A few facts about Five Ways Housing Management
- Five Ways properties are still owned by Lewisham Council, which remains the Landlord.
- As council tenants, Five Ways tenants still have all the rights of Lewisham Council tenants, including the right to buy.
- All new Five Ways tenants have the same security of tenure as they have now.
- Five Ways employ professional, friendly staff to manage and maintain the properties
- Lewisham Council pays Five Ways an annual allowance to manage and maintain the estate and the homes
Benefits of being part of Five Ways Housing Management
- Five Ways has an office on Milton Court Road, which means our tenants do not have far to go
- Five Ways has a small staff team which means tenants know the staff and see the same people in the office
- Five Ways has their own contractors which means our repairs are done quicker
- Five Ways have their own on-site cleaning company
- Five Ways regularly clean the chutes, remove graffiti and bulk rubbish
- Green areas are better kept and maintained
Value for money
- Five Ways carries less overheads than the council, so we get better value for money
- This also means Five Ways can save money to use to pay for other projects such as brick walls, double glazing renewal & refurbishment, new front doors and CCTV.
- Being part of Five Ways means you can elect a block representative who would also join the management committee and bring any problems with your block to the monthly meetings.
Why be on the committee? By Debbie Wells, Chair
Five Ways is a tenant management organisation and is only as great as the people who work for us and the contribution we make as residents to the management of the properties. The TMO always needs new members; there are people who have been involved in the organisation since before we took over management and people who have joined at various times in the last 25 years.
Each of us brings something unique to the committee in terms of our life experience, knowledge and skills. You may think that you have nothing to offer but you do! One of the things that those of us who have been on the committee long-term are most proud of is the opportunities that the committee has given to members to learn new skills: some of these skills are valuable in terms of enhancing a person’s employability skills; indeed some people are now working in Housing Management, others have gained experience and knowledge which has led to them becoming skilled in Human Resource Management, financial control or repairs and maintenance issues.
One of our original aims was that the TMO should give something back to the people who give their time to help to run the TMO. We who have been active in running the TMO have all learnt new skills which have benefited us in life generally as well by enabling us to communicate more effectively, to develop and present a reasoned argument and to have more confidence when speaking with authority figures such as Politicians, Police Officers, and government officials. Now is a particularly advantageous time to join the management committee as we have recently embarked on a training and review exercise which is re-examining the management agreement which we have with Lewisham Council as well as reviewing all of our policies and procedures.
All of the committee regardless of past experience are involved in this procedure. We have the ability to mentor new individuals and to support people who may be less confident in communicating in a committee setting or with reading documents, we are all just local people and we have all been new to the committee at one time or another so please don’t feel that you have nothing to contribute and nothing to gain. If you would like to speak to a committee member one to one just contact the office and it can be arranged. We look forward to working with you!