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Hexagon values tenants’ input and opinions and has a history of working successfully with tenants. Tenants can have influence over our services and the way we deliver them, and you can let us know how the way we work affects you. This is called Tenant Participation. Below is a summary of our strategy to work alongside our tenants to achieve the best service possible.

Consultation
We consult tenants on individual issues such as repairs or improvements, local issues such as estate cleaning and gardening, and on Hexagon-wide issues such as reviews of our policies and any changes to the tenancy agreement.

Tenant Involvement
We have Tenant Board Members on Hexagon's Board of Management. We obtain feedback from tenants via consultation exercises, e.g. phone surveys. We support tenants' associations (and will help set up new ones if there is enough interest). We produce a newsletter, Home News, every quarter and send out mail shots and surveys.

Involving ALL our tenants and residents
We want to ensure that tenants getting involved reflect our tenants as a whole, for example in terms of ethnicity and age.

To assist with this, we will translate important information into other languages. We will monitor participants in tenant participation exercises to ensure they accurately reflect the communities we work in.

Supporting Tenant Participation
We have a small team, the Co-ops & Tenant Participation team, who support and implement tenant participation. We also aim to ensure that all our Housing Officers, tenants' associations and Tenant Board Members receive appropriate training.

Informing Tenants
We provide information to you in the following ways: our quarterly newsletter, Home News; an Annual Report to tenants; a Tenants' Handbook; information leaflets on key policies and procedures; developing our website; feeding back from consultation exercises; and helping fund newsletters produced by tenants for tenants.

Housing Co-ops
We actively work with housing co-ops, whose members have direct control over the way their homes are managed. We will support other forms of tenant control (e.g. Tenant Management Organisations or Estate Management Boards) if there is sufficient interest from residents.

This is what one Tenant Board Member says:
Val has been a Hexagon tenant in Peckham since 1992. She joined Hexagon’s Board a few years ago and, along with the other Tenant Board Members, has had a real influence over the decisions of the Board, which in turn affects the way Hexagon works. This is what she says.
"Hi, I am a Tenant Board Member. I first was (and still am) what you may call an active tenant because I attended focus groups, sent in questionnaires and did what I could to get my voice heard as a tenant. I felt that Hexagon needed to listen to their tenants. The only way Hexagon can know what affects their tenants or what we need would be if they were the tenants (which they are not) OR, if tenants tell them. My interest in becoming an Active Tenant grew stronger because I went through the Complaints Procedure and I ended up writing a long letter telling Hexagon what I thought could change to improve their service to me and all their tenants. Becoming a Tenant Board Member has given me greater opportunities to speak up as a tenant. It has also given me the privilege to see that when tenants ‘speak’ (take an active part in Hexagons’ affairs) Hexagon does listen, and with the help of Tenant Board Members positive decisions are made. So come on, be an active tenant, in a big way or a small way, whatever suits you, because believe me, it does make a difference!"

If you are interested in being an active tenant, whether it is becoming a Board Member, setting up a tenants’ association in your area or just being willing to take part in occasional surveys, please contact the Co-ops & Tenant Participation Team on 020 8778 6699. A full version of our Tenant Participation strategy is available from this team.

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