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- You said, we did
You said, we did
Your feedback really does make a difference to how we deliver our services.
We get lots of feedback and ideas for how we can improve our services - from surveys, consultations, focus groups, Facebook comments, complaints and of course conversations with our housing, maintenance or customer care teams.
We really appreciate your time and listed below are some of the recent improvements we have made by listening to your views.
- Gas service appointment
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 notification letter is sent to a customer no less than 70 days before their gas certificate runs out.
Is it working:
- Yes! We’ve monitored this over the last two months, and comments about late notice have reduced significantly.
- Damp issues take too long to resolve
August 2024
You said:
- It took too long for the damp issues to be resolved.
We did:
- We’ve completed a self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman’s Spotlight Review on damp and mould.
- We’ve 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.
- Repair jobs take too long
August 2024
You said:
- It took too long for the repair to be completed and the quality wasn’t very good
We did:
We're proactively monitoring:
- jobs which have not been completed on time
- the quality of completed jobs.
How are we doing this?
Satisfaction survey:
When a maintenance/repair job is completed, our customer care team do a follow-up call with the customer to check if they were satisfied with the quality of the work carried out and with the contractor/engineer 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 repair/maintenance works carried out, we may also do an additional follow up:
Works with a value under £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.
Works with a value between £500 and £1000:
All these works are checked by a Maintenance Surveyor. Depending on what the maintenance/repair works involved, this could either be an in-person visit to the home or a phone call.
Works with a value over £1000:
All the jobs are inspected in-person by a Maintenance Surveyor.
- Out of hours service
March 2024
You said...
- The advisor from your out of hours service was rude and not helpful.
...we did
- We’ve introduced monthly quality checks with our out of hours service provider.
- Gas contractor isn't reliable
March 2024
You said...
- The gas contractor doesn’t attend when they should and they don’t fix the problem.
...we did
- We retendered our gas contract and have a new gas contractor from 1 April 2024.
- We involved customers in the selection process, and used feedback from customers to help us provide a smooth transition to the new supplier.
- Planned improvements - we want more information
January 2024
You said...
- I don’t understand why I’m not getting a new heating system.
...we did
- We’ve created a webpage explaining how our planned improvements programme works. It explains:
- 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.
- Can we have more choice of decorating help?
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're doing
- We’re changing how we offer decorating support. More info to follow soon!
- Can we have printed newsletters?
November 2023
You said...
- I don’t have the internet. I’d like to receive more updates by post.
...we're doing
- We’ve introduced an annual printed newsletter.
If we have an email address for you, most communications are sent by email. If we don’t have an email for you, ALL essential communications are sent by post.
- Communication about works at my home
October 2023
You said...
- I had some energy efficiency upgrades recently, but I didn’t know how long it would take to have some elements of the work done.
...we did
- We’ve introduced a detailed guide for customers which covers all the steps involved in the energy efficiency works.
- Quality of contractors
August 2023
You said...
- Getting repairs done is hard work and the quality of workmanship is sometimes poor.
...we did
- We’ve recruited a senior maintenance surveyor.
This new role has been created to manage and support our contractors, to help improve the service they provide.
- Air source heat pump installers are not performing
September 2022
You said...
- The standard of work from the air source heat pump installer is not good enough.
We did...
- During summer 2022, we temporarily halted installations and had a full service review with the contractor.
- We want contractors to provide a better service
September 2022
You said:
- We want contractors that can provide a more reliable service
We did:
- We have started working with Alect as our responsive repairs contractor. The new contract is built around customer feedback, and has a much greater focus on customer service than the previous contract
- We have reviewed and updated our Contractor Code of Conduct, which will be issued to all new contractors
- We want more scheme visits
You said...
- Regular visits to schemes to speak to residents would be beneficial
...we did
- Our housing officers have introduced an annual schedule of scheme visits
- We added extra housing officers to our team in July 2021
- Nothing changes
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
- We've increased resource in our housing team so our housing officers have more time
- We've increased resource in our maintenance team, and now have a dedicated surveyor for planned works and a dedicated surveyor for compliance and asset management.
- We encourage residents to be 'involved' - to have their say and share ideas - and provide feedback from what they've told us
- We have a new complaints process and always aim for a quick resolution
- We have adopted the Together with Tenants charter
- We have introduced a Your Idea Matters scheme
- We want a complaints form
You said...
- There should be a form for tenants if they want to make a complaint
...we did
- We introduced a new online complaints form in April 2021 to make it easy if you'd like to make a complaint
- We'd like more benefits support
You said...
- I'd like more individual support from my housing officer about benefits
...we did
- Our housing officers have introduced an annual schedule of scheme visits
- We added extra housing officers to our team in July 2021 so they have more time to help or signpost you to specialised benefits help
- We have added of lots of benefits information to our website
- Shared owners need more information
You said...
- Information for shared owners is not easy to find. The lease you’re given when you buy is ambiguous and the staff at times are not knowledgeable. A pack should be given to new buyer and updates sent out to each homeowner so they know what they are responsible for.
...we did...
- We've introduced a new online shared owner handbook. This contains information about responsibilities, buying more shares, alterations etc. We decided to do an online version, rather than printed, so it's always up-to-date.
- We introduced a shared owner newsletter; the articles and information included is tailored to shared owners
- We introduced a new shared owner email address, which goes directly to housing team: leaseholdsupport@midlandsrural.org.uk You can use it send queries about anything related to your home or lease
- Shared owners are invited, and encouraged, to get involved and help shape our services
...and we're doing
- We're reviewing our moving in process for shared owners
- Contractor appointments
You said...
- Contractors often don't give much notice of appointments and sometimes don't turn up at all
...we're doing
- We have introduced daily meetings with our gas contractor and weekly meetings with our day-to-day contractor to manage issues and complaints