Tenants and Residents Associations

Tenants and Residents Associations are groups of people, acting in a voluntary capacity. They put forward views and concerns on behalf of tenants and residents in their area. Groups vary in format, for example:

• tenants' association for tenants only
• tenants of one landlord
• residents' associations for all adults in the community
• action groups formed round a particular issue

Most Tenants and Residents Associations hold regular meetings, open to all tenants in the area. A smaller committee conducts their business. Tenants and Residents Associations may:

• provide a collective voice for tenants in an area
• act as a focus for consultation
• campaign and lobby for change (for example, play facilities or housing conditions)
• develop extra services through self help schemes (for example, lunch clubs)
• offer advice to local people
• represent individual tenants when dealing with authorities
• organise around issues such as housing transfers, regeneration, repairs, services, problems with neighbours
• influence decision making that affects your and your neighbours' homes
• give accurate advice and information to tenants and residents
• increase the sense of belonging to a community

We consult with five Tenants and Residents Associations about housing policies, service levels and local issues.

The Tenant Participation Team carries out audits to establish the level of support needed.

• Bourtreehill & Broomlands Tenants' & Residents' Association
• Castlepark & Eglinton Tenants' & Residents' Group
• Redburn Grove Tenants' Group

• Saltcoats High Flats Tenants' & Residents' Association
• Hayocks Tenants' & Residents' Association, Stevenston

Our tenants and residents group manual gives advice on starting and registering a group. It includes:

• a model constitution, to help set out the group's aims
• an outline of tenant participation
• information about running Tenants and Residents Associations
• information about their rights

Find more information in the Scottish Government's guide to successful tenant participation.

A Registered Tenants Organisation is a formal Tenants and Residents Association which has fulfilled criteria set out in The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. Tenants' Associations, within North Ayrshire Council's boundary, can apply for registration.

View our register of tenants organisations document.

A commitment to equality of opportunity must also be reflected within Tenants and Residents Associations. They should involve and represent all sections of the community they are active in.

Tenants and Residents Associations behaving in a discriminatory, or offensive, way towards minority groups could lead to removal from the register of tenants organisations.