Tony Kelly takes retirement after 16 years at TPAS

 

16 years ago, a fresh-faced Tony Kelly joined the team at TPAS Scotland with a mission to change the thinking around tenant participation in Scotland.  Now Tony has retired from his current position, so we caught up with him to find out his thoughts and highlights during his time at TPAS.

 

TP over the last 16 years

 

I’ve been invested in tenant participation for a lot longer than 16 years having worked in housing for a very long time.  TP used to be mostly females who got together to talk about common issues in their tenancy – housing conditions were pretty bad back then – no central heating, outside toilets, serious damp and mould.  There was one driver for these tenants – to force their landlord to make changes!  Landlords were highly resistant as tenant concerns were not their number one priority.

 

Landlords have had to pivot extensively over the years.  Not only are they dealing with housing and housing services, but they are now also facing community challenges such as unemployment, drug issues, gangs etc and many landlords don’t have the knowledge or staff to cope with these issues.

 

Tony’s career has spanned many years in Housing having worked with Margaret Blackwood Housing Association and later Stirling Council before joining TPAS.  He had a wealth of knowledge delivering housing services which were complementary skills to Lesley Baird and Jamie Valentine who were working for TPAS at the time.

 

Tony’s first client was Cube Housing Association (and later moved over to the Wheatley Group).   His role was to help set up tenant’s groups, working with tenants to help them understand the information being shared, ensuring contributions were right, scrutiny, with them and helping create a TP strategy that would work not just for Wynford and Broomhill, with its multi-storey blocks but to tenants in West Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire that has joined Cube.   Tony’s final client before he retired was with Calvay Housing Association.  He helped create a scrutiny group and supported the organisation and tenants with their communication to rebuild the relationships between the landlord and tenants.

 

Highlights over the last 16 years

 

There are so many, but a couple of things stand out said Tony.   We were exploring a certified qualification for tenants over 10 years ago and created the first certified course specifically for tenants.  Unfortunately, it failed as it was too focused on legislation and professional skills.  But we didn’t give up and today’s TP Certificate, which is an Open College Network NI Level 2 Endorsed Course Certificate in Tenant Participation & Community Development, is now well established and we’ve had over 50 successful graduates.

 

But the real highlights have been the many moments when you see a tenant and / or staff members getting it and realising their confidence, knowledge and skills are making a difference in their communities.

 

I love meeting and talking to people and TPAS gave me the perfect opportunity to meet so many people, listening to their challenges and finding solutions that make a real difference.  We work with so many diverse communities from the Scottish Borders to the Highlands and Islands and right across the central belt and I think what makes TPAS different is the fact that we treat every tenancy individually, finding local solutions that meet their local needs.

We laugh about how the regions were divided up.  If it had an urban focus, it was mine.  If there were beautiful views, a flight involved and some Scottish wildlife, it was Lesley’s!  Seniority definitely has its perks!!

 

So, what’s next for Tony?

 

I haven’t left TPAS completely.  I’m working with the team a few days a month to make sure I share my knowledge and insights with Eveline and deliver TP across some of their clients.  But what I’m really looking forward to is spending time with my grandchildren but returning home to Donegal, indulging in the peace and quiet of the region, splitting the G with the locals and spending a bit more time with the Irish side of my family.

 

1 take away from my time at TPAS

 

Things change.  Housing has become more business focused than it was 30 or 40 years ago, concentrating on the Charter, regulation and adhering to legislation.  Tenants and community need to at the heart of everything  Councils and  HAs stand for.  Tenants need more support to help them understand what The Charter, regulation and legislation changes mean to them, landlords need support to engage with tenants and understand their aspirations and TPAS Scotland plays an instrumental role in linking the two.