Tenants living in Coventry’s former council houses are being given the opportunity to have a say in the running of the new organisation that manages the entire stock.

Coventry's Whitefriars Housing Group are urging residents to stand for election to the six tenant positions on the management boards that run the not-for-profit organisation.

As part of last year's transfer of 20,169 former council homes to Whitefriars, it promised that all eligible tenants would have the opportunity to stand for board membership.

Those elected will replace the existing six tenant board members, who have to stand down at the end of March, though they can stand for re-election. A third of all management board members are tenants.

Whitefriars chief executive Howard Farrand said:

"It is very important that tenants are represented on the boards and that they play a full part in the running of Whitefriars.

"Tenants can and should be helping to shape their housing service, which is why we are asking all eligible tenants to consider standing for election as tenant board members."

There are three boards: Whitefriars Services, Whitefriars North and Whitefriars South, plus a number of standing groups and committees. Elected tenants would all sit on the Services board and either the North or South boards, depending in which part of the city they live.

The Services board deals with Whitefriars strategy and policy, plus issues such as performance monitoring and funding, while North and South focus on service delivery, including repairs and management.

Elected tenants would be expected to attend around 15 meetings in a year until the annual general meetings - 2002 if they are on the North Board and 2003 in the South- when they would stand down.

Board membership is voluntary, with out-of-pocket expenses paid for attending meetings or other board business. Members must undergo training in their main areas of responsibility.

All tenants have been sent information on the role of tenant board members and have been asked to consider standing in the election.