Why your Residents' Association needs a good constitution (and a Model Constitution)

Resident Associations are like Marriages, and Constitutions are the Prenuptial Agreements. Nobody needs a constitution until things go wrong.

If you're unlucky, you have chosen a bad model for a constitution - this sort of constitution weights the power in favour of the Executive (or Directors). These are usually found in business constitutions. It is very difficult to get these executive members out, or make them accountable, without a great deal of trouble. It can be done, but people have to be VERY angry and patient to do it.

Executive members of a residents' association do not have power over residents - they have a responsibility towards them. The good type of Constitution weights the power in favour of its general members (there are two good constitutions provided below - one for Private Residents' Associations and one based on the model used by Camden Federation of Tenants' and Residents' Associations for a Tenants' Association).

A good constitution sets up a required number of meetings (in this case, 4) so if you aren't invited to a General Meeting once every three months or so, ask WHY, and if you don't have an Annual General Meeting once a year which is what 'annual means, ask WHY NOT. It is generally accepted that these meetings should be set at regular times, and the dates and times posted in a notice board, so everyone knows what's going on. They include all the flats. Tenants, private tenants and leaseholders are automatically members, although, as a Residents' Association, residents, rather than absentee private landlords are allowed the vote for the flat on everything but Capital Projects (since there is only one vote for each flat).

6.f)There shall be one exception to the general rule limiting voting to one vote per flat. In relation to article 6e) above, resident tenants who are not leaseholders shall be entitled to vote on all matters decided upon by the Association except those relating to the variable service charge. The non-resident Leaseholder for a flat shall be permitted to attend meetings of the Association and vote on matters relating to the variable service charge.

A good constitution also educates and pmakes people aware of other people. This model constitution is committed to Access to Democracy by everyone in the building.

6.g) To meet the access needs of people with disabilities, all meetings including General and Annual General Meetings shall be organised in such a way as to ensure access to people with disabilities. To this end, display notices for meetings shall use fonts of at least 20 points, printed in a dark colour on a light, high-contrast background. Every effort shall be made to provide large print copies of agendas and other meeting documents to those members who request them in advance and to meet the needs at meetings of members with mobility, sight, hearing or communication impairments. Meetings shall be held in spaces which can been shown to comply with the access provisions of all current disability discrimination legislation (if necessary by conducting an access audit).

Members don't have to come to meetings, but all the Executive should try very hard to be there, in case anyone has any concerns or questions about what is being done in their name. The fourth meeting (the annual general Meeting) is always important. You must have an independent observer, and a quorum (generally set at 15%- 20% of your number of flats) to pass major decisions. If you don't have a quorum, you don't have enough people to make a major decision.

Democracy makes life very easy, because you share your information, resources, and time. Once you set up the habit of having regular meetings, then calling an extraordinary general meeting isn't such a difficult concept (for particular problems which all should be consulted). Anything involving a change in finances should be thoroughly discussed, and preferably passed at a meeting with a quorum.(If it is difficult to get people together, you can also do this by a written vote, or a petition). It is important that you maintain the premise that the executive do not have power over their members, but a responsibility towards them. If you find yourself in a situation where, say, you have three members of your Association who want to do something, and 69 disagree, it should be the wishes of the 69 which are respected, not the 3 (even if the 3 people happen to be the members of your executive). If they don't follow the wishes of such a clear majority, they should resign. Having this constitution in place makes it easy to call for a vote of no confidence in an executive (rather than leaving their re-election to the Annual General Meeting, which unscrupulous Executives can leave to 15 months after the last AGM.) Leaving them in place is the easiest option, unfortunately while they are still the executive, they still continue to represent you to the outside world (nor rather, not represent you).

Isn't this a storm in a tea-cup? Most of the time, yes. Unfortunately, although people are united about an issue (the unfair dismissal of an employee, CCTV invasion of privacy issues, noise concerns, creating a garden, preventing the demolition or monitoring the development of a neighbouring building, maintenance, cockroaches) people who have fought the good fight generally wander away once they feel the issue is resolved. As soon as good, sensible people go away, silly and sometimes stupid people take over, and life becomes a series of small dramas full of playground politics and back-room deals, filled with strings of initials: AGM, EGM, ETC. with not many meetings, or if there are meetings, no notice being taken of the general wishes of the residents. (If you are desperately thanking your Executive for all the hard work they say they are doing and your floors are dirty or your building hasn't had a working lock on the main entrance for ten weeks, or your fire doors have been not closing for six months, you have silly or stupid people on your committee). Silly people mean that they make silly, sometimes stupid decisions, because they don't put things into context. Stupid people almost always make stupid decisions, if they make them at all, because they don't understand the problem.

