Starting up or getting involved in a tenants' and residents' group is one of the most effective ways to get involved in the housing service. Associations are made up of people who come together to try to improve their local community. They represent the views of the community and work with us and other organisations on a variety of issues.

We are keen to offer groups as much support and encouragement as possible. Our tenant participation team can provide a range of support to groups. This includes help to start a new group, advice and training on effectively running a tenants group and assistance in acquiring any available funding. Please contact the team for any further information relating to this. 

This map shows the active groups that the Tenant Participation Team are aware of or working closely with. We think it’s a great visual of the number of groups across the area and is a great representation of tenant participation across North Lanarkshire.

Becoming a Registered Tenant Organisation (RTO) gives groups a recognised role in the decision making process of housing services. Non-registered tenants' and residents' groups need to apply to become registered and must meet certain criteria to qualify.

We would encourage groups to apply, however non-registered groups can still promote the interests of their neighbourhood. They are also eligible to apply for an annual administration grant.

In addition, all tenants' and residents' groups are entitled to apply for an annual administration grant of £500 to assist with running costs, this grant must be spent on legitimate expenses such as stationary, postage, printing/photocopying and hall lets.

We have recently introduced an annual events grant of £500 to assist groups with hosting tenant engagement events within their community.  To be eligible for our events grant groups must be engaging with the Tenant Participation Team

Groups must meet the following criteria:

• there must be a written statement defining the area represented and the rules of the group
• they must have regular open meetings which are properly minuted
• there must be an Annual General Meeting (AGM) to elect office bearers which must be minuted also
• a separate bank account must be kept and all relevant receipts retained
• all tenants represented by the group must be well informed of their activities