Summary
Ms P, a tenant of Adactus Housing Association, submitted a complaint regarding the Association’s failure to adhere to her preferred method of contact and incorrect advice she had been given in relation to a repair appointment.

The complaint
Ms P had been given a repair appointment between 8am and 2pm. On the day before the appointment, she received a text message advising that the slot had been extended to between 8am and 6pm.

On the day of the appointment, Ms P telephoned the Connect contact centre and was advised that the repairs operative might not be able to attend at all that day due to the number of emergencies received by the Association. On receipt of this information, Ms P left her home. Later that day, she received another text message advising that the operative was on his way to her property. When she returned home, she found that a ‘no access’ card had been left.

Ms P was dissatisfied that text messages had been sent to her. She had previously requested that the Association communicate with her via telephone calls. She also advised of the inconvenience caused by our failure to carry out the repair that day.

Determination
Ms P’s complaint was upheld and an apology was offered due to the inconvenience caused. Ms P was offered and accepted a compensation payment due to the inconvenience caused by the missed appointment and her time and trouble in having to make a complaint.

Housing associations like ourselves are increasingly using social networking sites to communicate with tenants (and tenants themselves are using the internet to communicate with us). We asked Adactus500 members to give us feedback on their use of the internet (and our website), their use of social networking sites and their specific use of Facebook and Twitter.  » Please click here to view the infographics report

What we learned from the results:

•  The age distribution of the members who took part in this consultation was relatively representative of our tenant base as a whole.  Most said they accessed the internet at home, several times a day using a computer (as opposed to through a mobile phone or tablet).

•  Most used the internet to email friends/family and carry out research, either for social (e.g. to look for holidays) or domestic (e.g. comparing utility suppliers) purposes.

•  Half the members had visited our ‘new look’ website in the past few months and around three quarters of these rated its appearance and content highly. Most said they had used our website in the past to find out information or report repairs online.

•  Two thirds said they used Facebook. Twitter was far less popular. Of those who used Facebook, almost half said they accessed this several times a day to catch up with friends. Less than a quarter were aware that Adactus had its own Facebook page and, not surprisingly, less than a tenth had visited this. Awareness and use of our Twitter page was similarly low. Two thirds felt we should use such sites to provide important/local information (rather than them be used for tenants to communicate to us / between themselves).

•  Suggestions of ways to publicize our Facebook and Twitter pages included putting adverts/articles in the tenant newsletter, sending text messages/emails to tenants and having the details of both sites on our letterhead.

» Please click here to view the full survey results

Thank you to all of you who contributed to the survey. We are really interested in your views on this, so please leave us a comment below.

The table in the image gallery (click on the image to view the table) presents key performance information for Beech Housing Association (presented ‘Year to Date’) for last financial year (2011/12) along with target and trend information (e.g. whether performance is improving, remaining stable or showing signs of decline).

Repairs performance is strong with more repairs being completed at first visit to the satisfaction of almost all tenants surveyed. Consistent with previous years, rent collection for the year remains above the target. All the tenants who have reported Anti-Social Behaviour have been satisfied with how their case has been handled. Most calls to Connect have been answered within 15 seconds and, showing a small improvement since last quarter, more than three quarters of calls were resolved at the first point of contact year to date.

The time taken to relet properties has not met target although there has been a slight improvement on previous quarters. In addition, occupancy rates for both general needs and sheltered properties have remained solid at over 95% throughout the year. The team are confident Beech properties will be relet within the target time next quarter.

Focus on: Repairs and Maintenance

Each quarter we will focus on a different area of service delivery. This quarter the focus is on the repairs and maintenance team.
The responsive repairs team has performed consistently well throughout the quarter, obtaining high levels of customer satisfaction and completing a high proportion of jobs at first visit. Due to our repairs team being staffed by multi-skilled and well trained operatives, we provide a value for money service. We are consistently issuing less than 10% of responsive repair jobs to sub-contractors and the DLO’s productivity has remained above the target of 5.5 jobs per operative per day.

The Group’s planned maintenance programme is now carried out by our own team. In its first year, it has worked mostly on Adactus Housing Association properties. The team has out-performed expectations completing more installations than planned for the year: an additional 23 kitchens, 101 bathrooms and 216 heating systems.

We are really interested in your views about our performance so please leave us a comment below.

Click here to learn more about how we monitor and report performance.

