14th September 2009

TAROE meets with Sarah Webb, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing

Today, representatives of TAROE including Michael Gelling (Chair) and Mark Soundie (Chief Executive) met with Sarah Webb, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing to discuss opportunities for closer working between the two organisations. Discussions covered some of the work that the organisations are currently involved with, such as the on-going governance review that the CIH is engaged with and recent policy responses that have been produced by both organisations.

Overall, the meeting was considered to be a productive one, and should lead to greater communications and joint working between the two organisations moving forward. Regular liaison will now take place, and opportunities will be explored for possible joint research projects to be undertaken.

8th - 9th September 2009

TAROE / HouseMark Tenant Panel meet again

The past two days saw HouseMark host the second two day meeting of the Tenant Panel that has been set up to review all HouseMark's products and services on a rolling basis.

The focus for these two events was some of HouseMark's specialist benchmarking services, including: Resident Involvement; STATUS (Tenant Satisfaction); Anti-Social Behaviour; and Estate Services.

8th September 2009

TAROE responds to TSA National Conversation

Following several weeks of consultation and debate, today TAROE responded with a full and formal response to the TSA's consultation - Building a new regulatory framework: A discussion paper. The final document represents the culmination of many weeks of dialogue on what tenants think to the proposed new standards. We hope that the response will make a positive difference in influencing the way in which the TSA regulator the sector as we move forward.

20th August 2009

Mark Soundie delivers presentation to Dorset County Tenants Federation Seminar

Today saw TAROE's Chief Executive, Mark Soundie, deliver a presentation as Guest Speaker at the Dorset County Tenants' Federation (DCTF) Seminar, held at The Yenton Hotel in Bournemouth. The subject of the presentation was "What does it mean to tenants".

The seminar was attended by 28 delegates from 15 major housing providers in Dorset.

The information presented at the Seminar will be taken away and discussed by attendees with their relevant groups, forums and panels. It will assist in empowering tenants about the current agenda within the regulated housing sector and how they can play a role in influencing this.

Some of the positive feedback from the presentation included:

"Very much plain English spoken"
"It gave us lots oif information to go away and talk and think about the next steps"
"Ten out of ten"
"Very good rep from TAROE. Knows what he is talking about"

To view pictures from the event please select here.

14th August 2009

Jackson House receives a new coat of paint

Today saw TAROE welcome a group of volunteers from local Halton employer O2, as part of their “O2 It’s your community” scheme. The scheme is designed to give employees of O2 an opportunity to contribute to assist local community initiatives up to a value of £1,000.

The day saw seven volunteers from O2 come along to paint TAROE’s head office, based at Jackson House in Runcorn.

Mark Soundie, Chief Executive of TAROE commented:

“Everybody worked really hard all day. It was an amazing achievement to get the whole office painted in such a short amount of time. I would like to convey our thanks to O2 for their assistance and congratulate them on this excellent scheme.”

24th July 2009

TAROE Facilitates Phase1b National Conversation - Event 3

TAROE facilitated an event today on behalf of the TSA as part of their National Conversation with tenants to discuss the TSA's proposed standards areas that will be used to form the new regulatory framework for all landlords across the regulated housing sector. The event took place at Severnside Housing's head office in Shrewsbury.

21st July 2009

TAROE Facilitates Phase1b National Conversation - Event 2

To view photographs from the event, please press here.

16th July 2009

TAROE Facilitates Phase1b National Conversation - Event 1

To view photographs from the event, please press here.

23rd - 24th June 2009

TAROE attends Northern Housing Consortium - 9th Annual Resident Involvement Conference

It is a busy time of year for TAROE at the moment, and this week TAROE has been attending the Northern Housing Consortium's Raising Standards through Resident Involvement Conference in Blackpool.

The event was Chaired by Cora Carter MBE, a Board Member of TAROE. It also included a presentation from Michael Gelling OBE, Chairman of TAROE on "The Changing World of Housing - What Does This Mean For You?".

