Resident involvement

Having your say is important. You know your home and community, you know the things that you love about living with Anchor, and what you’d like to see change.

You have useful experience and relevant ideas, and as an Anchor resident you have a range of opportunities to share them and make a difference to how we do things.

Positive changes shaped by involved residents

Your feedback helps us see where things could be done differently, it shapes our services and influences decisions. Here are just some of the recent changes residents have helped us make to the way we do things:

Always listening and acting

If you'd like to know more about the changes made in response to views expressed by involved residents visit our Listening and Acting page. It is updated regularly to highlight new ideas brought forward and how they are influencing the organisation.

We have a clear commitment in our business plan to ensure changes to our services are informed by residents through a wide variety of resident engagement channels. You can read more about how we ensure we meet the expectations of the housing regulator in our Resident Voice Strategy.

How you can make a difference

Whether you are most interested in your local community or want to work with us on business-wide policies and decisions, we are keen you get involved in any way you can. Getting involved doesn't have to take up much of your time and being part of a resident group, panel or network can be very rewarding.

Resident involvement offers you a chance to:

• Share your concerns, views and ideas
• Ask questions and better understand the organisation you live with
• Shape our policies and strategies
• Improve the performance of our services
• Make a difference to the lives of your fellow residents 
• Meet new people from all over the country
• Gain useful experience, develop new skills and build confidence.

Local involvement opportunities

There are lots of ways you can get involved in your local community. Opportunities vary from location to location and are decided by the needs and preferences of residents. Speak to your local manager to find out more about what’s already available and to make suggestions for what you would like to see introduced.

Tenants' and Residents' Associations 

Providing a forum for residents to meet formally to consider matters of local concern and importance, Residents' Associations can create an inclusive sense of community spirit and promote communication between Anchor and residents at individual locations.

We have created a handbook to help those interested in forming a Residents' Association.

Residents’ Association Handbook (last updated June 2024)

If you’d like more information please speak to your local manager who has access to a range of additional resources to help you get started.

Social groups

If a Residents' Association isn't the best fit, ask your local manager for information about setting up a local social group. If you are most interested in meeting new people you can also find information about the various free Be Connected initiatives here, aimed at bringing residents together.

National involvement opportunities

If you are interested in having your say nationally, we also have a Resident Voice Panel and number of resident involvement groups that look as distinct aspects of our services.

Resident Voice Panel 

Membership to the Resident Voice Panel is open to all residents and involves receiving regular invites to give Anchor feedback by completing surveys and/or joining focus groups.

This involves a lower level of commitment than some of the other national opportunities as you can choose the projects you want to feedback on and do them at a time that suits you. We stay in touch through a monthly Resident Voice Panel newsletter sharing what is going on across all the involved resident initiatives, groups and panels.

Resident involvement groups

There are nine national resident involvement groups, each with a unique focus and made up of residents with a range of experiences.

Find out more about the work of each below:

Community Grants Panel

We also have an advisory panel made up of Anchor residents and colleagues that review applications made for community grant funding. The members of the Community Grants Panel look for the ideas and initiatives that demonstrate the greatest opportunity for enhancing the quality of life for residents at our locations and allocate funding accordingly. As we often receive more applications than we have money to allocate, we are always looking for new members to join the panel and help with decision-making.

Find out how to get involved here.

Who are the members of Anchor’s resident involvement groups?

Not sure you're the kind of person that gets involved in groups or gives feedback? Well your ideas may be the ones we need the most.

Information about the membership of each group can be found on their individual website pages above. Chances are you will have more in common with other group members than you think, at the very least you share a relationship with the same housing provider. And if you find that is where the similarities end, then your experiences may currently be underrepresented in our involved resident groups, so it is even more important you use your voice.

A chat with our Residents’ Council Chair - August 2024

Watch our video of Anchor Chief Executive, Sarah Jones, and Heather Rowell, Chair of the Residents’ Council and Environmental Forum, discussing the important work of the Residents' Council.

Heather shares how she got involved with Anchor during the COVID-19 pandemic and how Anchor’s wellbeing activities, like the Be Connected Coffee Mornings, have been really important. She talks about how the Residents’ Council works with Anchor on issues that matter most to residents and touches on hot topics like guest rooms, personal barbecues, and converting bathrooms to wet rooms.