Housing Matters – April 2026
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Read the April 2026 edition of Housing Matters.
Your home, your rights: have your say
We’re updating your tenancy agreement – tell us what you think
Your tenancy agreement is one of the most important documents linked to your home. It sets out your rights, your responsibilities, and what you can expect from us as your landlord.
We provide around 5,600 council homes, and every tenant has a tenancy agreement in place. It covers key things like your right to stay in your home, how your rent works, and the services you should receive. It also helps us make sure homes are managed fairly, safely and consistently for everyone.
From time to time, we review this agreement to make sure it stays clear, up to date and fit for purpose. We are now proposing some updates, focused on making it easier to understand, fairer for all tenants, and clearer about what you can expect from us. Just as importantly, these changes are about helping you feel secure and confident in your home.
A six-week consultation is now open, and we want to hear from you.
This is your opportunity to look at the proposed changes and tell us what you think before any decisions are made. Your tenancy agreement affects your day-to-day life, so it’s important that it reflects what matters to the people who live in our homes.
The consultation runs until Tuesday 19 May.
You can read a summary of the proposed changes and take part.
Once the consultation closes, all feedback will be carefully reviewed and shared with the Landlord Assurance Board. If agreed, the updated tenancy agreement will come into effect from summer 2026.
Taking part only takes a few minutes, but it’s a valuable way to make sure your voice is heard and to help shape the services you receive.
Working in your neighbourhoods: Downside and Spoondell
Working together to make our neighbourhoods cleaner and brighter
April was a busy month for our Neighbourhood Operations Team, who delivered two successful CleanUP Days in Spoondell (8 April) and the Downside estate (10 April). These events are part of our ongoing commitment to improving shared spaces around our homes and supporting residents to feel proud of where they live.
Across both days, teams came together to tackle issues that matter most to residents, including fly-tipping, littering and dog fouling. With support from colleagues across the Housing Service and our partners, we were able to make a real and visible difference. In total, eight caged van loads of bulky waste and litter – around 28 tonnes – were removed, helping to transform these areas.
But these days are about much more than just cleaning up. They are also an opportunity to connect with residents, listen to their experiences and offer support where it’s needed.
In Spoondell, our Tenant Involvement Team were on site throughout the day, speaking directly with residents and gathering feedback through face-to-face conversations. This led to six completed tenant surveys, giving us valuable insight into residents’ views and helping to shape future services, while also identifying where additional support may be needed.
Our teams spent time out on the estates sharing advice on waste disposal, highlighting services. We were especially pleased to see residents taking part, whether through conversations on the doorstep or by getting involved in litter picking. This kind of community spirit is what helps make our neighbourhoods stronger, safer and more welcoming for everyone.
We also used the opportunity to identify and report repairs, as well as look at ways we can improve estate design to reduce anti-social behaviour and make spaces easier to maintain. Alongside this, our Dog Warden iinstalled new signage to promote responsible pet ownership and help keep shared areas clean.
By working together with residents and partners, we are continuing to build cleaner, greener neighbourhoods that everyone can take pride in.
A great afternoon meeting tenants in Leighton Buzzard
We held a free drop-in event for tenants in April
It was fantastic to see so many tenants and leaseholders drop in to our recent Housing Service event in Leighton Buzzard on 15 April.
The session gave residents the chance to meet members of the Housing team in a relaxed, informal setting, and it was great to spend time chatting over a cup of tea, answering questions and hearing directly about people’s experiences.
Colleagues were on hand to help with a range of queries, including housing management and repairs, while our Tenant Involvement Team spoke with residents about how they can get more involved and have a say in shaping services. These face-to-face conversations help us to better understand what’s working well and where we can improve.
Events like this are all about making it easier for tenants to connect with us. Whether it’s raising an issue, asking a question, or simply sharing feedback, we want to be accessible and available in ways that work for our residents.
Thank you to everyone who came along and took the time to speak with us. We look forward to hosting more events like this in the future and continuing those important conversations.
We want your feedback on complaints
You may be contacted by an independent company to share your experience
If you’ve recently received a response to a complaint you raised through our formal complaints process, you may be contacted by an independent company called Acuity.
Acuity works with us to gather feedback on how we handle complaints. They will ask a few short questions about your experience, helping us understand what we’re doing well and where we can improve.
If you are contacted, the call will come from 01582 323045. Calls are made between:
- 9am and 8pm on weekdays
- 10am and 6pm at weekends
If you miss the call, a recorded message will be left.
Taking part is completely voluntary, and your feedback will not affect your tenancy or the services you receive. Your views help us improve how we respond to complaints and support our tenants.
Things work better when you’re involved
Make your voice heard and help shape your housing service
We would like to recruit 3 more tenants or leaseholders to our Landlord Assurance Board, to help improve housing services in Central Bedfordshire.
From our repairs service to the work we do to look after your neighbourhood, you know what works well and where things could be improved.
