Sally Boscic has lived in her home in Abbey Wood since it was built in 1961 and when told the Decent Homes programme was coming to her street pointed out that it was not before time given the state of the original windows.

Her husband, Steve, is the Chair of the Housing Panel and an active representative of the community on a number of other bodies.  As Chair of that panel he took an active part in previous contracts on the Estate helping the contractor with tenant liaison and smoothing out some of the difficulties that can occur when working in people’s homes.    Steve feels strongly that active Tenant Participation and working closely with the Council’s Officers is the key to successful improvement programmes.  He has worked closely now for two years with Project Manager Tim Derrick on the Estate and feels that they have the sort of working relationship that can tackle any problem. 

Steve quickly volunteered his services when Greenwich Council were looking for Tenant representation on panels for selecting contractors who were going to work in partnership with the Council delivering decent homes.  His first reaction was surprise at the amount of work that went on behind the scenes before work arrived on the estates.  He now feels that because the partnered contractors will be working on the estate until 2010 this continuity will allow better relationships between Tenants, their representatives and the contractor’s staff.  Steve intends to keep the Contractor on his toes but feels that Greenwich Building Services may have made a good start by issuing an open invitation to visit their offices to discuss the works at any time.

Steve is looking forward to meeting more delighted residents as the new kitchens programme is wheeled out across the estate.  He still enjoys retelling the story of the elderly resident who was visited by her sister from Scotland.  Proudly showing off her new kitchen the tenant was a little disappointed that her sister refused to believe that such a high quality installation had been provided by the Local Authority!