Service Standards

Our commitments commitments include conducting building checks, which include a review of health and safety considerations in line with relevant legislation and guidance. This includes:

• Fire safety
• Basic security checks including lighting, checking of emergency exit doors
• Checking the corridors and walkways are clear of obstacles or fire hazards
• Undertake minor repairs around the blocks – where necessary

Keep the internal communal areas of the block clean and tidy. This includes:

• Foyer and ground floor
• Lifts, the stairs and landing, walkways and communal rooms
• Chute room
• Bin rooms
• Handrails
• Light fittings

Keep the external grounds within the perimeter of the building clean and tidy and regularly litter pick all communal areas. This includes:

• Main entrance area
• Footpaths
• Drains
• Grassed and flagged areas
• Borders and planted areas
• Car parks
• External bin areas, including the management of the recycling bins and garage sites

Offer an out-of-hours emergency support service which can be accessed by ringing our main contact centre on 0330 355 1000. Examples of emergencies include:

• Hazardous or biological waste in communal areas
• Securing of immediate fire hazards and unforeseen issues such as floods or fires

Do not store items in communal areas - this can cause a health and safety risk.

Sarah Gee - Head of Neighbourhoods

As a part of our community safety service standards we will: 

• Respond to reports of threats or actual violence occurring at the time within 24 working hours
• Respond to all other reports within five working days
• Deal with all contacts  confidentially and ensure your identity is not be revealed

Report any community safety concerns to our team or call the police if you believe someone is in urgent danger.

Customers are satisfied with our approach to handling anti-social behaviour.

Sarah Gee - Head of Neighbourhoods

• Aim to answer 80% of all calls within 20 seconds
• Reply to your emails within 2 working days
• Try to resolve your issue on the first contact
• Offer you the same level of service, however you get in touch with us
• Let you know what happens next if we need to refer you to someone else
• Provide reasable adjustments, translations or alternative formats if you request them

To contact us directly through one of our channels: 

• Phone call
• Website and Customer Portal
• Email us

Lets us know if you have any changes of circumstances or require any support

Darren Ashworth - Head of Customer Contact

Our damp and mould commitments, we will: 

• Undertake a calcium carbide test, which checks moisture in your property, if and where required before seeking external support (unless an independent survey is needed or it’s a complex case)
• Look at the root cause of the damp and mould when doing inspections and improvement works
• Start any improvement works within 20 working days of inspection, though in more complex or specialist cases this may take longer
• Feed all  “no access” appointments (where we can’t get into properties) back to the Healthy Homes team to be re-scheduled

Prevent damp and mould in your home.

Our handy steps to help prevent damp and mould in your home

• Keeping your home at a consistent temperature and avoiding extreme hot or cold temperatures helps reduce moisture forming. 18°C is the ideal temperature according to the World Health Organisation
• Try to ventilate your home as much as you can. Opening your windows where possible, turning on your extractor fan when cooking, and having a shower can really help with prevention
• We know in winter we can’t avoid drying our washing inside, to avoid damp and mould we would advise drying your washing in a room with a extractor fan
• If you’ve got a tumble dryer, it needs venting to the outside, unless it’s a condenser dryer. Get in touch with us if you need to vent your dryer outside

Kelly Webb - Director of Operations

We will run scheduled meetings in your block to discuss building safety, we will ensure all health and safety and building safety regulation is compliant.

We will share essential information with you about your home, including - the 'responsible person' for safety, the contractors for works, the results of inspections.

You attend our sessions and you let us know if you think there are any hazards in your building.

Scott Maddocks - Head of compliance

Our Leaseholder team are here to help you manage your leasehold property and answer any queries you may have.

Our leaseholder service commitments, we will:

• Respond to all queries within 5 working days of receiving your email. 

Kelly Webb - Director of Operations

Our Neighbourhood teams are here to support you to be safe, secure and happy in your home and neighbourhood.

Our neighbourhoods service commitments, we will:

• Run bi-monthly neighbourhood inspections in your area
• Deliver weekly neighbourhood drop-ins at our neighbourhood hubs
• Carry out annual tenancy experience visits with customers

If you have an emergency repair you should always call us right away, we will attend within 24 hours. If you repair is not an emergency you can either call us, book it online or submit our contact form.

We aim to carry out urgent repairs within 10 working days and repairs we consider appointable will be carried out within 45 days. You can find out more about what is considered an emergency here.

There are some repairs and general upkeep that you’re responsible for looking after in your home.

These include:

• General plumbing
• General maintenance
• Gas, heating and electrics

However, you or someone you know would consider yourself to be a vulnerable customer, we’ll work with you to offer support based on your circumstances.

We also ask that before and during your repair appointment, please make sure:

• You listen out for the door - our operatives will knock on your door or ring the doorbell when they arrive, so please try to keep other loud noises to a minimum so you don’t miss their visit
• Someone over 16 is home - we won’t enter your property if anyone under the age of 16 is there alone or unsupervised
• You keep any pets secure - ideally away in another room so that our operatives can get on with their work safely when they arrive
• Don’t smoke while our operatives are working in your home

• Satisfaction with repairs and maintenance and building safety
• Repairs are being completed within target timescales
• Homes are at or above decent homes standard

Kelly Webb - Director of Operations