About 250 Tenant Management Organisations manage around 85,000 homes and all the evidence is that they manage far better than councils or housing associations.

Representative tenants organisations can exercise the Right to Manage and set up Tenant Management Organisations. This right was included in the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act of 1993 which came into force in April 1994 and has been enhanced through new Modular Management Agreements in 2005.

Tenant Management Organisations can be small co-operatives or can manage whole estates. They are run by the tenants who live in that area and make an agreement with the council or housing association to take over responsibility for day-to-day management with a budget negotiated with the local authority.

Most TMOs are in the council housing sector and concern has been expressed at the lack of development of Tenant Management among registered social landlords.

The Right to Manage process takes two to three years and tenants groups have to go through a series of steps.

1. Promotion

Drawing up a constitution for a tenant management organisation. Take a vote of all members. Serving a Right to Manage on the local authority.

2. Feasibility

A feasibility study carried out by an approved training agency to explore management options and assess demand.

3. Development

Deciding on the type of organisation, training the tenant managers and assessing their competence to manage, holding a final ballot, taking over management. The Right to Manage process is run by the Department of the Transport, the Environment and the Regions and funded by Section 16 Tenant Empowerment Grants.

Types of tenant management organisations are:

Estate management boards

Example: Belle Isle TMO in Leeds.

The council delegates powers to tenants elected onto an Estate Management Board usually covering one estate. EMBs have worked best when they are linked to a major improvement programme and when they have built on strong community grass-roots organisations. Tenants need to negotiate a management agreement with the council and follow the right to manage process with the approval of the DETR. The board of elected tenants and councillors is directly responsible for day to day management and has a delegated budget for repairs. Housing office staff are directly employed by the board. The board has to follow council policies and has little control over the capital investment programme. They may not be responsible for rent collecting. The repairs budget will not be paid over and will still be administered centrally. The main advantages are that tenants can direct the repairs budget and staff priorities to improve estate management. Disadvantages are that the TMO has responsibility without full control.

Tenant management co-operatives

Example: Cloverhall estate, Rochdale

These are more suitable for blocks of flats or small housing estates usually between 50-200 homes. A tenant management co-operative can be set up through the Right to Manage process with DETR approval. The co-operative must be legally constituted and registered as a Friendly Society. All tenants will be members - probably with a £1 share. Tenant board members are directly responsible for all management tasks. The management budget is paid directly to the TMC. TMCs usually employ their own staff and - in smaller co-operatives - do the work themselves. The tenant co-operative takes control over allocations. The council will continue to nominate new tenants. The co-operative can make final decision on lettings and may insist that new tenants agree to take part in running the co-operative .

Tenant ownership co-operative

Example: Weller Streets co-operative

A tenant ownership co-operative goes one step further than management co-operatives. In this structure,, the tenants are the legal owners of the properties. The council can transfer the homes to the co-operative which may be established as a housing association or have an agreement with a bigger association. The co-operative will be regulated by the Housing Corporation. A great example is the Weller Streets co-operative (read Alan McDonald's "The Weller Way" 1986). Tenants in a Liverpool clearance area did not want to lose their community when their homes were knocked down. So they bought their own land and designed their own estate. Finance was provided through the Housing Corporation and the architects etc worked directly for the co-op. They now manage their estate and tenants are well satisfied.

Borough-wide Tenant Management Organisation

The only example so far is Kensington and Chelsea TMO which has since become an Arms-Length Management Organisation. A borough-wide TMO is a tenant management organisation which takes all council homes in the borough under tenant control. The borough-wide TMO doesn't just run day to day management but all council housing functions. Housing staff transfer from the council to the TMO. Management is by a tenant board with some councillor involvement. A complex participation structure ensures that local areas have devolved budgets which they control through their own Area Boards. By agreeing the Right to Manage with the DETR in 1997, Kensington & Chelsea avoided having to put their housing management service out to compulsory competitive tendering. Kensington & Chelsea TMO have an excellent management record with no rent rise in three years and high scores on tenant satisfaction surveys. It has 5000 tenant and leaseholder members, 58 tenants associations, with 60 reps involved in the various management boards. The TMO trains 50 tenant reps every year. For more information see the website of the National Federation of Tenant Management Organisations