MUTUAL AID  

What is it All About? Manningham Housing pioneered “mutual aid” letting in 1997 on a brand new scheme at Byron Street. Mutual aid is a concept that seeks to tap into the goodwill and desire of neighbours to foster social capital and community cohesion through mutually helping one another out in tasks ranging from baby-sitting to gardening and home décor. Mutual Aid essentially is an agreement signed by tenants to provide mutual help and support to their neighbours according to their particular skills and availability.
Use of Mutual Aid Questionnaires The allocation process starts when applicants on the Association’s waiting list are selected on the basis of the Lettings Policy for upcoming new-build schemes 12 weeks before handover date. Mutual aid questionnaires are then sent to these applicants. When questionnaires are returned, all applicants are visited by the patch Housing Officer and Lettings Officer. The visit is to check that the applicants are looking after their current property reasonably and that a verbal interview with them can confirm what they have stated in their application about their good neighbourliness, payment of rent, and Mutual Aid skills.
Use of Scheme-Focused Mutual Aid Meeting Outcome of visit is written up, and assessment checklist completed for each applicant. Applicants are then shortlisted for properties on the basis of the Mutual Aid scoring grid. Successful applicants will attend a scheme-focused Mutual Aid meeting covering: Mutual Aid agreement or compact, Good Neighbour agreement, Anti-social Behaviour agreement, and the Association’s tenancy agreement Allocation of properties Probationary tenancies if applicable Procedure and date for sign-ups and rent List of local amenities given to tenants Where practicable, applicants have the choice of selecting who their neighbours will be on the new scheme by selecting the property of their choice. Practical Expectations The key objective of our Mutual Aid approach to letting is to enable potential tenants to form constructive neighbourly relationships with new or existing households on Manningham’s schemes prior to letting. This will ensure a harmonious living environment and ‘community’. Accordingly: New tenants are expected to make introductions to their neighbours on the scheme prior to signing the tenancy agreement. Housing Officers send letters to immediate neighbours on either side of the new tenant informing them of the new tenant and the expected introductions from them and also what key skills they have. On the settling in visit, Housing Officers ask whether introductions to neighbours have been made. A review of the success of the new Mutual Aid tenancy is conducted six months after sign-up. If you wish to know more, please click here.

Manningham Housing Association, a specialist housing association providing accomodation for large families and diverse minority communities in Bradford and Keighley, West Yorkshire, promotes tenant involvement and regeneration of local communities in addition to providing development of new homes and services to meet the housing and support needs for the community.
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