Tenant Participation

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 gives tenants legal rights in relation to participation and places a duty on local authorities and registered social landlords to consult with tenants on a range of housing issues.

Housing, Customer and Building Services (HCBS) is the landlord for West Lothian Council's housing stock and has the responsibility to communicate, consult and take on board the views and opinions of tenants.  These will be used to influence decisions and shape services to meet the needs of tenants.  The Council has a Tenant Participation Strategy which sets out ways tenants can take part in improving, monitoring and scrutinising services. 

Tenants have a right to be consulted on:

• Changes to rent and service charges
• Housing management, repairs and maintenance policies, standards of service in relation to housing
• Any proposal to change the landlord
• The Tenant Participation Strategy

The West Lothian Tenant Participation Strategy [4.79MB] sets out how tenants and service users can take part in a number of ways, both formal and informal. 

Here are some examples of how you can get involved:

• Tenants and Residents Groups
• Surveys
• Register of Interested Tenants
• Working Groups
• Editorial Panel
• Housing Networks
• Tenant Led Inspections
• Annual Events
• Tenants Panel
• Estate Walkabouts
• Good Neighbour Awards
• Street Environmental Improvement Projects

For more information please take a look at the Tenant Participation Strategy [4.79MB].If you would like to speak to someone about this or would like a copy of the strategy sent out to you, please contact the Tenant Participation Team at TP@westlothian.gov.uk or complete the form. 

Can you think of a communal area that could do with a bit of a facelift.  We have an annual budget where tenants can put forward their ideas that would benefit tenants in the area. To be considered, applications must fulfil the following criteria:

Projects must:

• be on land owned by Housing, Customer and Building Services
• be on communal/shared areas which will improve the environment and/or security for tenants in the area
• must have agreement of other council services or external agencies where maintenance is or wile their responsibility at the end of a project

Projects must NOT:

• be used to fund work in individual homes
• require ongoing maintenance by Housing, Customer and Building Services
• must not include individual garden space

If you have an idea for a project, complete our online application.

Housing, Customer and Building Services works with tenants throughout the year in various different ways.  The Tenant Participation Report details the work that the Tenant Participation Team has been involved in:

• Tenant Participation Report 2020-21 [240.17KB]
• Tenant Participation Report 2019-20 [1.67MB]
• Tenant Participation Annual Report 2018-19 [1.34MB]
• Tenant Participation Annual Report 2017-18 [658.77KB]