Tenants and Residents Associations (TRAs) are formal groups made up of residents from specific blocks, streets or local areas. They play an important role in representing the views and interests of people living there. This includes working in collaboration with London Borough of Newham and other stakeholders to make their area a better place. A TRA may achieve more by a group of people working together than an individual can do on their own.
What can a TRA do?
TRAs bring local people together and work with the council and others to deal with the challenges they may be facing, including housing issues such as repairs and maintenance, or other community concerns such as the environment or crime. They may also organise social activities, events or trips. Some TRAs run community projects such as community gardens. They may apply for grant funding to help with the costs of their activities.
Benefits of a registered TRA
- Can speak to the council on behalf of your TRA
- Can put on community events
- Access to funding (including annual grants and a start-up grant of £250)
- Support and guidance available
- Can attend training and networking events for TRAs
- Attendance at meetings by your Housing Liaison Officer
Have an existing residents group and want to register it with us?
We welcome existing groups to register with us as a formal TRA. For this to be possible, the group will need to meet the following requirements/criteria:
- Have a constitution that aligns with our model constitution (PDF)
- Have a bank account with at least 3 signatories (although only Treasurer plus one other required to sign each cheque)
- Produce annual accounts
- Have a code of conduct
- Hold fair and open elections
- Hold a minimum of 4 public meetings per year
- Meet our minimum quorum and committee member requirements
If you are ready to register, please complete a TRA Registration Form (PDF) and return it to us. If you have any queries or you need support to complete this form, please contact the Resident Involvement Team by emailing getinvolved.housing@newham.gov.uk or calling 020 3373 8743.
Looking to set up a new TRA?
We want to help residents to set up new TRAs were one doesn’t already exist.
Some of the steps required to set up a registered TRA are:
- Talking to your neighbours – an informal survey is one way to gauge interest
- Arrange, publicise and hold an initial meeting
- Decide if a group is possible and key aims of the group
- Draft a TRA constitution (in line with our model constitution PDF)
- Hold a meeting to set up the TRA, approve a constitution and elect a committee
The group will also need to meet the following requirements/criteria:
- Have a constitution that aligns with our model constitution
- Have a bank account with at least 3 signatories (although only Treasurer plus one other required to sign each cheque)
- Produce annual accounts
- Have a code of conduct
- Hold fair and open elections
- Hold a minimum of 4 public meetings per year
- Meet our minimum quorum and committee member requirements
Training will be available to residents who are active or who want to get involved. If you are interested in setting up a TRA, we would be happy to discuss this further with you. For support and advice, please contact the Resident Involvement Team by email at getinvolved.housing@newham.gov.uk or by phone on 020 3373 8743.
Looking to join a TRA?
As this is a new initiative, there are no TRAs currently registered with us.
However, we will be creating a list of registered TRAs as soon as registrations begin. If you are interested in joining your local TRA, you will be able to use our list to see if there is a TRA that is local to you.
If you and other residents in your block or local area are interested in setting up a TRA, please see the relevant section above and/or contact the Resident Involvement Team by email at getinvolved.housing@newham.gov.uk or by phone on 020 3373 8743.
