TENANTS of River Clyde Homes (RCH) are invited to a conference looking at how their rent is spent.

It takes place on Saturday 28 January at the James Watt Waterfront Campus in Greenock.

The aim of the conference is to describe how tenants can become more involved in River Clyde Homes’s housing finance matters; how tenants can affect decisions made about how rents are spent and the impact of this year’s inflationary-related increase; and rovide a progress update on the rent re-structuring policy which has been on-going for the past year.

The meeting will run from 10am (registration from 9.30am) until 1pm. A buffet lunch will then be provided.

Over the next year (2012/13) River Clyde Homes expects to spend in the region of £17.5 million on improving homes and a further £3.6mmillion on regeneration projects, with tenants’ rents helping fund this investment.

RCH chief executive, Lynne Carr, said: “River Clyde Homes has enjoyed a successful four years, keeping its commitments to tenants and maintaining rents at an affordable level that is comparable with other social landlords in the area.

She added: “That is why we gave a legally-binding guarantee that we would not increase rents for five years after transfer [of housing stock from the council] by any more than RPI [Retail Price Index] and we remain fully committed to delivering this key promise for our tenants.”

The conference will give tenants a chance to express their views on River Clyde Homes’s budget priorities and hear how the housing association is trying to make rents fairer.

River Clyde Homes chair Anne-Marie Bagstad is encouraging tenants to attend. She said: “Despite the economic downturn, our investment levels remain high, particularly in the area of home refurbishment and we want to see even greater tenant participation, which is vital to the long-term success of River Clyde Homes. Events such as this have been organised to give our tenants a greater say on the future of housing services in their communities.”

Anyone wishing to attend should ‘phone Jeanette Dillon on (01475) 788847. Transport can be provided, if required, on request, to and from the venue or if you have a disability and require special transport. Information in various formats is available on request. Lip speakers, note takers and sign language interpreters can also be provided.