree’ to start running the services.
The relationship between the council and your organisation and the services that the organisation will manage and the services retained by the council will be set out in a modular management agreement. The modular management agreement is a standard agreement provided by central government.
If a tenant management organisation is set up, you still remain as tenant or a leaseholder of the council and your existing rights are protected. The only thing that will change is that the organisation will manage the tenancy and lease on behalf of the council.
Find out more about setting up a TMO
We recommend the following organisations' websites to find out more:
- the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
- the Confederation of Co-operative Housing
- or contact existing TMOs to ask for advice and information
If you are interested in tenant management, please contact our affordable housing and partnerships:
- Call: 07715 160965
- Email: [email protected]
Local management agreements
Local management agreements allow you to take control of your housing services.
We currently have local management agreements with five resident groups, enabling them to manage cleaning and grounds maintenance services on behalf of Westminster City Council. They are:
- Brunswick and Dalkeith Court (gardening)
- Crawford Mansions (cleaning and gardening)
- Charfield Court (cleaning and grounds maintenance)
- Hide Tower (gardening)
- Siddons and Stirling Buildings (gardening)
Charfield Court, why we chose local management
As a co-operative, we had a very successful arrangement with a cleaning company, which gave the building some added benefits, such as:
- the building cleaned to a very high standard with one dedicated cleaner who knows both the building and the residents
- the cleaner is able to spot issues in areas of the building that committee members may not be aware of
- the committee can liaise directly with the cleaning company for a faster and more responsive service, on top of this, the contract is provided at a very competitive price.
We felt these benefits were important to keep when the Co-op folded. With our LMAs, we were able to continue the existing relationship with the cleaners, managed by a small committee, the Charfield Residents Group, with a lot less paperwork and continued direct control of cleaning and grounds maintenance services.
Allowances
An allowance based on what it costs the council to provide the same service is given to resident groups to run the local management agreement. The allowance cannot be more than the EU procurement threshold for goods and services.
Community Cashback toolkit
We have developed a toolkit in partnership with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (formerly DCLG), to provide information on what you need to set up a local management agreement.
Our local management agreements are voluntary, and we ensure you have the necessary skills and support in place before any services are transferred.
If you are interested in our local management agreement option to manage one off services, please contact us on through the following details:
Email: [email protected]
Call: 0800 358 3783
Related documents
Published: 22 April 2024
Last updated: 5 November 2024