(For example, PROBLEM: in some buildings, there are communal boilers, and old-fashioned communal radiators you can't turn off, which makes everyone's flats unbearably hot, which means everyone keeps their windows open. SILLY SOLUTION: tut tut at the great loss of energy and order everyone to keep their windows closed STUPID SOLUTION: adjust the hours, so that everyone's radiators are turned off. SENSIBLE SOLUTION negotiate with the Managing Agent or Freeholder (or arrange amongst the residents) to have one contractor come to adjust everyone's radiators so they could be turned off or on by choice).

The problem is that people get tired of dealing with silly and stupid people, and just leave them to get on with things. This usually doesn't matter, but when the executive are arrogant as well, and represent their own wishes rather than the wishes of the residents, or worse still, the wishes of the Managing Agent and freeholder, without calling any General meetings to allow the residents to vote, or pay attention to the residents' wishes when they vote, you need a constitution in place to make them mind their manners, or get rid of them, and put the good, sensible people back in place.

1.CLARE COURT MODEL FOR A RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION (to read, click here) The first draft of this constitution was conceived by looking at several constitutions for private buildings, as well as the CAMFED Tenants and Residents Association model, and it was written by West Euston Time Bank Purple Poets' tutor Kim Morrissey after seeking the advice of Rose Hacker, Irene Breugel, Alyse, Tony Bloor, Robert Taylor, Alan Walter, Roger Robinson and Bernard Miller, amongst others, and then the use of language was corrected by Bernard Miller (a former U.N. writer of constitutions); the second draft of this constitution was conceived by discussing and revising the first draft; this was done by eight concerned residents of Clare Court, on 08.05.2008, Camden Town Hall Meeting Room 1 (7 - 10 p.m). This historic meeting was chaired by Bernard Miller and Councillors Jonathan Simpson and Abdul Hai were in attendance. This third draft (circa June 2008) removed the option of proxy voting, which had been suggested at the 08.05.2008 meeting (it was agreed that the point of residents' meetings is to talk to your neighbours). It was recommended as a suggested template for a Residents' Association by Robert Taylor (Camden Federation of Private Tenants Association). The fourth draft (March 2009) added the 6.g) 'access to democracy' clause and this draft was recommended by the Third Age Project, West Euston Time Bank and Time Banking UK - and the Camden Federation of Private Tenants). Please note: the quorum is set in this model to take into account the number of people who, historically, have turned up for meetings; it is low compared to the recommended quorum (there being a high rate of absentee private landlords and lease-holders in Clare Court).As of March 31, 2009, it has still not been accepted or adopted as a constitution by the 'official' Clare Court Residents' Association.

This constitution is based on the Camden Federation of Tenants and Residents Association model, 2007, which was based on an earlier contstitution written before Margaret Thatcher's 'Right to Buy' was introduced to break-up council Housing communities. Please note, in buildings with mixed sorts of resident leases that it is important to specify all residents living within the building (council tenants, leaseholders, private tenants) in the constitution, and to remember, when the Council tells you otherwise, that all residents (all the people who live in the building) have a right to belong to their residents' association and a right to complain about maintenance to the people who are responsible for maintaining the building.

CLARE COURT MODEL CONSTITUTION FOR A RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION
(based on discussion and approval at the Open Meeting of Clare Court Concerned Residents, 08.05.2008, Camden Town Hall, 7 p.m.- 10 p.m.)
This constitution came about because the 2007 Residents' Association Executive said they'd lost their constitution.
This draft constitution is now a suggested template for other buildings
approved and suggested by the Camden Federation of Private Tenants Association, August 2008
(with the addition of 6. g) (accessibility to meetings clause), recommended by the Third Age Project, Time Banking UK March 2009).

1. NAME

The name of the Association shall be The [__name of building__] Residents Association hereinafter called “the Association”).

2. OBJECTS

a) To represent all residents of [__name of building__] [___address___] .

b) To promote the exercise of tenants’ and leaseholders’ rights and the maintenance and improvement of their housing conditions, amenities and environment.

c) To further the community interests of the Members in relation to [__name of building__] and to uphold equal opportunities and work for good relations amongst all members of the community.

