This document builds on our existing resident participation policies "Communities in Control" and "Making Consumers Count" and distils them into a single regulatory statement.

This Policy applies to all housing associations, whatever their size, structure or purpose. Registered stock transfer associations must also meet the commitments they made to their residents as part of registration and adopt this policy after they transfer.

The new policy has a list of expectations including:

• Resident involvement should be at the heart of housing associations' corporate strategy, decision making and ethos.
• Every housing association will be required to draw up a resident involvement statement over the next year in partnership with residents.
• There is a requirement that the policy is disseminated throughout the organisation and not left on the Chief Executive's desk and that the Board is fully committed to it.

We are issuing a circular that sets out how we will assess housing associations compliance against the policy and also build discretionary involvement reviews into our regulatory engagement with housing associations. In future resident involvement will continue to be considered during inspection with regards to service delivery and by the Ombudsman for complaints purposes.