September was another busy month for Customer Review Group members. They learned about how Six Town Housing manage complaints to show that we are fair and listen to tenants. There is a national Housing Ombudsman Complaints Handling Code where landlords asses themselves. Six Town Housing are making a few tweaks to their published Self-Assessment Code and it will be published next month.
They are still moving forward with a review of empty properties, from viewing empty properties at different stages of getting ready to let, to tenancy sign up. They group put forward some exciting recommendations to management and are waiting for an Action Plan that they will track. A revised Home Standard will be published on the Six Town Housing website and be given to tenants before the Tenancy Sign Up, so they know the standard of property to expect. They are keen on the idea of a few short introduction videos being sent to tenants in the first few weeks of moving in which we hoped will be supported. The group will meet a manager soon to go through their ideas.
They received a report about Six Town Housing’s brand-new Tenant Support Strategy. This is a plan to help create successful tenancies for the most vulnerable tenants moving into new homes. Six Town Housing have set up a dedicated team to identify new tenants needing specialised support to settle in and maintain their tenancy. This is done by linking into specialised services and partners. We are one of the first Housing landlords to do it and the group are really impressed with the idea and will be looking at how they will track its success. They will be meeting with a manager soon to find out more about it and how it’s working out.
The group would also like to congratulate the Customer Review Group member, Tina Harrison, who celebrated her investiture recently, receiving her MBE on 9th September. You can read about it here.
If you’re interested in joining the Customer Review Group or just want to know more about some specific they’re looking at, email getinvolved@sixtownhousing.org
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