Both Michael and Cora also delivered a presentation to the conference on the subject of the National Tenant Voice.

Day 2 of the conference continued to have a strong TAROE theme to the day, with a presentation delivered by TAROE's Chief Executive, Mark Soundie, on "What does it all mean for tenants?".

Overall, it was another positive conference that has provided information for tenants on the changing world of housing and empowered them with information to make a real difference within the communities in which they live.

16th - 18th June 2009

TAROE Attends CIH Housing Conference in Harrogate

This week has been a very busy one for TAROE. It started with a drive across to Harrogate on the Monday to set up the new TAROE conference stand and equipment. It displayed the new TAROE brand and we were all very pleased with its appearance.

The conference itself all passed with something of a blur. The stand itself was located next to the Tenant Services Authority, and it received a steady stream of visitors throughout the event. The feedback from everyone that visited the stall was that the new brand was very positive and had certainly made a big impact on the conference. Board members of TAROE were also able to assist in the hosting of the TSA's reception and Tenant Action Zone.

Thursday was "Tenants Day". It was the most important day of the conference, particularly from TAROE's perspective. The stall itself was inundated with visitors for the whole day, and we managed to receive a large number of applications for membership as well as a lot of interest in the Friends of TAROE scheme.

All in all, the 2009 conference was a very positive event for TAROE. It was the time and event when TAROE was really able to make its presence known to the regulated housing sector and has provided a platform from which TAROE will be able to ensure it is able to represent the interests of tenants and residents in a positive way moving forward.

11th - 12th May 2009

TAROE - HouseMark Tenant Panel

11th - 12th May saw leading service improvement agency host the first Tenant Panel meeting as part of their unique partnership which has been launched in the housing press this week.

The Panel includes tenants from all over England, brought together with the aim of reviewing all of HouseMark's services over a three year period. It includes tenants of local authorities, ALMOs, housing associations and a housing co-operative.

The Monday evening was spent at the luxurious Nailcote Hall Hotel, located in the Warwickshire countryside. A thoroughly enjoyable time was enjoyed by all.

Feedback from the event was extremely positive, and it looks as though the partnership is going to be a constructive one that will lead to real service improvements. This can only result in improved landlord services for tenants!

Some photographs from the event can be located here.

4th May 2009

TAROE joins Facebook

The worldwide social networking revolution has finally reached TAROE, who today has signed up to Facebook and created its very own TAROE Facebook Page.

The idea behind signing up to Facebook is to promote the work of TAROE to as wide an audience as possible, whilst at the same time, creating mediums through which TAROE is able to communicate with its members and stakeholders to ensure that it is able to continue to promote the interests of tenants from across England.

The Facebook site allows for people to respond to discussion forums and post their views on TAROE. It is hoped that it will provide a whole new means through which TAROE is able to interact with a younger generation of tenants.

You can view the TAROE Facebook page by following the link here.

28th - 29th April 2009

Board Away Day

The recent publishing of TAROE's Tenant Empowerment Programme End Report demonstrated the broad range of activities that the organisation has been involved with over the past year. It clearly highlights how the housing sector in undergoing large scale upheaval, and TAROE's position within the new structures as a key stakeholder and representative of the views and interests of tenants is assured.

The Board Away Day which took place on 28th - 29th April 2009 at the Legacy Aston Court Hotel in Derby therefore had a full agenda. The event had been arranged to discuss and agree a way forward to ensure that it will be able to continue to grow in strength and influence to ensure that the interests of tenants are being met at a national level.

The outcome from the event is that TAROE has now developed and agreed a clear and ambitious direction for the future, that remains loyal to its mantra of being "owned by tenants, run by tenants, speaking for tenants". With TAROE's focus on "tenant primacy", it is well placed to ensure that it is able to strengthen its position as the leading national tenant representative organisation in England.

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