2010 TMO Conference now fully booked.
The NFTMO annual conference in Stratford-upon-Avon on June 11th to 13th 2010 is now pretty much fully booked. 

Places Still Available for Annual Conference in Windsor this July
It is still not too late to book for this year's joint NFTMO / CCH Annual Conference which is to take place over the weekend of Friday 10th to Sunday 12th July. The venue this year is the lovely Beaumont House Conference Centre, Old Windsor in Berkshire. Some places are still available!A Booking form can be downloaded from this site. 

Government consults on Council Housing Finance and on Allocations
The Government has published two consultation documents which will have implications for many TMOs. 

WATMOS Looking for New Chief Executive
WATMOS Community Homes Chief Executive Stuart Masters is moving on after helping to establish the organisation as a unique and successful tenant led RSL built around eight TMOs in Walsall. WATMOS are now advertising for a new Chief Executive. The closing date for applications is May 29th.  

TMOs Asked to Return NFTMO Survey on Allowances
TMOs are being asked to complete and return a short questionnaire survey about this year's management and maintenance allowances. The NFTMO wants to get a clearer picture of the levels of allowances and the process by which they are being fixed. 

Little Venice Seek Manager
PART-TIME T.M.O. MANAGER, LONDON W2. Salary: £16.00 per hour; 20 hours per week. Closing date: 23.02.09. Little Venice Housing Co-op are looking for an enthusiastic, self-sufficient, hands-on, multi-skilled and multi-tasking person with the initiative to manage 63 properties within a small and friendly TMO/Housing Co-operative 

Government Consults on Time Off Work Rights for TMO Board Members
The Government has been consulting about including TMO Board members in the range of people who are legally entitled to take time off work to carry out public duties. 

Looking for Guide TMOs to Show the Way
An NFTMO proposal to develop a network of beacon or GUIDE TMOs now has the support of the government’s Right to Manage Review Group. The aim is to establish a network of Guide TMOs by March 2009. 

New NFTMO Executive Committee
The NFTMO has gained some new national executive committee members following the committee elections at the AGM in June. The National Executive includes 9 TMO reps from London and the South, 6 TMO reps from the Midlands and 6 TMO reps from the North. 

Membership Rates Fixed for 2008-2009
Increases in the NFTMO Membership Fees were agreed at the Annual General Meeting in June. 

NFTMO Young Leaders Conference August1st-3rd
Over the weekend of August 1st -3rd a special conference in Chester will bring together young people from TMO and Guide Neighbourhood communities to share ideas, network and learn from others. The NFTMO Young Leaders Conference 2008 is the first of its kind. 

First TMOs Awarded Good Governance Kite Mark
Three TMOs have become the first in the country to be awarded the NFTMO Good Governance Kite Mark. Belle Isle TMO from Leeds, Friday Hill TMO from East London and Burrowes Street TMO from Walsall have gained the Kite Mark following a process of self evaluation, action planning and external assessment. All TMOs are now being encouraged to seek the Kite Mark as evidence of good practice. 

Three National Tenants' Organisations Discuss Joint Action
Representatives of the NFTMO have met with their counterparts from TAROE and CCH to explore how the three national tenants’ organisations might work together to represent tenants on issues of common concern.  

Government Consults on Improvements to Right to Manage
In her speech to the CiH conference in Harrogate on 19th June, Ruth Kelly launched a Communities and Local Government’s consultation paper on Tenant Empowerment. The paper includes proposals for improved Right to Manage procedures that should open the door for many more communities to choose the TMO route if they wish to. 

Updated Right to Manage Guidance
The NFTMO has been working with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and some Section 16 Agencies to update and streamline the Right to Manage guides known to those who have used them as the ‘yellow books’. The ODPM are consulting on the new documents. You can view copies now on this site. 

Great Spirit at 2006 TMO Conference
The 2006 Annual TMO Conference was held in mid June at Stoke Rochford Hall in Grantham. The warm weather helped to make it a great weekend for the 160 delegates who attended. TMOs exchanged inspiring stories of achievement and progress. There was also plenty of evidence of the difficulties being experienced by many TMOs, particularly some of those working with Housing Associations and ALMOs. 

2006 Conference Contact Details
There was plenty of networking at the TMO conference in June with many useful links made with other TMOs. If you want to follow up a contact but you have mislaid or forgotten the other delegates' details, help is at hand! Click the link below to view the 2006 Conference Delegate list and contact details. 

Law Commission Report Proposes Single Tenancy
The Law Commission has published proposals for a single tenure for council and RSL tenants. The report, called ‘Renting Homes’ proposes that council tenants would retain the Right to Manage and for RSL tenants a) the Secretary of State would have the power to bring defined RSL housing within the Right to Manage and b) RSLs could voluntarily opt in to the Right To Manage. 

Business planning toolkit now available here!
A little later than planned but well worth the wait! The Business Planning and In Touch toolkit for TMOs is now available. The toolkit was commissioned by the NFTMO and HouseMark and was funded by an Innovation into Action grant. 

Cath Quine Award Winner Announced
The first annual Cath Quine Award for Service to a TMO Community’ has gone to Stephen Lynch, who was the dedicated chairperson of the Power EMB in Liverpool until his untimely death this year. The Award is given to an individual TMO or Co-op member whose voluntary work has made a real difference to the lives of people in their own community. The Federation is now inviting nominations for the 2007 award.  

Take control of your local economy
PEP has launched a free resource pack to help local people improve their local economy via community-centred initiatives. It is based on innovative ‘option studies’ completed this year in Leicestershire and Sussex. 

Government pledges support for TMOs
2006 looks like being a year of change and an important one for TMOs. The Government has pledged to bring TMOs higher up their agenda but on the ground the environment seems to be increasingly less supportive of tenant controlled housing. 

New Management Agreement and Software to make it easy
he long awaited new Modular Management Agreement (MMA) for TMOs is now available from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. At the same time a new computer software tool has been developed for the NFTMO that will make the MMA easier to understand and work with.