District Council tenants encouraged to join NSDC Housing Services Facebook page

Earlier this year the District Council held a number of engagement sessions with tenants, colleagues and councillors to understand how they can better connect those interested in knowing more about their housing services.

These sessions were run by TPAS, (Tenant Participation Advisory Service) who are England's leading tenant engagement experts. They were commissioned to help put a series of actions in place for the Council to better listen, hear and communicate with tenants.

One of these methods was the creation of a dedicated Facebook page. Tenants told the council that they wanted a page that would facilitate communication specific to our social housing activities and news rather than other council functions. After much planning in the background, a new Facebook page has been launched.

This platform will keep tenants informed about updates to housing services, provide opportunities for involvement, and share information regarding upcoming tenant related events and news in the area.

The District Council is encouraging all tenants of Newark and Sherwood District Council to follow the page on Facebook to stay connected and up to date with the latest news. The page is called ‘NSDC Housing Services’ and can be found at www.facebook.com/NSDCHousingServices .

It’s not the only way they communicate with Tenants; they also have a Tenant e-newsletter called Tenant Times. Sent out four times a year, it contains all the latest news and information relevant to tenants. The information will vary in each update but often includes information about reporting repairs, different ways to get in touch or how to influence changes to the housing services you receive.

The next e-newsletter will be going out in December. If you’re a tenant, you can sign up for it here: www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/TenantTimes

Councillor Lee Brazier, Portfolio Holder for Housing, said: “Good, regular engagement with tenants is vital and we’re doing more to involve tenants in shaping housing services and informing the way we communicate. Our Tenant Annual Report 2024-25 is a great example of this where we’ve engaged with tenants early to find out what they wanted to see in it.

“The TPAS engagement sessions have given us lots of good ideas to build and improve on our current arrangements, tenants will be seeing changes soon to the way we involve them more in decision making.”

The District Councils Tenant Annual Report was completed in September this year and can be found here: https://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/tenantannualreport

If you’re a tenant and you want to be kept updated with these improvements, make sure to follow the new Facebook page and sign up to Tenant Times!