To this end the Association shall at all times respect the principles of democracy and act in a spirit of transparency, accountability and responsiveness towards its members. In addition, the Association shall work towards ensuring that all parts of [__name of building__] are brought into compliance with the Disability Discrimination Acts and that no discrimination is allowed to occur on the basis of disability, race, gender or orientation.

3. MEMBERSHIP

a) Eligibility: Membership of the Association shall automatically be open to all the tenants or leaseholders of each flat, apartment or other residential domestic unit in [__name of building__] , [___address___] (hereinafter called “a Flat”) other than the landlord, the landlord’s agent or any of their employees.

Resident employees of Freshwater [replace "Freshwater" with the Management Agent/Freeholder/Landlord of your building], its associated or subsidiary companies or any firm contracted to work for it may be members of the Association but may not stand for the Committee and may not vote on any matters on which they have a direct interest by virtue of their status as an employee.

b) Entitlement to vote: There shall be 1 vote per flat.

4. MANAGEMENT

a) Management Committee: The Association shall be managed by a Committee to be elected at the Annual General Meeting.

b) Actions and Accountability: The members of the Committee shall act generally in accordance with the decisions of the Association taken at General Meetings, and shall be accountable to the members in General Meetings for their management of the Association.

c) Meetings: The Committee shall meet when it considers necessary, but shall meet not less than once every quarter in addition to General Meetings and all members of the Committee shall be summoned to meetings in writing.

d) Filling vacancies: If vacancies occur among the Officers or in the Committee, the Committee shall notify all members of the vacancy as soon as it is known and shall have the power to fill them from among their members until the next General meeting of the Association when elections for vacancies should take place.

e) Display of documentation: A copy of the Constitution and a copy of the list of the current members of the Committee shall be on permanent display in a public place. To ensure this, a lockable notice board should be provided close to each entrance. Copies of both may be requested in writing by any resident and following such request, must be provided by the Committee.

f) Chairing: If the Chair is not present at a Committee meeting then those members of the Committee present shall appoint one of their number to act as Chair.

g) Voting procedures: Voting on the Committee shall be by a simple majority, normally by a show of hands.

h) Record of votes: All votes shall be recorded and the records retained for seven years.

i) Committee’s power of approval: The committee shall be empowered to approve expenditure by Freshwater [replace "Freshwater" with the Management/Freeholder/Landlord of your building] on [__name of building__] projects with a value up to £1,000 without the need to consult members of the Association at a General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting.

k) Minutes: Brief minutes shall be taken of each meeting of the Association and shall be kept by the Secretary. They shall include agreed records of any decisions taken. The minutes shall be presented to the subsequent meeting for its approval by a simple majority of members present. The minutes shall be archived and shown on request of any member of the Association within two weeks of receipt of the request. The minutes shall be retained for a minimum of seven years and shall be passed from one Secretary to their Successor.

The minutes shall be displayed between meetings on the locked notice board maintained for the Association’s work and a further copy shall be held by the porter for consultation on request.

l) Website: In the event of the Association deciding to establish and maintain a website, this shall include the names of current members of the Committee and of Officers, the most recent minutes and possibly archived versions of previous minutes, notices of forthcoming meetings and any other matter considered appropriate by the Committee and members. To protect individual privacy, individuals’ e-mail addresses will not be made available on the website unless individuals have so requested. It shall be possible to contact individual members of the Committee by e-mail links through the website.

5. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS

a) An Annual General Meeting of the Association shall be held not later than 1 April in each year at such date, place and time as the Committee may determine. The ordinary Business at such meeting shall be:

1. To elect Officers comprising:

i) a Chair or Co-chairs of the Association;

ii) a Treasurer or Co-treasurers of the Association;

iii) a Secretary or Co-secretaries of the Association.

2. To elect:

iv) a General Committee of not more than eight members which includes a floor representative from each domestic residential floor;

v) to receive and consider a report from the Chair or any other body or person so requested on the activities of the Association during the preceding year;

vi) to receive and approve an Annual Report of the activities of the association and the Statement of Account and Balance Sheet of the Association as at 31 December of the preceding year, together with a report on the financial position of the Association from the Treasurer;

vii) to consider any other business duly proposed and seconded.

b) Not less than 21 days notice of the Annual General meeting shall be given in writing to every flat.

c) Any Association member elected to the Committee or selected to represent the Association in any other matter shall report back at least four times a year, preferably at each General Meeting.

d) With the approval of the Committee, non-members can attend Committee meetings, General Meetings and the Annual General Meeting as non-voting observers and may be invited to speak.

