Whether it’s a passing comment, a complaint, compliment or a survey response – we use your feedback to understand where we can improve.
We also follow best practices such as the latest advice from the Housing Ombudsman and their spotlight reports.
On this page you can read about any new learnings and actions we are taking to improve your experience.
Select from the options below to find out more.
Key focuses
Last updated: January 2025
In December 2024, our team held a listening and learning session to explore your feedback and discuss improvements. Here are the main issues highlighted
Repairs and follow on works:
- it’s not always clear what repairs are outstanding or when they will be completed
- there are times when you have to chase to find out what’s happening next.
Communication:
- waiting to hear when we’ll carry out a repair
- it’s not clear when multiple repairs are taking place and what they are about
- you aren’t always aware an engineer is planning to visit
- we don’t always update you after you report an estate matter, such as missed bin collections, repairs or pest control
- not getting back to you when we said we would.
Contractor management:
- not meeting our quality of service standards or timescales
- incomplete works
- advisors unable to provide updates at first point of contact
- not knowing when cleaning or grounds maintenance visits are happening.
Why is this happening and what’s being done?
Our repairs, estates and ASB teams are having a closer look at the way they deliver their services to you.
One of the challenges we face is that our systems and software are outdated. These systems can't link to contractor databases, leading to gaps in our records. This sometimes means repairs or updates are delayed and, in some cases, left incomplete. This is a root cause to our complaints, so our colleagues are working on ways to improve communication, even if it's just to say we don't have an update yet.
We're upgrading our systems based on learnings from your feedback. This includes a new portal for contractor updates. While these upgrades are a few months away, we're finding short-term solutions, like daily job updates from contractors so we have a better understanding of the status of any works.
These changes will improve our communication between our teams too, and this in turn will help with the way we improve contractors.
We're also planning to send text messages with helpful links to information or guidance (such as guidance on dealing with damp and mould whilst we arrange an inspection). Additionally, we’re planning to introduce email reminders for repair appointments to keep you informed.
Quality of service
We’ve been open that our cleaning and grounds maintenance service haven’t always been meeting our service standards. We promised to keep the same service for a while to avoid a rise in costs, and we are now almost at a point of choosing a new contractor.
Before they start, we will be updating your cleaning and grounds maintenance schedules on our website so you know then they will be visiting your block. There will also be an opportunity to get involved and help us monitor the quality of the service for your building – stay tuned for more information on this in your February email newsletter.
Key learnings from the Housing Ombudsman’s Spotlight Report on Attitudes, Respect & Rights
Between April – September, 80.3% of those surveyed felt we treat them fairly and with respect. We’re so pleased you feel this way as we’re always working hard to make sure you feel this way.
We recently self-assessed against recommendations the Housing Ombudsman made to make sure we are being an inclusive landlord. One of these includes to ‘maintain accurate records of residents’ vulnerabilities and individual circumstances’.
We have been working hard to ask you about the needs of anyone in your home so we can make sure we’re supporting your needs when delivering our services. This year we introduced something called ‘Make Every Contact Count’ – this is where we’ll ask you for a few pieces of key information when we visit or speak to you – such as any disabilities or needs that we need to know about.
In addition to this, we are planning to work with Thrive Customer Voice members to:
- review our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement of Intent to make sure it covers how we will make reasonable adjustments to support access to our services
- develop new information for customers on aids & adaptations.
Stay in the know!
Thrive Customer Voice members will be the first to hear about any changes, so be sure to become a member to make sure you don’t miss out.
Previous updates
How we've continued to use your feedback to make improvements to our services: