Excellence in leadership

• Individual nominated: Tracy Lennon
• Organisation: North Lanarkshire Council

Statement of support

Tracy is a visionary leader in tenant engagement within the housing sector. As manager of the award-winning tenant participation team at North Lanarkshire Council, since the establishment of the team in 2018, she has transformed how tenants are actively involved in landlord decision-making and community shaping.

Under Tracy’s leadership in 2023–24, tenant satisfaction soared, when 96.8 per cent of tenants expressed satisfaction with opportunities to participate in landlord decision-making, significantly higher than the Scottish average. This continues her team’s record of outstanding performance and reflects a sustained, strategic commitment to inclusive participation.

Overall tenant satisfaction with the housing service climbed to 86.6 per cent, up from 81.2 per cent, and well above the Scottish average of 80.3 per cent. Meanwhile, 95.8 per cent of tenants felt well informed about services and decisions (Tracy’s key aim) again outperforming national averages.

2023/24 was Tracy’s most impactful year yet. Under her strategic direction, nine new Tenants & Residents’ groups were established, one specifically for Ukrainian refugees, and several dormant groups were reconstituted. Participation in the annual NL in Bloom Garden Awards rose by 35 per cent, reflecting broader community connection and diversity of tenant involvement. The garden awards, historically, a five-minute slot in the Annual Tenants’ Conference, under Tracy’s stewardship have become a highlight of the community engagement calendar with a standalone celebration event, recognising the commitment, skill and dedication of North Lanarkshire tenants. 

Tracy’s team also achieved a milestone in gaining "Gold Accreditation" for the service from TPAS Scotland, a first for North Lanarkshire Council, recognising the high standard of tenant participation services delivered under her leadership.

Her leadership encapsulates all the award criteria:

• Achievement in driving positive outcomes: Tracy’s initiatives directly correlate with sustained high satisfaction, increased participation rates, and genuine tenant influence on housing services.
• Innovation: She championed digital inclusion, supported over 200 tenants to become digital champions, and implemented hybrid engagement sessions that have become standard across the service.
• Vision: Tracy steered the council’s new Tenant Participation Strategy 2025–2030, co-produced with tenants, and built on the belief that participation must be embedded in every layer of service delivery.
• Self-awareness: She mentors emerging leaders and fosters a learning culture across her team, using feedback from both staff and tenants in her approach.
• Collaboration: Tracy has built strong partnerships across departments and with key external organisations. Notably, her close working relationship with North Lanarkshire Federation of Tenants and Residents has been instrumental in strengthening tenant voice. Through co-designed conferences, joint scrutiny activities, and regular dialogue, she ensures Federation members are not only heard but directly influence decisions. This partnership is widely regarded as a model of effective tenant–landlord collaboration in Scotland, reflected in recent knowledge sharing with both South Lanarkshire and Fife Councils, who were keen to learn from the success of the partnership. 
• Ownership: Tracy takes full accountability. When a participation project or initiative doesn’t land as expected, she engages tenants in honest reflection and redesign, ensuring the service continues to evolve and improve with integrity.

Tracy leads with empathy, clarity, and purpose. Her work has elevated the standard of tenant participation, improved outcomes, and embedded a genuine culture of co-production across North Lanarkshire Council. She is respected not only for the results she delivers, but for how she brings others along with her professionally, confidently, and collaboratively.

For her impactful, forward-thinking, and inclusive leadership, Tracy Lennon is a highly deserving nominee for the Excellence in Leadership Award.

Jim Leonard, chairperson of NLF said "Tracy has been the greatest addition to TP in North Lanarkshire we could ever have hoped for. We'd been partnered with a TIS project for 15 years and were apprehensive about a change. Since 2018 we have achieved more than we thought possible. Her support is endless, always on hand for anything the Fed needs, fights ours and tenants' corner at every turn and has supported us to build the strongest partnership we've had to date with NLC. We're heading for our 20th anniversary in 2026 stronger than ever".

