RESIDENT PARTICIPATION
Cotman actively encourages residents to participate in the running of their estates by the formation of Residents Associations and in the management of the Association through the Residents Forum and the Residents Forum Panel.
Residents Associations are supported by the Association by means of an initial setting-up grant, a room in which to meet, and the provision of stationery and photocopying. Their Committees meet regularly and are usually attended, if invited, by those members of the Association’s Housing and Asset Management teams responsible for management and caretaking of the estate. These meetings are considered valuable forums for the Association’s residents to express their views on the way their estates are managed and maintained.
The Association’s Residents Forum was established in 2005, as a replacement for the Tenants’ Advisory Committee in order to give residents more flexibility in the way they can contribute to the way their homes are managed.
All Residents’ Associations have the right to nominate one member to the Forum Panel, with there being 12 seats on the Panel in total. The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Forum Panel serve on the Board, representing residents’ interests. A member of the Forum Panel also serves on the Development Special interest Group, ensuring residents have a say in the design of new properties as well as in the management of their existing homes.
Information to Residents
The Association publishes the quarterly 'Cotman News' Newsletter that is circulated to all residents. This includes an update on the work of the Residents Forum.
Details of the Association’s rent levels and management performance are given in Performance Information Reports published annually and circulated to all residents as well as to other interested parties such as the Local Authorities and the Housing Corporation.
The Association publishes a Residents’ Handbook, which is in loose-leaf format to allow it to be easily amended and updated.