Tenant Engagement Strategy 2025-29

Welcome to our engagement strategy for North Tyneside Council tenants and leaseholders. You can read this below, and a pdf copy to download is attached on this page.

Tenants are at the heart of everything we do. We understand and respect that they know better than anyone else where things are going well and where they could be better.

North Tyneside Council is proud to be a social housing provider, working together with our tenants to improve services and ensure our neighbourhoods are clean, safe places that our tenants are proud to call home.

Through engagement, we will build strong, open and meaningful relationships with tenants and communities. Engagement presents an opportunity for different voices to be heard and hear each other, increasing understanding and collaboration.

This strategy aligns with North Tyneside Council’s overarching engagement strategy and will be kept under review.

An early draft of this strategy was shared with members of our tenant panels, who provided comments and feedback which are reflected in this final version. Thank you to them for their time and thoughtful consideration.


Where we are now

Our Housing and Property Service manages around 14,000 homes, and 26 independent living schemes across the borough. We support around 1,000 leaseholders and where the term ‘tenant’ is used in this document, it means both council tenants and leaseholders.

Over recent years, our approach to tenant engagement has evolved and we are keen to work with our tenants, Housing and Property Service colleagues, and local partners to continue the significant progress which has been made.


Our engagement activities are framed by:

  • Listening to what our tenants tell us is important to them
  • Housing and Property Service priorities
  • The Our North Tyneside Council Plan 2025-29
  • Building a Better North Tyneside: Housing Strategy 2023-28

Social housing sector good practice, as promoted by national bodies such as TPAS (Tenant Participation Advisory Service), also informs our work and provides an independent perspective.


The national picture

Tenant engagement has become high profile on the national agenda following the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire and the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak from prolonged exposure to damp and mould. Government legislation has been introduced as a direct result of these, placing specific requirements on all social housing providers.

After the introduction of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, the national Regulator of Social Housing set new standards for all social housing providers to achieve. Providers can be held accountable by their tenants and the Regulator for non-compliance. One of the standards is the ‘Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard’. This states that landlords must be open with tenants and treat them with fairness and respect. Part of this directly refers to tenant engagement, with providers required to take tenants’ views into account in their decision-making and how their services are delivered.


Our vision for tenant engagement

Tenants can choose from a range of meaningful and accessible opportunities to have their say, ensuring their voices are heard and that decisions made by the service are informed by the needs and perspectives of our tenant community. Tenants know they are listened to and understand how their views influence the services they receive.


Our engagement objectives

  1. To offer all our tenants a range of accessible opportunities to have their say in a way that they are comfortable with
  2. To increase the number of tenants engaging with us and work to improve participation from under-represented groups
  3. To raise the profile of our tenant engagement work and demonstrate how tenant contributions are influencing services
  4. To be open, honest and support tenants to actively scrutinise our service


By achieving these objectives:

  • Decisions made by the service are informed by the needs and perspectives of our tenant community
  • Tenants know they are listened to and understand how their views influence the services they receive
  • Our tenants trust us and let us know when something isn’t right
  • The profile of our tenant community is raised amongst non-tenant audiences, promoting understanding and challenging stereotypes
  • Our tenants hold us to account and challenge us to be better
  • Our tenants have confidence in us as their landlord


Our engagement activities are informed by:

  • Tenant topics of interest – raised via our tenant panels and other engagement activities
  • Service needs, for example gathering views of tenants ahead of a procurement process or new policy
  • Complaints data, identifying any trends and areas of tenant concern
  • Performance data and the context behind the numbers
  • The tenant perception results from the Annual Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey (TSM)

Our tenant panels receive regular complaints, performance and service updates for their scrutiny. TSM results are also shared with our panels, with active discussion and challenge.


Our tenant involvement structure

A varied menu of activities allows us to work with tenants to inform, consult, involve and empower them in the decision-making processes that impact their lives.

Our tenants hold us to account and challenge us to be better.

  • Our Landlord Panel comprises tenants and Cabinet members, who together scrutinise the Housing and Property Service, monitor performance, recommend topics for closer examination and ensure we are fulfilling our responsibilities as their landlord.
  • The next tier panels focus on specific aspects of the service – considering current issues and performance, and working together with service managers to identify areas requiring further focus and generating ideas for improvement. We have the Estates and Communities Panel, the Repairs and Investment Panel, the North Tyneside Living Panel, and a Leaseholder Panel.
  • The programme for our tenant panels is informed and supported by informal engagement such as surveys, focus groups, tenant events and one-off activities.

We recognise the significant positive contribution that tenant volunteers make to improving our service for all tenants. Our aim is to encourage our tenants to get involved in a way that they feel comfortable with and a range of support is available to make our activities accessible to any tenant who wishes to take part.


Who can get involved?

