Residents' Council

At Anchor, the Residents' Council work with us collaboratively to improve and develop our services and hold the organisation to account. 

The group is made up of the chairs of all the other formal Anchor resident groups, and members meet every 6 weeks. They coordinate with local Anchor Residents’ Associations as well as individual residents to make sure as many people’s voices and views are heard as possible, and produce an annual report to the Board of the organisation.

The key responsibilities of the Residents’ Council are to:

• Consult with Anchor on major initiatives to make sure they meet the needs of our residents
• Hold Anchor to account by:
  • Making sure we engage with and listen to the views of residents when making decisions that relate to our housing and support
  • Having oversight of Anchor business performance, identifying reviews and making sure all regulatory standards are met or exceeded
  • Working with Anchor to co-create our resident involvement strategy
  • Giving input to internal audit work relating to services to residents

Current and upcoming projects

Recently the Residents' Council have been supporting Anchor’s plan for how we manage all of our change projects in a joined-up way, which we call the One Plan. 

The Council have also been involved with a range of projects to improve and simplify our housing services, including those focusing on: 

• Repairs and investment  
• Policy reviews 
• Anchor customer centre telephony
• Customer relationship management  
• Housing workforce projects  

Council meetings

The Residents' Council meet every 6 weeks virtually via Microsoft Teams. They have one face to face meeting a year, which is held in either a south or north location on alternative years. The timing of this in person meeting usually aligns with when and where an Anchor Board meeting is taking place to enable Council members to meet with the Board to talk about their priorities and experiences as residents.

Recent meeting summaries

At the last meeting of the Residents' Council items discussed included resident communications, Anchor's change programme, and proposals for how the resident voice can be heard within our governance structure.  

The Council also discussed performance across a range of areas they monitor including:

• Management of empty homes
• Rent and service charges
• Customer experience 
• Community safety and safeguarding
• Damp, mould and condensation 

Who are the members of the Residents' Council?

The Residents' Council can have a maximum of 12 permanent members who are either chairs of other formal resident involvement groups or lead on a particular area of work providing Anchor colleagues with support and constructive challenge (such as resident wellbeing or anti-social behaviour). 

There are currently 8 members of the Residents' Council, 5 representing Anchor rented housing and 3 representing homeownership properties. Their experiences reflect a range of different parts of the country.

How can I join the Residents' Council?

All members of the Council are formally involved residents - register your interest here. 

Find out more about resident involvement at Anchor

We’re always looking for ways to engage with the people living with us to shape what we do and how we do it. There are a range of local and national opportunities for Anchor residents to influence and improve the performance of our services. 

Find out more