Thanks for all the feedback and ideas on how to improve our services.
This feedback comes from surveys, consultations, focus groups, Facebook comments, complaints and of course conversations with our housing, maintenance and customer care teams.
We really appreciate the time customers take to share their ideas and views. Here are some improvements we've made by listening to residents.
Improvements we've made because of resident feedback
December 2024
You said...
-
"I was dissatisfied with the gas servicing process and communication."
We're doing…
-
We’re changing our gas servicing process to ensure you know when your service is due
-
Handling appointments direct (rather than via a contractor) so that we have more oversight and can communicate better with residents
-
Making sure we are 100% compliant with legal requirements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 2024
You said...
-
“I wasn’t given enough notice for my gas servicing appointment."
We did…
-
We’ve worked with our gas contractor, Phoenix, to ensure they’re following our gas appointment process. This means their first appointment letter is sent to a customer at least 70 days before the gas certificate runs out.
You said…
-
"My repair wasn’t completed in time.”
We did…
-
We set up daily meetings with the gas contractor to review outstanding repairs.
-
We proactively monitor jobs that haven't been completed in time and the quality of work done.
How we do this
Satisfaction survey
When a maintenance or repair job is completed, our customer care team do a follow-up call with the customer to check they're satisfied with the quality of the work carried out and with the person who did the work. The feedback from these surveys is reviewed by the Maintenance Team and shared with contractors at monthly meetings to help improve the service. We do this survey for about 75% of completed jobs.
Depending on the value of the work carried out, we may also do an additional follow up.
Work costing less than £500
Our system automatically generates a random selection of repair/maintenance jobs - the Maintenance Surveyor checks that a satisfaction survey has been done and that customer is happy. If a survey hasn’t been completed, they will contact the customer and investigate any dissatisfaction.
Work costing £500 to £1,000
All these works are checked by a Maintenance Surveyor. Depending on what's involved, this could either be an in-person home visit or a phone call.
Works costing more than £1,000
All the jobs are inspected in-person by a Maintenance Surveyor.
January 2025
You said...
-
“The out-of-hours advisor wasn’t very helpful and gave incorrect information."
We're doing…
-
We changed the out-of-hours service provider from 1 May 2025. The new provider works with a large number of other housing associations and support services, so we're confident they can improve our customers' experience.
-
We carry out monthly quality checks to ensure the out-of-hours advisors are providing accurate information.
February 2025
You said...
-
“I didn’t like the attitude of a member of staff.”
We're doing...
-
Trained all our staff in customer-first culture
-
Developed a Customer experience strategy
-
Reviewed our customer promises.
August 2024
You said:
- "It took too long for the damp issues to be resolved."
We did:
- We completed a self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman’s Spotlight Review on damp and mould
- We also reviewed our procedure and produced a policy to ensure that we’re providing a quick, comprehensive and consistent response to every reported case of damp and mould.
December 2024
You said...
- "I didn't know what would happen when my new bathroom was installed."
We did...
- Our planned maintenance surveyors visit homes before, during and after planned work (such as new bathrooms, kitchens and heating systems), to ensure they’re done on time and to a high standard, and to fix any issues as quickly as possible. The first visit enables them to clearly explain what will happen, so there are no surprises once work starts.
- Created a comprehensive guide for residents to explain each step of improvements.
January 2024
You said...
- I don’t understand why I’m not getting a new heating system.
...we did
- Created a webpage explaining how the planned improvements programme works, including:
- what we mean by planned improvements
- how we decide which homes have improvements each year
- how we let customers know if their home is due for planned improvements.
...we're doing
- Some older homes need to be upgraded. We have an ongoing programme in place to upgrade homes which have the lowest Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating, with air source heat pumps, solar panels and insulation.
January 2024
You said...
- "When we moved in, we were given B&Q vouchers for decorating, but don’t have a car, so it was hard to use them."
...we did
- We’ve changed how we offer decorating support to new customers. Now, complete decorating packs, which include everything needed to freshen up a new home, can be delivered to your door by Johnstone’s Decorating Centre.
You said...
- "Nothing changes, so what's the point?"
- "Take time to listen to tenants and seriously listen to what they are saying."
...we did
- Increased resource in our housing team so that housing officers have more time
- Enlarged the maintenance team to include a dedicated surveyor for planned works and another for compliance and asset management
- We encourage residents to be involved - to have their say and share ideas - and provide feedback
- Introduce a new complaints process which aims to provide a quick resolution
- Adopted the Together with Tenants charter
- Introduced the Your Idea Matters scheme.
You said...
- "Contractors often don't give much notice of appointments and sometimes don't turn up at all."
...we're doing
- We have daily meetings with our gas contractor and weekly meetings with the day-to-day repairs contractor to manage issues and complaints.