Outcomes and achievements

Under Tracy’s leadership, the tenant participation team has achieved significant milestones:

• Achieved TPAS Scotland Gold Accreditation, positioning the service as sector-leading across Scotland.
• Maintains a strong network of around 40 active Tenants and Residents Groups across North Lanarkshire, each delivering meaningful outcomes—from community improvements and fundraising to campaigning for CCTV and enhancing safety.
• Secured 200 devices and Wi-Fi access through Connecting Scotland, improving digital access and reducing isolation post-pandemic.
• Strengthened the partnership with the North Lanarkshire Federation (NLF), with Tracy providing consistent support to a strong committee.
• Supported NLF in running four quarterly sub-committees, engaging non-housing services across the council, including:
  • Roads and street lighting
  • Land and waste management
  • Ambition (new build, tower reprovisioning, town centre regeneration)
  • Retirement housing (est. 2025).
• Sustains a long-standing, independent scrutiny programme with Northstar Consulting & Research, delivering annual projects following “Stepping Up to Scrutiny” training for volunteers. Topics have included technology in retirement housing, complaints handling, allocations, and repairs.

Through Tracy’s collaborative approach and strong interdepartmental links, the scrutiny panel engages directly with senior officers across housing, roads, property, and finance—ensuring influence at the highest level.

• Individual nominated: Barry Sweeney
• Organisation: Homes for Good

Statement of support

Barry Sweeney, head of acquisitions and development, has played a central leadership role in Homes for Good since it started. Since then he has played a central role in the transformation of almost 400 homes. He leads all aspects of property development and acquisition, from initial viewings, management of refurb projects through to completion and valuation. Throughout this time, he has demonstrated all of the qualities which make a superb leader. 

With the team, he is a constant: wise, positive, light-hearted but deeply knowledgeable, and always ready to quietly support, and where needed step in with advice and guidance. He has vast technical expertise in buildings, especially older tenements, the majority of HFG portfolio, and this has enabled him to lead and support his asset management colleagues with complex repair situations, and working with fellow homeowners. 

His hands-on approach as a leader, being available and "willing to get his hands dirty" has engendered deep trust with everyone he works with - his colleagues, external contractors, tenants and owners. This quality has been central to HFG success and has enabled us to achieve remarkable results in terms of quality of renovations - over 500 projects over the last 11 years. 

Barry is a highly skilled communicator, able to nurture excellent relationships with investors, contractors, tenants and owners. Whether he is explaining our work to prospective investors, presenting at a conference or visiting an anxious tenant in their home, his style and approach consistently achieves positive outcomes is informative, inspiring and reassuring. This quality has been central to the success of our empty homes work, which Barry leads. He has supported over 30 owners within the last three years to take steps to bring their empty property back to life as a home. 

Barry's ability to read people, understand what makes them tick and respond to their needs, along with providing detailed technical assessment and advice has directly contributed to their decision to act after years of inaction.

Creative thinking: Barry is a highly entrepreneurial thinker, combining problem solving with innovation and new ways of doing things. He has led on a number of HFG projects, including Rent Ready, our pioneering empty homes programme working with homeowners to become PRS landlords, and our flagship Broomton Road development, bringing a derelict community space and four long term empty homes back to life. His ability to liase with architects to map out the vision, his technical expertise dealing with building warrants through to bringing fellow owners and local residents onside means that he is able to lead and navigate all aspects of project development at the crucial early stages, and lead projects to completion.

Barry’s leadership style is quiet, nurturing, supportive and informal. His organisational knowledge and property expertise is outstanding, and colleagues old and new look up to him for guidance, background information and solutions. He is always approachable and willing to help them, and takes great pride and pleasure in seeing his colleagues succeed. He has nurtured and developed many young colleagues at the start of their journey with Homes for Good, and this enabled them to both succeed personally but also directly impacted on the growth of the organisation.

Over the last 12 years Homes for Good has received many awards and recognition for our work in the private rented sector, and in bringing dilapidated homes to live, including most recently the UN World Habitat Gold Award 2023. Barry is central to this success, and deserves to be recognised accordingly for his excellence in leadership.

Outcomes and achievements

• Lead the renovation of almost 400 homes, and 500 individual projects
• Supported the founder to raise over £25 million social investment
• Designed and implemented the Rent Ready Empty Homes Programme.