The table in the image gallery (click on the image to view the table) presents key performance information for Chorley Community Housing (presented ‘Year to Date’-YTD) for the last financial year (2011/12) along with target and trend information (e.g. whether performance is improving, remaining stable or showing signs of decline).

Repairs performance is strong with more repairs being completed at first visit to the satisfaction of almost all tenants surveyed. Rent collection has shown a significant improvement on last quarter, exceeding target, an achievement in these difficult economic times. Most of the tenants who have reported Anti-Social Behaviour have been satisfied with how their case has been handled. Over 80% of calls through to Connect have been answered within 15 seconds and, showing a small improvement since last quarter, more than three quarters of calls were resolved at the first point of contact year to date.

The time taken to relet properties has not met target. Plans are in place to improve performance next quarter. However, occupancy rates for both general needs and sheltered properties have remained solid at over 95% throughout the year.

Focus on: Repairs and Maintenance

Each quarter we will focus on a different area of service delivery. This quarter the focus is on the repairs and maintenance team.
The responsive repairs team has performed consistently well throughout the quarter, obtaining high levels of customer satisfaction and completing a high proportion of jobs at first visit. Due to our repairs team being staffed by multi-skilled and well trained operatives, we provide a value for money service. We are consistently issuing less than 10% of responsive repair jobs to sub-contractors and the DLO’s productivity has remained above the target of 5.5 jobs per operative per day.

The Group’s planned maintenance programme is now carried out by our own team. In its first year, it has worked mostly on Adactus Housing Association properties. The team has out-performed expectations completing more installations than planned for the year: an additional 23 kitchens, 101 bathrooms and 216 heating systems. Tenant satisfaction is consistently high with over 95% of Chorley customers reporting they are satisfied with the standard of the work.

We are really interested in your views about our performance so please leave us a comment below.

Click here to learn more about how we monitor and report performance.

The table in the image gallery (click on the image to view the table) presents key performance information for Adactus Housing Association (presented ‘Year to Date’-YTD) for the last financial year (2011/12) along with target and trend information (e.g. whether performance is improving, remaining stable or showing signs of decline).

Repairs performance is strong with more repairs being completed at first visit to the satisfaction of almost all tenants surveyed. Rent collection for the year is on target, an achievement in these difficult economic times. Most of the tenants who have reported Anti-Social Behaviour have been satisfied with how their case has been handled. Over 80% of calls to Connect have been answered within 15 seconds and, showing a small improvement since last quarter, more than three quarters of calls were resolved at the first point of contact.

The time taken to relet properties has not met target. This is mainly due to fifteen sheltered properties which have taken an average of 75.60 days to let. However, occupancy rates for both general needs and sheltered properties have remained solid at over 95% throughout the year. Plans are in place to improve performance over the coming year.

Focus on: Repairs and Maintenance

Each quarter we will focus on a different area of service delivery. This quarter the focus is on the repairs and maintenance team.

The responsive repairs team has performed consistently well throughout the quarter, obtaining high levels of customer satisfaction and completing a high proportion of jobs at first visit. Due to our repairs team being staffed by multi-skilled and well trained operatives, we provide a value for money service. We are consistently issuing less than 10% of responsive repair jobs to sub-contractors and the DLO’s productivity has remained above the target of 5.5 jobs per operative per day.

The Group’s planned maintenance programme is now carried out by our own team. In its first year, it has worked mostly on Adactus Housing Association properties. The team has out-performed expectations completing more installations than planned for the year: an additional 23 kitchens, 101 bathrooms and 216 heating systems. Tenant satisfaction is consistently high with over 95% of customers reporting they are satisfied with the standard of the work.

We are really interested in your views about our performance so please leave us a comment below.

Click here to learn more about how we monitor and report performance.

Complaints about the dog were first received in summer 2011. At the time, we warned our tenant that if he did not take steps to stop the nuisance caused by the dog, we would withdraw permission for him to keep it at his flat. We also advised the tenant on how to train his dog not to bark when left alone.

Despite this, we continued to receive complaints. In February 2012, Adactus informed the tenant that permission for him to keep a dog at his flat has been withdrawn. We gave the tenant four weeks to re-home the dog and warned him that he could face legal action if he didn’t. When the tenant failed to remove the dog, our Tenancy Enforcement Team applied for an injunction at court prohibiting him from keeping a dog at his flat.

