My House, My Street, My Say

The My House, My Street, My Say! event on Saturday 31 January saw almost 100 young people from across the UK turn out to have their say about their neighbourhood, community and social housing.

The young people discussed the TSA’s proposed new standards for social housing landlords as issues such as dangerous dogs, how younger people can have a greater say in their communities and youth centres were top of the agenda.

Sumaia Mashal, Chair of Poplar HARCA Youth Board said, “Younger people have so many ideas but don’t always know how to put them into practice. So an event like this helps share ideas and helps them to go back to their communities knowing how to go about making changes.”

Ruhul Alam, one of Poplar HARCA’s tenants who attended the event said, “Young people are not only interested in young issues – they’re interested in all issues. I want to show that young people do want to get involved in issues that affect them – like decision-making policies.”

Peter Marsh, Chief Executive of the TSA, said, “Good quality decent homes and safe and secure neighbourhoods make a huge difference to how people get on in life. This event has given young people a voice – a chance to tell us what matters most to them about social housing and the neighbourhoods in which they live.”

Poplar HARCA’s Resident Empowerment Manager Fintan Tynan said, “This is a start for some young tenants. Some have not had the confidence to go to their landlord or their landlord doesn’t listen to them when they have a problem. Now they are keen to go back to their landlord – it’s the next step for them.”

The young people also participated in the Dear Prime Minister initiative, recording ‘Big Brother’ style diary room clips about what they want the next Prime Minster to do to bring about change in their communities. The clips will be available on www.socialbreakfast.org