“TAP gives tenants a voice, both within the NFA and at the national level.”

For me, the Tenant Advisory Panel is first and foremost about being heard. That conviction has underpinned my commitment to this role, and it is why I was happy to agree to serve a further two years as TAP chair into 2027. I see the relationship between tenants and the NFA as a genuine partnership: we work hand in hand, and TAP’s representation feeds into national policy conversations, including at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

“TAP, through its regular meetings throughout the year, helps tenants understand the policy landscape and communicate that to other tenants.”

The ethos of TAP involvement in the NFA’s activities, as I see it, is to make sure that members residents are not passive recipients of policy but active participants who can take what they learn back to the communities where they live. The panel met four times in 2025 and we worked through a wide range of issues: anti-social behaviour, the principles and issues around No Access concerns and Awaab’s Law, rent convergence, the Housing Ombudsman’s Repairing Trust spotlight report, community cohesion, and the tenant perspective on the new regulatory regime. The Deputy Director at MHCLG, attended one of our meetings to brief us on policy announcements, and Stop Social Housing Stigma presented their Journey Planner tool to our members.

“Several TAP members have now played their part in the Regulator or Housing’s new inspection regime.”

The new regulatory regime is no longer a distant prospect for TAP members — it is now part of our active tenant roles. I have just been interviewed by Regulator of Social Housing inspectors as part of Derby Homes’ inspection, and I can say the experience was a positive one. The inspectors are very professional; not judgemental in any way, but we were encouraged to talk.

“Inspections underline the key issue at the heart of regulations, reform and tenant voice — it’s all about communication.”

In my session with the inspectors, I found myself returning again and again to the same point. Don’t get wound up about the problem — it’s what will be done about it that matters. The questions I put to the inspectors are the same ones tenants put to landlords every day: what’s the plan, how will you deal with it, and how quickly? If landlords fail to keep tenants informed, they lose the most important thing of all – trust. Lack of communication will absolutely sink a landlord’s relationship with their customers because they will have no faith in housing staff.

“Communication needs to address three key points: stigma, the meaning of home, and a believable commitment to resolve any problems.”

I have experienced stigma directly: I was once turned down for a very normal ‘pay in installments’ plan as soon as my address was flagged up as social housing. The campaign to tackle that stigma matters enormously to me, and I welcome the NFA’s renewed commitment to the Stop Social Housing Stigma campaign.  But I also think residents themselves have to take a certain amount of ownership when it comes to changing perceptions – and I am myself an active supporter of the national campaign.

The second key message, for me, is the meaning of home. I always say — and colleagues at Derby Homes would agree — that this is not a Derby Homes property. This is our home. I want people to feel that. Whilst it may be a landlord’s property in a legal sense, it is your home, and you should be able to be proud to say you are going home to it.

The third message is the simple discipline of keeping people informed when things go wrong — as they always will, because that is the nature of life and property management. So, if a target is not going to be met, someone needs to pick up the phone and say so. Most residents will be perfectly happy to have been kept in the picture. To understand all is to forgive all.

“So much of what goes wrong could be avoided if people would simply talk and keep residents involved.”

Talk to us. But I hasten to add that this is a two-way process and, as tenants, we cannot complain that we are not listened to if we passively expect others work out what we need and want. That is the essence of why each and every NFA TAP member makes the time to listen and feedback to the NFA, and we look forward to another fruitful year working alongside them in this very special tenants’ forum.