e) In order to comply with the registration process an independent observer shall be present at each Annual General Meeting to confirm if necessary that the meeting was arranged and conducted in accordance with the Association's Constitution. The independent observer must be a non-member of the association and someone seen as acceptable such as Member of Parliament, Councillor, Vicar, Magistrate.

f) Nominations for election to any of the offices of the Association may be taken at the meeting from the floor. For positions of Officers referred to in paragraph (a) of this Rule or of the Committee, nominations may also be made by any two members of the Association. This shall be done by written notice to the Secretary, served not less than seven days before the Annual General Meeting or any general meeting at which a vacancy is to be filled. This shall be accompanied by the written consent of the person so nominated who must be a member of the association. If more than one candidate has been nominated for a vacancy, the list of candidates shall be distributed at the meeting.

g) A notice containing all resolutions proposed and the names of all persons nominated under the terms of paragraph (f) of this Rule shall be kept by the Secretary, displayed on a notice board where possible, and shall be available for inspection during the period of seven days before the meeting.

h) In the event that there is more than one nomination for any of the offices referred to in paragraph (a) of this Rule, then the General Meeting shall first vote on those nominations. Voting shall normally be by show of hands. However, if so requested voting may be by secret ballot in which case collection and counting of ballot papers shall be done by a person or persons not voting.

i) All officers and members of the Committee elected under paragraph (a) of this Rule shall hold office until the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in the following year. No person shall hold any office for more than three consecutive years except when that person is elected during or on the conclusion of that term to one of the offices referred to in paragraph (a) of this Rule, in which event the period of three years starts to run again.? If no new candidates can be found to stand for office and a serving member is willing to stand again past the three-year limit, a preliminary vote shall be held to approve that person’s re-election. Since this vote marks an exception to the general terms of this constitution, it shall require a vote of at least 66% of those members present and voting for approval.

j) If the Committee does not set the date, time and place for the Annual General Meeting before 1 April in each year, then 1 April at 8 p.m. [__name of building__] , [___address___], shall be the date, time and place of the Annual General Meeting and an independent observer shall chair the meeting.

6. GENERAL MEETINGS

a) Decisions of General meetings of the Association shall be binding on the Committee.

b) Not less than 21 days notice of General meetings shall be given to all members, stating the time and place it will be held and the business to be placed before it.

c) There shall be at least 4 General Meetings a year, one of which will be the Annual General Meeting.

d) The Chair shall take the chair at every General Meeting. In her/his absence the members of the Committee shall appoint one of their number to take the chair.

e) At every General Meeting only one vote may be cast on any motion in respect of each Flat, and on motions relating to service charges, only Flats in respect of which the variable service charge is payable may cast a vote (in terms of Section 18 – 30 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 relating to service charges).

f) There shall be one exception to the general rule limiting voting to one vote per flat. In relation to article 6e) above, resident tenants who are not leaseholders shall be entitled to vote on all matters decided upon by the Association except those relating to the variable service charge. The non-resident Leaseholder for a flat shall be permitted to attend meetings of the Association and vote on matters relating to the variable service charge.

g) To meet the access needs of people with disabilities, all meetings including General and Annual General Meetings shall be organised in such a way as to ensure access to people with disabilities. To this end, display notices for meetings shall use fonts of at least 20 points, printed in a dark colour on a light, high-contrast background. Every effort shall be made to provide large print copies of agendas and other meeting documents to those members who request them in advance and to meet the needs at meetings of members with mobility, sight, hearing or communication impairments. Meetings shall be held in spaces which can been shown to comply with the access provisions of all current disability discrimination legislation (if necessary by conducting an access audit).

7. EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETINGS AND EMERGENCY MEETINGS

a) The Committee may at any time and shall, on the written requisition of not less than twelve members of the Association stating the business for which they require the meeting, convene an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Association.

b) Notice shall be given to all members of the Association at their [__name of building__] address not less than fourteen days before the date of the meeting.

c) This notice shall include the date, time and place of the meeting, and notice of the business to be transacted.

d) Where an Extraordinary General Meeting is requisitioned by twelve members of the Association, the meeting shall be held within twenty-one days of such a requisition being received by a member of the Committee. Where public holidays fall within the twenty-one day period this shall be extended by the number of days of the public holiday.

e) Where an emergency arises requiring emergency action and/or approval of emergency expenditure exceeding the £1,000 limit referred to in article 4 (j), an emergency meeting shall be called by written notice with only 24 hours’ notice. The notice of the meeting shall describe briefly the emergency, the decisions which need to be taken and any special measures necessary. Full details shall be given at the emergency meeting itself.

