Tenants employed to ensure Red Kite delivers on £100m upgrades (From Bucks Free Press)

Tenants employed to ensure Red Kite delivers on £100m upgrades

3:30pm Tuesday 14th February 2012 in Marlow By James Nadal

Jennie Ferrigno and a tenant

TENANTS at the housing association which has taken on Wycombe's council homes are being employed to ensure it keeps its promises on £100m upgrade plans.

Thirteen residents, being paid £12 an hour by Red Kite Community Housing, will act as watchdogs.

Over 6,000 Wycombe District Council houses were sold to Red Kite in December.

The liaison officers will get to know the tenants and become their main point of contact as improvement works are carried out, keeping them up to date.

Red Kite spokesman Zosia Katnik said: “From showing them the options for new kitchen cabinets, to completing a satisfaction survey when all work has been done, tenant liaison officers are a ‘one stop shop’ for seeing through all the good work that Red Kite is carrying out.

“If there are any problems, the officers are the first port of call and will let us know so we can quickly resolve any problems or issues."

Jennie Ferrigno, Chairman at Red Kite, which is a not-for-profit group, said: “As a tenant myself, I know how important it is for tenants to start seeing Red Kite improve the fabric of people’s homes, so we want dedicated people in place to see the process through from beginning to end.

“We are a tenant-led organisation, with tenants at the heart of everything we do, so what better than putting tenants in the driving seat and making sure we carry out our promises?

“We mean business when it comes to making things better for those living in our homes, so by having local people work with our tenants, we know that only the best will do and our tenant liaison officers won’t compromise when it comes to delivering the highest quality service”.