The National Conversation will be the largest ever consultation exercise with tenants and providers of social housing. We’re going to listen to tenants across England to help us understand what they want to see in the new standards.

The first stage of the National Conversation will last from 19 January and will last until Wednesday 11 March and will have a number of strands:

• a programme of 18 regional tenants events taking place across England
• a series of Local Conversations organised by tenants, shared owners and landlords using our Local Conversation resource pack
• a research programme with an in-house survey plus some focus groups for shared owners and prospective tenants
• a camper van and film crew will also be touring a number of different parts of the country to capture the views of tenants who may not be able to attend one of the events above
• a programme of national events for landlords

The National Conversation website – www.nationalconversation.co.uk – will give direct access to the research survey. The site will go live on 19 January, though people will be able to order the resource packs from 12 January 2009.  

Peter Marsh, CEO of the TSA, has sent out letters to landlords across the domain explaining the National Conversation and seeking landlord's support and co-operation in making it a success. These four letters are publicly available, along with the appendix we have sent out on guidance regarding the Local Conversation events.