Four days before the court hearing, our tenant did finally find a new home for his dog. He attended court and gave an undertaking not to keep another dog at the flat for as long as he remains our tenant. An undertaking is a promise made to the court which carries the same weight as an injunction.

Mike Colvin, Tenancy Enforcement and Support Officer at Adactus said “the tenant was very apologetic at court for any inconvenience he had caused to his neighbours. He told the judge he was going to get a pet goldfish instead. The judge was satisfied there was no way a goldfish could cause problems for the neighbours.”

What we learned from the results:

1. Four fifths of the members said they were satisfied with our overall service, a slight increase on previous years.

2. Well over three quarters said they were satisfied with the quality of their home and the standard of their local neighbourhood as a place to live.

3. Encouragingly, satisfaction with our repairs and maintenance service showed a slight increase with almost four fifths saying they were ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ satisfied with the service they received and the standard of the work. Seven in ten said they were satisfied with whether we listen to their views and act upon them.

4. Comments on the whole were extremely positive and encouraging. A balanced sample of these can be found below:

“Adactus is a very well organised Housing Association.”

“The time it takes to get back to an initial request or complaint can be quite a long time. Texting is a wonderful way to contact and keep in touch.”

“I have no problems with any services carried out by Adactus staff – always been treated very well from personnel answering queries through to workmen carrying out any request for repairs promptly and with courtesy”

“Offer out of office working hours repairs for those of us who work full time”

“Dont keep tenants on hold for long periods of time when they are calling. You should be able to request non urgent repairs via a text messaging service”.

“I am totally satisfied , the repair men are helpful and courteous.”

Thank you to all of you who contributed to the survey.

So, if you want to run a sports team, create a community garden, develop a community arts project or have another initiative that will benefit your community please submit your idea to the Neighbourhood Fund. No idea is too small.

The money available for each area is as follows:

- North Manchester £43,750
- South Manchester and Trafford £32,750
- Cheshire £4,500
- Neston £6,000
- Wigan and Leigh £20,000
- Sefton £35,000
- Preston, Lancaster and Morecombe £8,000

In addition, £50,000 has been allocated to Chorley Community Housing. For further details please see the Chorley Community Housing website.

Applications for 2012 are now open. The closing dates are

Friday 8th June 2012 for Wigan and Leigh/Sefton/Preston, Lancaster and Morecambe
and
Friday 29th June 2012 for Manchester/Trafford/Cheshire/Neston

Click here to download the application form or click the PDF icon below.

Or you can contact to request a form & for more information:

Manchester/Trafford/Cheshire/Neston
grantmcr@adactushousing.co.uk

Chorley/Leigh/ Lancaster/West
grantwest@chorleych.co.uk

Alternatively, please call the Connect Service on 0845 505 3355 (form a landline) or 0300 111 1133 (from a mobile).

For more information regarding our neighbourhood fund please click here.

Applications for the fund, now in its third year, are judged by a panel of residents. Last year the fund provided healthy living sessions, improved communal gardens, funded community clean up days and provided activities for the over 60’s.

Mike Murphy, Regional Manager at Adactus, said “This is really great news that we are able run the scheme again. The money is available because of efficiency savings we have made as a Group. We have been able to deliver exciting projects in the past and are looking forward to doing the same this year.”

The closing date for bids for the Neighbourhood Fund is Friday 8th June 2012. Applications forms and further details can be obtained by calling 0845 505 3355 (Landline) or 0300 111 1133 (Mobile) or by e-mailing grantwest@chorleych.co.uk. Alternatively, you can download the application form from this blog by clicking the PDF icon below.

For more information regarding our neighbourhood fund please click here.

Applications for the fund, now in its third year, are judged by a panel of residents. Last year the fund was provided computers for social clubs, improved communal gardens, funded community clean up days and provided activities for the over 60’s.

Mike Murphy, Regional Manager at Adactus, said “This is really great news that we are able run the scheme again. The money is available because of efficiency savings we have made as a Group. We have been able to deliver exciting projects in the past and are looking forward to doing the same this year.”

The closing date for bids for the Neighbourhood Fund is Friday 8th June 2012. Applications forms and further details can be obtained by calling 0845 505 3355 (Landline) or 0300 111 1133 (Mobile) or by e-mailing grantwest@chorleych.co.uk. Alternatively, you can download the application form from this blog by clicking the PDF icon below.

For more information regarding our neighbourhood fund please click here.