We've been listening to your feedback and want to share what we've learned and how we're planning to improve.
What the results tell us
Between July - September 2024, 74.1% of you said you were satisfied with our service. This is above the 71% average for other landlords, as reported by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in their recent Tenant Satisfaction Measures Headline Report.
The areas having the most influence on this score relate to our complaints handling and repairs satisfaction. From June - September, satisfaction with complaints handling increased by 12.6% (tenants only) and 9% (combined tenants and shared owners). This brings satisfaction back in line with year-end performance for 2023/24 and places us 2.8% higher than the average in the RSH Headline Report. This improvement is likely because we now have a dedicated team handling complaints, ensuring they are managed impartially and fairly.
We've also reduced the number of outstanding repairs by 40%, contributing to a 5.6% increase in satisfaction with our repairs service and a 1.7% increase in satisfaction with the time taken to report a repair.
Key findings from our survey
From June to September, we noticed:
- A 5.2% drop in how positively you view our contribution to the neighbourhood.
- A 3.7% decrease in satisfaction with the cleanliness and maintenance of communal areas.
Grass and greenery grow quicker in the summer months, which can affect the appearance of communal areas. We know our grounds maintenance service hasn’t been meeting our standards for a while, and we’re in the process of selecting a new contractor. With this in mind, we weren’t surprised to read comments like:
"The garden maintenance workers are a constant issue, problems with them not arriving, not repairing things, and just hacking at bushes in the communal garden."
What You Want
From working with customers about what’s important to them with our cleaning and grounds maintenance service, it’s clear that you want:
- Consistent service.
- Clear information on when visits will happen.
- Staff to be respectful and careful around your home.
- Effective handling of fly-tipping.
- More details on how we monitor visits.
We’ve taken this feedback onboard and share it with contractors that have shown an interest in working with us. We'll update you with more information about the renewal of these services in our February newsletter.
Communication and Follow-Up
39.5% of you feel we don't listen or act on your views. One tenant said we could improve by:
"Following through with what you say you are going to do. We have contacted you several times about work that needs to be done. Workers come out, take pictures then we don't hear anything for a long time. This cycle repeats itself."
We use both our repairs team and contractors to maintain our homes. This is because we don’t have every trade in our in-house repairs team, such as specialist roof or plastering works, and sometimes we need support with the number of repairs requested. Just 1.78% of repairs resulted in a complaint between June - September, and 86.7% of you are satisfied with repairs carried out by our in-house team, compared to 78.6% satisfaction with contractor repairs.
Moving Forward
We're reviewing the customer journey for repairs and have hired more operatives. We’ve also increased spending on repairs and we’re pleased to see this is making a difference in your feedback. However, you’ve told us, "They should go through the processes that they expect third-party contractors to do."
We’re reviewing our contractor management processes and will update you on our progress in our next update in March.
Thank you for your feedback. Our market research partner, IFF, calls a sample of our customers every month. It’s so important to hear about your experience, so please take part if you’re called!
We are always working to find solutions and you can read about the latest actions we are taking here.