Tenants and residents across South Yorkshire are showing they are singing from the same hymn sheet with the launch of a new network.

Chairs of South Yorkshire’s local tenant and resident federations came together to sign a charter agreeing to support a South Yorkshire network enabling tenants and residents to address issues both on a local and national level with one collective voice.

The South Yorkshire Tenants and Residents Network is an informal alliance of RotherFed, Barnsley Tenants Federation, Doncaster Tenants Federation and the emerging Tenant and Residents Alliance of Sheffield.

The new umbrella organisation was launched at a major conference held in Rotherham at the Springwell Gardens Community Centre.

Workshops discussing the future of South Yorkshire Tenants and Residents Network were preceded by presentations from Chief Executives of all four Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMOs) in South Yorkshire outlining and consulting on plans for their future.

Chair of Rother Fed Peter Collins said: “The tenants and residents network meetings will be a great platform through which people can come along and make their voices heard. Having the four chief executives from each of the South Yorkshire ALMOs at this conference also demonstrated a true commitment to the network from them and set the context for us working closely together with the ALMOs in the future.”

Richard Crossley, from the Tenants Service Authority, also spoke at the Conference on the creation of a National Tenants Voice which aims to give tenants a voice, influence and expertise at national level, giving them a greater influence over the services they receive.

Chair of Barnsley Tenants Federation Barry McGowan said: “The event went extremely well and feedback about the launch of the network has been very positive. This sets the standard for future meetings and we expect this will set the context for tenants and residents to work with the South Yorkshire ALMOs in the future.”

Chair of Doncaster Tenants Federation Brian Naughton said: “We are looking clearly into the future of housing management and involvement and I was delighted to be able to show Doncaster’s commitment to the network through the signing of the Charter. Members will be given every opportunity to help the housing services make sure they are providing the services council tenants want. We need our tenants to stand up and have their say.”

The new network will be an independent network founded on democratic principles and is not affiliated to any political parties.

Chief Executive of 2010 Rotherham Graham Eades said: “Having a strong tenants and residents voice is key to delivering excellent services to our communities. The future of housing management rests in knowing what our customers want and being able to deliver that successfully – this will bring us one step closer to achieving that aim.”