8. QUORUMS

a) The quorum for any General Meetings or Extraordinary or Emergency Meetings shall be fifteen [change this number to 15 - 20% or your inhabited flats] people. If there should be no quorum at the start of a General Meeting, it shall stand adjourned. If the General Meeting fails due to lack of proper quorum and the members attending an adjourned General Meeting so wish, the Committee has the right to reconvene it within 7-10 days with the same agenda and papers already distributed. The Secretary shall give all members written notice of the reconvened meeting.

b) The quorum for any Annual General Meeting shall be twenty-five percent of the Members of the Association eligible to vote or twenty [change this number to an agreed number] people. If the Annual General Meeting fails due to lack of proper quorum the Committee has the right to reconvene it within 7-10 days with the same agenda and papers already distributed. The Secretary shall give all members written notice of the reconvened meeting.

c) The quorum for a meeting of the Committee shall be not less than five [change this number to an agreed number of at least half the committee members] members of whom at least one shall be an Officer appointed under paragraph (a) of Rule 5.

9. FINANCE

a) The property and funds of the Association shall be held and administered by the Committee. A resolution of the Committee passed in due form shall be sufficient authority for any movement of such property or funds.

b) A bank account shall be held in the name of the Association, and shall be operated by the Officers on behalf of the Association. Signatures of any two members of the Officers shall be required for any financial transaction to be valid.

c) The Financial Year of the Association shall run until 31 December, at which date the Treasurer shall prepare an Annual Statement of Account and Balance Sheet and present to each Annual General Meeting a written account of the finances of the Association showing its income, expenditure and balances.

d) The Annual General Meeting of the Association may appoint a financial assessor or auditor if it so decides, provided that such financial assessor or auditor shall not be a member of the Association or have any relationship to Freshwater [replace "Freshwater" with the Management/Freeholder/Landlord of your building] its associates or subsidiaries.

e) All monies raised by or on behalf of the Association shall be applied to further the aims of the Association and for no other purpose.

10. RECALL PROCEDURES

In the event of dissatisfaction being expressed about the work of the Committee or of any Officer either for actions taken which are not in line with the Association’s objectives or for failing to comply with particular requirements of Committee membership or specific office, the possibility shall exist for the whole Committee, a specific officer or the individual member of the Committee to be recalled. This shall be done by serving notice in writing to every flat, stating the reasons for believing that a recall is justified and calling for an Extraordinary Meeting to consider the allegations and, if necessary, vote for new Committee members or officers. The meeting shall be governed by the terms of Article (7) of this constitution.

11. SUB-COMMITTEES

The establishment of sub-committees or working groups for specific purposes (such as gardens or cleaning or organizing specific social events) or to address specific tasks (such as viewing, interpreting and reporting on plans) shall be encouraged. Membership of such sub-committees shall be open to any member of the Association. Written notice of an intention to set up a sub-committee shall be distributed to all flats and displayed on the Association’s notice board. Sub-committees shall report briefly on their activities to each General and Annual General Meeting

12. CONSTITUTION

a) On the adoption of the Constitution of the Association held on __[details to be inserted] __ it shall be deemed to be the Constitution of the Association with effect from the close of that Meeting, and the Committee and Officers of the Association elected at that Meeting shall be deemed to have been elected under the terms of this Constitution, and shall be subject to it.

b) This constitution may only be altered or amended by a resolution duly proposed and passed at an Annual General Meeting of which due notice has been given. The votes required for an alteration or amendment shall be three-quarters of those present and voting at the General Meeting.

13. DISSOLUTION

a) If the Committee, by a simple majority decide at any time to dissolve the Association, they shall give at least 21 days notice of a meeting to all those eligible for membership. If such a decision shall be confirmed by a simple majority of those present and voting at the meeting, the Committee shall have the power to dispose of any assets held by, or in the name of, the Association for purposes consistent with the aims of the Association.

This Constitution was adopted as: The Constitution of The [__name of building__] Residents Association

Signed ............................................................................. (Chair or interim Chair)

Signed ............................................................................. (Secretary or interim Secretary)

Signed…………………………………………………………(independent observer)

Date..................................................................................................................................

constitution© Miller/Morrissey 2009. Please feel free to use this model for your association free of charge.

END OF DOCUMENT

MODEL CONSTITUTION (for a Tenants' Association)
(based on the Camden Federation of Tenants and Residents Association)

1. NAME

The name of the Association shall be ___________________________

2. AIMS

The aims of the Association shall be:

a) To represent all members on the

b) To promote the exercise of tenants, private tenants and leaseholders rights and the

maintenance and improvement of their housing conditions, amenities and

environment;

c) To encourage recreation and social activities which will be open to all members;

d) To uphold equal opportunities and work for good relations amongst all members of the community.

3. MEMBERSHIP

Membership of the Association shall be open to all tenants, private tenants and leaseholders and their households aged 18 and over living in the area covered by the Residents Association. There shall be 1 vote per household.

4. MANAGEMENT

a) The Association shall be managed by a Committee to be elected at the Annual General Meeting.

b) The Committee shall consist of a Chair, Secretary, Treasurer (Officers) and other members who should be fully representative of the estate.

c) If vacancies occur among the Officers or in the Committee, the Committee shall have the power to fill them from among their members until the next General meeting of the Association when elections for vacancies should take place.

d) The Committee shall have the power to co-opt members of groups in the defined area onto the Committee and its working parties and all other sub-committees, with the aim of furthering representativeness and encouraging equal opportunities.

e) Any request in writing for a copy of the Constitution must be sent out by the Secretary within seven days of the person requesting the copy.

f) In view of the potential conflict of interest no member of (management/landlord) shall be an officer of the Association.

5. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS

a) The Committee shall call an Annual General Meeting for the purposes of receiving the Annual Report of the Committee and the statement of accounts; of accepting the resignations of the Committee and Officers; of electing a Committee and Officers for the coming year; of making recommendations to the Committee and voting, where necessary, to amend the Constitution.

b) Not less than 14 days notice of the Annual General meeting shall be given to all those eligible for membership.

c) Any delegate elected to represent the Association shall report back at least once a year, preferably at the Annual General Meeting.

d) With the approval of the Committee non-members can attend the Annual General Meeting as non-voting observers.

Councillor; Officer of another Residents Association; A representative from Camden Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations or Camden Federation of Private Tenants Association, magistrate.

6. GENERAL MEETINGS

a) Decisions of General meetings of the Association shall be binding on the Committee.

b) Not less than 14 days notice of General meetings shall be given to all members. There shall be at least 4 General Meetings a year, one of which will be the Annual General Meeting.

c) There shall be one exception to the general rule limiting voting to one vote per flat. In relation to article 6e) above, resident tenants who are not leaseholders shall be entitled to vote on all matters decided upon by the Association except those relating to the variable service charge. The non-resident Leaseholder for a flat shall be permitted to attend meetings of the Association and vote on matters relating to the variable service charge.

7. SPECIAL GENERAL MEETINGS

a) A Chair or Secretary may at any time call a Special General Meeting of the Association, either for the purpose of altering the Constitution or for considering any matters, which the Committee may decide, should be referred to the members in general. A Special General Meeting shall be called at the written request to the secretary of not less than ______ members who give reasons for the request. Any matters received by the Secretary seven clear days before the Special General Meeting shall be discussed at the meeting.

b) Not less than 7 days notice of the Special General Meeting shall be given to all members.

8. CONDUCT OF BUSINESS

a) At all meetings the Code of Conduct agreed by the Strategic Housing Group will apply and any breach of this shall result in the removal of that member from the meeting.

b) At all meetings decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of those members present and voting

c) The quorum for Committee meetings of the Association shall be _____ [generally set at 4]

d) The quorum for all General Meetings or Special General Meetings shall be ________ [generally set at 20%]

9. FINANCE

a) All monies raised by or on behalf of the Association shall be applied to further the aims of the Association and for no other purpose.

b) The Treasurer shall keep proper accounts of the finances of the Association and shall open an account in the name of the Association.

c) The Treasurer should present to each Annual General Meeting a written account of the finances of the Tenants' Association showing its income, expenditure and balances.

10. DISSOLUTION

If the Committee, by a simple majority decide at any time to dissolve the Association, they shall give at least 21 days notice of a meeting to all those eligible for membership. If such a decision shall be confirmed by a simple majority of those present and voting at the meeting, the Committee shall have the power to dispose of any assets held by, or in the name of, the Association .

This Constitution was adopted as the Constitution of ___________________Tenants' Association at a public meeting

held at_____________________________ on _________________.

Signed ............................................................................. (Chair)

Signed ............................................................................. (Secretary)

Dated ............................................

END OF DOCUMENT