About Tenant and Resident Associations
Tenant and Resident Associations (TRAs) are formal groups made of residents from specific blocks or estates within the borough. A TRA can achieve things that an individual would find difficult to do on their own.
Check to see if there is a TRA on your estate already
Advantages to forming a TRA:
- recognised formal body by housing related services and the Council as a whole
- get access to revenue grants to financially support the TRA’s activities
- access all levels of Camden Council
- be able to join a district management committee and to access funding for environmental improvement, activities and small capital works schemes
- kept informed about all developments taking place on your estate
You can also contact the Tenant Participation Team
Setting up a Tenant and Resident Association
Basic conditions of setting up a TRA:
- obtaining the support of tenants and leaseholders in the area you wish to represent;
- setting up a constitution which will govern how your TRA is run (the tenant participation team can help you with this)
- ensuring that the membership of your group is representative of its defined area.
Model constitution and Code of Conduct
The Tenant Participation Team have provided these documents to help your group run smoothly:
- Download: Model TRA constitution (Word doc)
- Download: Code of Conduct
- Download: TRA Equal Opportunities Statement
- Download: Committee Skills – information booklet
You can also contact the Tenant Participation Team or your local neighbourhood housing officer who will be happy to offer advice and guidance.
Register your Tenant and Resident Association
Register your TRA with Camden Council and your local District Management Committee (DMC). The Tenant Participation Team can help you do this.
You will need your TRA to run properly and everything to be accounted for, the documents below will help you with that:
- Download: Criteria for registering your TRA with Camden (PDF)
- Download: TRA AGM Independent Observer form (Word doc)
- Download: Form to register new TRAs with Camden (Word doc)
- Download: Form to register existing TRAs with Camden (Word doc)
- Download: TRA DMC membership form (Word doc)
Helping your TRA to be a success
Keeping Accounts
The first is an example of how to record the money coming into your TRA and what it is being spent on. It is important to keep clear and accurate records, and keep the receipts for the things that you spend money on.
- Download: Income and Expenditure sheet
Planning and developing your group
The TRA Quality Framework is a self-assessment tool. This will help you develop your group, plan your TRA activities and assess your training needs. It asks you questions to identify your strengths and areas that may need some attention.
For those TRAs who score highly on the self-assessment, you may wish to consider sharing your good practice with other TRAs in your area; or ‘buddy’ potential or fledgling TRAs who have not yet acquired your experience or expertise.
- Download: Quality framework self-assessment (pdf)
- Download: Quality framework guide (pdf)
After completing the self-assessment please return your form to tp@camden.gov.uk
Financial support for Tenant and Resident Associations (TRAs)
You can use these funding available to help with the running of your association. For more details please see the TRA Grants information sheet:
- Download: TRA grants information sheet (PDF)
- Download: TRA Start-up Grant Application Form (Word 71KB)
- Download: TRA revenue grant application form (Word 82KB)
- Download: TRA Special Projects Grant Application Form (Word)
- Download: TRA Computer Loan Application Form (Word 96KB)
District Management Committee (DMC) Grants
Other funds are available from your local DMC. For information on DMCs and how to apply please follow this link: TRAs and DMCs