Any North Tyneside Council tenant or leaseholder. Occasionally, we may invite other residents or representatives from local organisations or voluntary and community groups with relevant knowledge or expertise too.

Many of our engagement activities are open for people to take part in. There are some activities where we will not involve current or former tenants or leaseholders who have breached their Tenancy Agreement/terms of their lease; anyone who we are aware of having caused anti-social behaviour; anyone who we are aware of having been charged with an offence; or anyone who has attended one of our activities and acted inappropriately, used abusive language or caused offence.


Communication

We work hard to promote tenant engagement opportunities, encourage tenants to get involved and provide feedback on the outcomes of previous activities.

We promote our work via:

  • The Our North Tyneside Voice engagement website
  • North Tyneside Council’s social media platforms
  • The council magazine, Our North Tyneside, delivered three times a year to all homes in the borough
  • News stories shared with local media
  • Our Annual Tenants’ Report
  • North Tyneside Council’s six Community Hubs and Libraries, where paper copies of all consultations can be accessed
  • Elected Members, via briefings and their weekly updates
  • The voluntary and community sector, utilising their networks and communication channels as appropriate
  • Everyday letters, emails, phone calls and texts
  • Internal communication channels to keep Housing and Property Service colleagues up to date and promote good engagement practice


Evaluation and monitoring

All our engagement activities are evaluated where possible and appropriate, for example by:

  • Comparing the demographic profile of participants to the profile of our tenant community as a whole
  • Gathering feedback on the content, organisation and venue for in-person activities
  • The number of tenants completing surveys and identifying if particular characteristics or geographical areas are under-represented amongst respondents
  • Checking how tenants heard about an activity, to evaluate which communication channels are most effective in reaching our target audiences
  • The Regulator’s annual Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey asks tenants how satisfied they are that we as their landlord listen to their views and act upon them

We welcome all tenants who would like to get involved with our engagement work and are keen that those who take part are broadly reflective of our tenant community. Analysis has shown that we need to increase general participation from tenants under the age of 34, and for our tenant panels we are targeting younger tenants and male tenants for future members.


Housing engagement work and its impact and effectiveness is regularly reported to and monitored by:

  • Our Landlord Panel
  • North Tyneside Council’s Secure Committee
  • The Cabinet Member responsible for Housing
  • The Housing and Property Service Senior Management Team


Further information

If you have any questions about anything in this document, or about our engagement work in general, please call 0191 643 2828 or email engagement@northtyneside.gov.uk(External link)




Welcome to our engagement strategy for North Tyneside Council tenants and leaseholders. You can read this below, and a pdf copy to download is attached on this page.

Tenants are at the heart of everything we do. We understand and respect that they know better than anyone else where things are going well and where they could be better.

North Tyneside Council is proud to be a social housing provider, working together with our tenants to improve services and ensure our neighbourhoods are clean, safe places that our tenants are proud to call home.

Through engagement, we will build strong, open and meaningful relationships with tenants and communities. Engagement presents an opportunity for different voices to be heard and hear each other, increasing understanding and collaboration.

This strategy aligns with North Tyneside Council’s overarching engagement strategy and will be kept under review.

An early draft of this strategy was shared with members of our tenant panels, who provided comments and feedback which are reflected in this final version. Thank you to them for their time and thoughtful consideration.


Where we are now

Our Housing and Property Service manages around 14,000 homes, and 26 independent living schemes across the borough. We support around 1,000 leaseholders and where the term ‘tenant’ is used in this document, it means both council tenants and leaseholders.

Over recent years, our approach to tenant engagement has evolved and we are keen to work with our tenants, Housing and Property Service colleagues, and local partners to continue the significant progress which has been made.


Our engagement activities are framed by:

  • Listening to what our tenants tell us is important to them
  • Housing and Property Service priorities
  • The Our North Tyneside Council Plan 2025-29
  • Building a Better North Tyneside: Housing Strategy 2023-28

Social housing sector good practice, as promoted by national bodies such as TPAS (Tenant Participation Advisory Service), also informs our work and provides an independent perspective.


The national picture

Tenant engagement has become high profile on the national agenda following the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire and the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak from prolonged exposure to damp and mould. Government legislation has been introduced as a direct result of these, placing specific requirements on all social housing providers.

After the introduction of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, the national Regulator of Social Housing set new standards for all social housing providers to achieve. Providers can be held accountable by their tenants and the Regulator for non-compliance. One of the standards is the ‘Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard’. This states that landlords must be open with tenants and treat them with fairness and respect. Part of this directly refers to tenant engagement, with providers required to take tenants’ views into account in their decision-making and how their services are delivered.


Our vision for tenant engagement

Tenants can choose from a range of meaningful and accessible opportunities to have their say, ensuring their voices are heard and that decisions made by the service are informed by the needs and perspectives of our tenant community. Tenants know they are listened to and understand how their views influence the services they receive.


