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One of the challenges we face is that our systems and software are outdated.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.
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Anti-social behaviour (ASB)
2024
- Made it easier to access the information and resources we have available on our website about ASB.
- Created a tool to diagnose ASB and what to do next.
- Started to add examples of ASB and how we have dealt with these cases.
- We worked with customers to develop the Good Neighbour Guide.
- Created an ASB resource page.
2023
- Reviewed our Anti-Social Behaviour Policy with Thrive Customer Voice members
- Held a customer focus group to develop guidance on how to be a good neighbour.
2022
- Introduced a survey to check how well we’ve handled ASB cases.
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Communal cleaning service
2024
- Joined up with customers to interview potential new cleaning and grounds maintenance contractors.
- Invited customers to complete a survey about our cleaning and grounds maintenance service and invited them to an online session to tell us what you’d like to see in the new services.
2023
- Introduced a new way to view cleaning schedules and give feedback on individual visits on our website.
- Kept the same cleaning service during 2023 after 67% of customers voted for this option to avoid a rise in costs.
- Employed new sets of cleaners at sites where there are more issues.
2022
- Introduced extra contractor meetings, site inspections and spot visits to monitor quality of the service.
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Complaints
2023
- Started providing clear action plans that summarise the steps we will be taking to resolve complaints.
- Introduced a survey for you to tell us about your experience of our complaints process.
- Scheduled regular meetings with colleagues to review complaints trends and discuss improvements to services across the business.
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Customer services
2023
- Introduced a text message survey to see what training and support is needed to make sure our customer call centre can answer your queries and resolve issues as quickly as possible.
2022
- Scheduled colleague training on rent and service charge queries twice a year.
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Digital services
2023
- Introduced a new way to view cleaning schedules and give feedback on individual visits on our website.
2022
- Added instructions on the myThrive hub on how you can save it as an icon on your phone or tablet’s home screen so you can access it like other apps.
- Changed the layout of account statements on the myThrive hub so it’s easier to view on a mobile device.
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Grounds maintenance
2023
- Introduced a new way to view grounds maintenance schedules and give feedback on individual visits on our website.
2022
- Introduced extra contractor meetings, site inspections and spot visits to monitor quality of the service.
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Ways to keep you informed
2024
- Completing quality checks on the ways we’ve kept in touch with you to make sure you’re kept informed and that we’re working in line with our standards.
2023
- Started offering telephone appointments so you know when someone will call you back if we can’t answer your query at the first point of contact.
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Property improvements
2022
- Shared what upgrades we carry out in our Annual Report for Tenants.
- Started carrying out physical inspections of your home when you request an upgrade (such as a new kitchen or bathroom) before it is due to be replaced.
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Repairs
2024
- Put together a dedicated group of engineers to respond to complaint disrepair cases more quickly.
- Increased the number of engineers and colleagues in our repairs planning team to make sure more repairs are completed on the first visit. This has reduced the number of repairs on the list by 40% (as of September 2024).
- Gained more support in terms of resources to make sure leave and absence from the business is covered.
- Added current wait times to repairs status page.
- Published new repairs timescales using customer feedback.
2023
- Reviewed the wording used in our messages about repair appointments.
- Reminded our engineers and contractors to make sure you know when they are on their way.
- Introduced a new process to make sure you know when your next repair appointment is before we leave your home.
Previous updates
How we've continued to use your feedback to make improvements to our services:
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Key focuses - May 2024
Keeping you informed
We’re making sure colleagues are correctly recording your enquiries and getting back to you when they promised. We're also ensuring they are clear about what you can expect from us after you contact us.
As part of this, all our teams have started quality checking a sample of the enquiries they’ve received to see how they responded to you and if there’s anything they could do better.
Cleaning and grounds maintenance
It’s been a year since you voted to keep the same cleaning service for another 12 months to avoid a rise in costs. This means it’s now time to start looking at what the future of the service looks like.
We can see that the cleaning service hasn’t been meeting our standards and we know that you feel the same about our grounds maintenance service, too.
Acting on your feedback, we’re planning to review these contracts this summer. The sessions were due to take place in March have been rescheduled. We’ll be sending new invites out to Thrive Customer Voice members and those who receive the service soon.
Helping you feel safer in your home
In a survey last year, some customers told us that they don’t always feel safe in their home because of issues with door entry systems and the length of time to repair them.
Many of our door entry systems are in need of repairs and adjustments that require specialist parts and engineers to fix. Acting on your feedback, we are working to upgrade some of these systems and we will be in touch with customers living in blocks included in these works.We have also improved the quality of information available to customers facing anti-social behaviour (ASB) issues. This includes a new tool to check what is and isn’t ASB, how to deal with it, and help and support available. We have also started adding examples of ASB cases and how we worked together with customers.
Repairs and maintenance
We’re experiencing a high level of repair requests right now, which means we aren’t always meeting our usual wait times.
As part of this, we have found customers aren’t always being kept updated about their repair when extra works are needed. We’re looking at ways we can improve our communication about outstanding repairs so you know what to expect next.
View our current wait times at: https://www.thrivehomes.org.uk/my-home/service-updates/
Health and safety
We've been using complaints to spot hazards and near misses before they become bigger problems. When you tell us about these problems, we take note and use this information to help prevent them in the future. For example, we record every report of damp and mould as a ‘near miss’ – this is one way we can understand which buildings and areas might need more attention.
We’ve found more cases of people slipping and tripping outside in the summer, so we’re spreading the word about being careful, especially around our shared gardens.
There have been a few accidents with tree branches falling after storms. Our regular estate inspections look for potential hazards before they cause an accident. We’ve also started keeping an eye on the weather to remind everyone to let us know if they see something unsafe when it’s stormy.
We’ve also made changes to the information available on our website on what you need to take care of as a tenant, like looking after trees in your garden.