Kirklees Federation was started in November of 1987. At this time there were only about 16 member associations each working alone in their areas tackling their individual issues.
In 1987 the government issued a white paper, which became the Housing Act of 1988 and could threaten the future of council housing. A number of Kirklees tenants came together and called a meeting at Huddersfield Town Hall.
The response was overwhelming and the meeting had to be moved to a larger room. This is where the idea of the federation was born.
Funding was successfully sought from Kirklees Council and office space was rented at Estate Building in Huddersfield. Two paid members of staff were employed, an administrator and a fieldworker.
After twenty years, KFTRA has moved to new premises at Newsome. The new premises provide open plan office space, a meeting room and a resource area. We have around 99 member associations and now employ 8 paid members of staff: a co-ordinator, four fieldworkers, two administrators and a cleaner.
Our 20 year celebration saw the launch of our new book 'Heroes' as pictured with Andy Selman who wrote the book. Andy has worked for Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing for many years and has been a strong supporter of the tenant movement.
Each year KFTRA prepares a bid to Kirklees Council for funding to run the federation for the following 12 months.