Our engagement objectives

  1. To offer all our tenants a range of accessible opportunities to have their say in a way that they are comfortable with
  2. To increase the number of tenants engaging with us and work to improve participation from under-represented groups
  3. To raise the profile of our tenant engagement work and demonstrate how tenant contributions are influencing services
  4. To be open, honest and support tenants to actively scrutinise our service


By achieving these objectives:

  • Decisions made by the service are informed by the needs and perspectives of our tenant community
  • Tenants know they are listened to and understand how their views influence the services they receive
  • Our tenants trust us and let us know when something isn’t right
  • The profile of our tenant community is raised amongst non-tenant audiences, promoting understanding and challenging stereotypes
  • Our tenants hold us to account and challenge us to be better
  • Our tenants have confidence in us as their landlord


Our engagement activities are informed by:

  • Tenant topics of interest – raised via our tenant panels and other engagement activities
  • Service needs, for example gathering views of tenants ahead of a procurement process or new policy
  • Complaints data, identifying any trends and areas of tenant concern
  • Performance data and the context behind the numbers
  • The tenant perception results from the Annual Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey (TSM)

Our tenant panels receive regular complaints, performance and service updates for their scrutiny. TSM results are also shared with our panels, with active discussion and challenge.


Our tenant involvement structure

A varied menu of activities allows us to work with tenants to inform, consult, involve and empower them in the decision-making processes that impact their lives.

Our tenants hold us to account and challenge us to be better.

  • Our Landlord Panel comprises tenants and Cabinet members, who together scrutinise the Housing and Property Service, monitor performance, recommend topics for closer examination and ensure we are fulfilling our responsibilities as their landlord.
  • The next tier panels focus on specific aspects of the service – considering current issues and performance, and working together with service managers to identify areas requiring further focus and generating ideas for improvement. We have the Estates and Communities Panel, the Repairs and Investment Panel, the North Tyneside Living Panel, and a Leaseholder Panel.
  • The programme for our tenant panels is informed and supported by informal engagement such as surveys, focus groups, tenant events and one-off activities.

We recognise the significant positive contribution that tenant volunteers make to improving our service for all tenants. Our aim is to encourage our tenants to get involved in a way that they feel comfortable with and a range of support is available to make our activities accessible to any tenant who wishes to take part.


Who can get involved?

Any North Tyneside Council tenant or leaseholder. Occasionally, we may invite other residents or representatives from local organisations or voluntary and community groups with relevant knowledge or expertise too.

Many of our engagement activities are open for people to take part in. There are some activities where we will not involve current or former tenants or leaseholders who have breached their Tenancy Agreement/terms of their lease; anyone who we are aware of having caused anti-social behaviour; anyone who we are aware of having been charged with an offence; or anyone who has attended one of our activities and acted inappropriately, used abusive language or caused offence.


Communication

We work hard to promote tenant engagement opportunities, encourage tenants to get involved and provide feedback on the outcomes of previous activities.

We promote our work via:

  • The Our North Tyneside Voice engagement website
  • North Tyneside Council’s social media platforms
  • The council magazine, Our North Tyneside, delivered three times a year to all homes in the borough
  • News stories shared with local media
  • Our Annual Tenants’ Report
  • North Tyneside Council’s six Community Hubs and Libraries, where paper copies of all consultations can be accessed
  • Elected Members, via briefings and their weekly updates
  • The voluntary and community sector, utilising their networks and communication channels as appropriate
  • Everyday letters, emails, phone calls and texts
  • Internal communication channels to keep Housing and Property Service colleagues up to date and promote good engagement practice


Evaluation and monitoring

All our engagement activities are evaluated where possible and appropriate, for example by:

  • Comparing the demographic profile of participants to the profile of our tenant community as a whole
  • Gathering feedback on the content, organisation and venue for in-person activities
  • The number of tenants completing surveys and identifying if particular characteristics or geographical areas are under-represented amongst respondents
  • Checking how tenants heard about an activity, to evaluate which communication channels are most effective in reaching our target audiences
  • The Regulator’s annual Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey asks tenants how satisfied they are that we as their landlord listen to their views and act upon them

We welcome all tenants who would like to get involved with our engagement work and are keen that those who take part are broadly reflective of our tenant community. Analysis has shown that we need to increase general participation from tenants under the age of 34, and for our tenant panels we are targeting younger tenants and male tenants for future members.


Housing engagement work and its impact and effectiveness is regularly reported to and monitored by:

  • Our Landlord Panel
  • North Tyneside Council’s Secure Committee
  • The Cabinet Member responsible for Housing
  • The Housing and Property Service Senior Management Team


Further information

If you have any questions about anything in this document, or about our engagement work in general, please call 0191 643 2828 or email engagement@northtyneside.gov.uk(External link)