Having your say
We listen to you, we learn and we improve. That’s the Cairn way. And so we’re always keen to give our tenants plenty of opportunities to get involved. To help to shape the services we deliver and assist us in delivering better homes and better landlord services.
After all, you’re living in our developments. You know the issues that affect you and your family, your neighbours, your community. So we want to work hard on the things that matter the most to you.
As you can see, there are lots of ways of taking part in Cairn and influencing what we do. So you can be involved as much, or as little as you like, depending on the time and energy you want to commit. If you would like to take part in any of these groups, please get in touch.
The Tenant Voice Board is a space where tenants and Cairn leadership meet as equals to:
- review and improve housing services
- influence policies and priorities
- share ideas and concerns from the community
- make sure tenants’ voices are heard at the highest level
There are no formal qualifications needed – just your lived experience, ideas and a passion for making things better.
The group meet at least four times a year (mostly online but some may be in person) and each meeting will last around two hours. We give free training and ongoing support, as well as covering any travel expenses.
The Customer Insights Panel focuses on improving services through detailed project-based work. Members will:
- Take part in focused scrutiny projects on specific topics
- Explore how services are delivered in practice
- Collaborate with staff and other tenants
- Make recommendations for improvement
There are no formal qualifications needed – just your lived experience and the ability to work with us constructively. The group work on a maximum of three projects a year. Meetings are held during these projects (both online and in person) and members complete tasks between meetings.
This is a group exclusively for our court tenants to share their ideas, experiences and recommendations for how we can improve court living. They act as court representatives and meet with staff throughout the year to bring concerns and thoughts from their community.
This is a group of tenants who have expressed interest in being involved in Cairn’s work without the commitment of being a group member. Tasks could involve answering surveys or reviewing policy documents. There are no group meetings and all tasks can be completed at home.
YOU SAID
WE DID
Cairn are not always clear on what you’re paying for or how money is spent.
We are sharing clearer information about rent and service charges this year. From this winter, our rent consultation will be more detailed and include a breakdown of our income and spending. We are publishing a report in May 2026 showing what tenants told us during the recent rent consultation and how we responded.
We don’t always see how feedback influences decisions.
We will publish regular “You said, we did” updates showing how tenant feedback leads to change. We have appointed a Tenant Engagement Officer and a Customer Insights Officer to strengthen tenant involvement and to ensure tenant feedback shapes our services. We are establishing a Tenant Voice Board and a Customer Insights Panel. We will run a large-scale tenant satisfaction survey this summer and involve tenants in shaping our new business plan for 2027 – 2030.
Estates are not always well looked after.
We are reviewing our grounds maintenance contract and the standards contractors must meet. We will ask tenants for feedback on the current service as part of this review. We will clearly explain what work should be done and how often, so tenants know what to expect. This will be shared on our website as soon as possible. A new estate management policy is being developed, covering everything from estate inspections and how we deal with issues such as unacceptable behaviour.
Homes need investment
We have spent over £6million upgrading homes so far this financial year and plan to spend over £7million by the end of March 2026. Once approved by our Board, we will publish our improvement plans for next year.
