Big changes ahead for the Housing Service

Over the next few months lots of you will be contacted and asked to complete an important survey that will give us an idea of what you think of the Housing Service we provide to you and where we need to improve. The questions in the survey are based on the new Tenant Satisfaction Measures: a list of standards all councils and housing associations must report on later this year, so that tenants can see how well their landlord is doing.

The standards are grouped around the following five themes:

• Homes in good repair
• Maintaining building safety
• Respectful and helpful engagement
• Effective handling of complaints
• Responsible neighbourhood management

As well as carrying out the survey to gain your feedback, we are going to be restructuring the Housing Service to work more efficiently and provide a more responsive service for you. We are making these changes in line with the five themes listed above.

We know that it’s not only crucial to deliver the best possible service, provide good quality homes in neighbourhoods where people want to live, but that we also support the health and wellbeing of our communities. We are striving to engage more with residents and to work much closer with local communities to improve neighbourhoods. 

And to do this we know we need to deliver local services in local neighbourhoods. So, the coming year will see us making some major changes to the way we work to achieve these priorities.

We are going to be making the Housing Service much more responsive and more flexible, to better fit the needs of tenants and leaseholders. This means taking a more local, estate-based approach. Staff will be supported to really take ownership of their patch. They will work in partnership with residents, make time for community walkabouts and be proactive in spotting and resolving issues earlier to help make lasting improvements for neighbourhoods.

We also want to make it as easy and convenient as possible for you to access our service. From paying your rent to reporting a repair or making a change to your tenancy, whatever the reason for your contact we are aiming to provide a more responsive and efficient service.

We will be updating you about these changes through upcoming issues of Tenants’ Link and welcome your feedback at all times. If you’re not one of the 1,500 tenants and leaseholders who will be asked to complete the Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey in the next few weeks, there are lots of other ways for you to tell us what you think and to work with us to help make improvements. Get in touch with our Tenant Engagement Team to discover the range of ways that you can get involved and have your say.