As part of the Landlord Assurance Board, tenants work alongside senior housing staff and councillors to review performance, ask questions and help shape how services are run. If you join the Landlord Assurance Board, you will:
- be part of discussions about what’s working and where changes are needed
- help make sure tenants’ views are heard
- be part of conversations about how services are run and improved
- have the opportunity to ask questions directly to senior housing staff
We’ll provide training and support, and we'll cover reasonable expenses. There are 6 meetings a year. Support with digital access is available if needed, such as a contribution towards IT equipment or broadband costs.
Find out more about the Landlord Assurance Board.
We are particularly keen to welcome members with experience in housing, building and construction, health and safety, social work or health, finance, law, business, or community voluntary organisations.
Sound like something you'd be interested in? Email us, and we'll arrange to get in touch with you and have chat: housingregulation@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.
There are lots of opportunities to get involved!
If you’re not sure about joining the Landlord Assurance Board, there are plenty of other ways to get involved, depending on how much time you have.
Whether it’s taking part in a quick survey, joining a one-off session, or getting more involved through regular meetings or groups, there are options to suit everyone.
Find out more about how to get involved.
Other opportunities to talk to us!
Upcoming events for our tenants – get involved!
We really value opportunities to keep in touch with our tenants, and our drop-in sessions are a simple way to do just that. They’re informal, welcoming sessions where you can speak directly with members of the housing team about anything on your mind.
If you’ve got a query about your home, would like some guidance, or simply want to check in with us, please feel free to come along. There’s no need to book – just drop by at a time that suits you and we’ll be happy to help.
We hope to see you at one of the upcoming sessions and look forward to catching up with you. View a full list of dates and events.
Wednesday 6 May 2026 from 10am to 11am
Coffee meeting, Crescent Court Communal Room, The Crescent, Toddington, LU5 6DY
Monday 11 May from 11:30am to 1:30pm
Housing Information Hub, The Dunstable Centre, Dunstable, LU5 4JD
Tuesday 12 May from 2pm to 3pm
Coffee meeting, Baker Street Communal Room, Baker Street, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 1BL
Wednesday 20 May from 9am to 11am
Housing Information Hub, Houghton Regis Library, Bedford Square, Houghton Regis, LU5 5ES
Thursday 28 May from 3pm to 5pm
Housing Information Hub, Ground Floor Library Building, Lake Street, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 1RX
Friday 29 May from 11am to midday
Coffee meeting, Gale Court, Hexton Road, Barton-le-Clay, MK45 4LH
Have you heard about social care’s best kept secret?
Find out more about Shared Lives at 2 upcoming events
Shared Lives is social care’s best-kept secret. It’s where people with additional needs don’t just receive support but become part of a household. They build confidence, independence and a genuine sense of belonging by living with a family in their home.
For Shared Lives carers, it can become one of the most meaningful things they ever do.
Clare, a person who is supported through Shared Lives in Central Bedfordshire, described the service as:
It’s like having another family. You don’t have to pretend to be someone else. You can just be yourself. Shared Lives is about being part of someone’s home and family. It’s not living by yourself in your own flat, or a care home, it’s different, it’s being part of a home where you are helped and supported.
To find out more about Ategi Shared Lives and learn how you can become a Shared Lives carer there will be information stands held at:
- Grove View reception area: Wednesday 6 May, between 10am and 1pm
- Dunstable Centre reception area: Wednesday 6 May, between 2pm and 4pm
Find out more about Shared Lives in Central Bedfordshire and how to become a carer.
Learn more about the Ategi Shared Lives service.
Share your views with us!
Help us continue to improve our housing service
We want to make sure you can contact us in the way that works best for you, and your views are essential to this process.
Take our short survey and tell us how you prefer to communicate. Whether you're happy with how things are now, or you think we could do better, we want to hear from you. Take part in the survey.
We’re always looking for ways to improve, but we can’t fix what we don’t know about. Your feedback helps us make things better for everyone.
Comments, compliments, complaints and service requests
Having your voice heard and providing your feedback is valuable to us. There are lots of ways that you can have your say about our housing service.
Comments
Often people want to suggest improvements to services. If you make a suggestion, we will record this as a comment.
Compliments
If you tell us about a service that has been good or a member of staff who has been helpful, we will record this as a compliment and share your praise with those involved.
Service requests
A service request is a request by you for us to take action to put something right. Service requests are not complaints, but we record them, monitor, and review them for learning and improvements. If we consider the issue raised to be a service request, we will ask the relevant team to reply to you directly.
Complaints
You can complain if you are affected by the way we provide services. Common examples of complaints are delay; poor record keeping; failure to act; failure to follow procedure or the law; poor communication; behaviour of our staff (also called officers); or giving out misleading information.
You can provide any of the above feedback by contacting housing.feedback@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or you can contact us online.