A TMO is a means by which council or housing association tenants and leaseholders can collectively take on responsibility for managing the homes they live in.

Those resident members of the TMO create an independent legal body and usually elect a tenant led management committee to run the organisation. The TMO can then enter into a legal management agreement (contract) with the landlord. The TMO is paid annual management and maintenance allowances in order to carry out the management duties that are delegated to them.

TMOs can take different forms and sizes. Many are tenant management co-operatives – using co-op rules. Others may take the form of not-for-profit companies. Some TMOs manage just a handful of homes while others manage large estates of two or three thousand properties. The small TMOs may rely mainly on voluntary effort but most employ staff such as housing managers, caretakers and repair workers.

The services managed by the TMO vary with local circumstances but may include day-to-day repairs, allocations and lettings, tenancy management, cleaning and caretaking, and rent collection.