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Am I too late to get involved?
Not at all! We are planning to hold workshops and drop-in sessions through the coming months to start to shape how the new offer would work in practice, and we would welcome anyone interested in getting involved. Please call us or email community@eastlighthomes.co.uk to find out more.
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Will this charter cost us more?
No. If this goes ahead, the resources that we currently put towards running our Shareholding offer would support the creation and running of the Charter, which we believe would result in much greater resident engagement.
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Have other housing associations done this?
Other housing associations have also replaced shareholder models with charters such as the one proposed in order to improve opportunities for residents to shape the homes and services they receive.
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If this charter was introduced, would Eastlight remain a Community Gateway Association?
Yes! Being a Community Gateway association is about committing to resident and community involvement, working in partnership with residents, empowering residents and communities, and focusing on local accountability by having a resident-led democratic structure in place. As a result, we believe that giving residents more opportunities to shape the services that matter to you means we would be strengthening our Community Gateway ethos.
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What happens if residents don't want this?
We are consulting on this proposal because we believe this Charter will provide you with more relevant opportunities to get involved than we currently offer. If this isn't introduced, then we will continue to offer shareholding as we do now. We will continue to run engagement activities in line with our rules and regulatory expectations.
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What happens next?
Please take the time to share your feedback. The Customer Influence Committee and Board will assess your views before deciding on next steps. If there is strong support for the Resident Members Charter, then we will invite Shareholders to vote on a proposal to introduce it in line with our rules. Subject to views raised in the consultation, the proposal would be to replace Shareholding with the Eastlight Resident Members Charter. If voted in, then Board members would be Eastlight’s shareholders, and would vote on administrative matters currently, such as who our auditors are. Resident Shareholders would be invited to become Resident Members instead, where they would be consulted on any major changes to Eastlight’s operations, which would give more residents the chance to influence anything proposed.
