Housing Management's Customer Service Standards

Housing Management’s customer service standards

These standards explain the level of service Housing Management residents can expect, including how we communicate, address concerns, maintain safety and respond to feedback.

They build on the Council’s Corporate Customer Service Standards by setting out additional commitments tailored to Housing Management, helping ensure a consistent, high-quality service for residents.

Communication and accessibility

We will make it easy to reach us by phone, online and in person, and ensure clear signposting of relevant contact details. We will aim to keep residents proactively informed about their case and any actions we are taking. We will ask how you prefer us to contact you and, where possible, use that method. We will use clear, jargon-free language and provide reasonable adjustments, such as translations, British Sign Language (BSL) and alternative formats where needed.

We know that receiving a timely response is important to our residents, so we aim to answer calls as quickly as possible. Our average waiting time for calls into our Housing Management line is typically under one minute. During busier periods, particularly in winter when demand for emergency repairs increases, waiting times may occasionally be longer and can be up to two minutes.

Ensuring the safety of our residents

The safety of our residents is our highest priority. This includes keeping individuals safe from harm and helping to maintain safe, welcoming neighbourhoods. We also work with other areas of the council to help provide joined-up support, like our adults social care or our children’s teams.

We also have several other policies alongside the ones in this section on our website, which help outline our approach to ensuring the safety of our residents:

• Vulnerability Policy
• Hoarding and Self-Neglect Policy
• CCTV and Doorbell Camera Policy
• Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)

One of the ways we do this is through a proactive approach to tackling anti-social behaviour and supporting residents who may be affected by it, which we address through our ASB Policy. The table below shows our grading of Anti-Social Behaviour along with our initial response times and action plan targets.

Anti-social behaviour (ASB)

One of the ways we do this is through a proactive approach to tackling anti-social behaviour and supporting residents who may be affected by it, which we address through our ASB Policy. The table below shows our grading of Anti-Social Behaviour along with our initial response times and action plan targets.

‘Action Plan’ - set of agreed actions between Housing Management and the complainant/victim that sets out how the case will be managed, what steps will be taken, and what support or interventions will be provided.

If you are wanting to report an ASB issue during out-of-hours call 020 7373 2227, if you feel unsafe or suspect the incident is criminal call 999 and for non-emergencies (ASB/crime reports) call 101.

Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding residents and helping to identify people who may be at risk of abuse, neglect or harm. This includes ensuring staff can recognise and respond to early signs of risk and take appropriate action at the earliest opportunity. Our approach is outlined in our Safeguarding Policy.

For any concerns that someone may be at risk of abuse, harm or neglect from either themselves or others, use the following details. 

Phone: Safeguarding helpline 020 7361 3013 (office hours)/020 7373 2227 (out-of-hours) 
Email: [email protected]

Domestic abuse

It is important that we ensure our housing service is well placed to recognise and identify the signs of domestic abuse. Domestic abuse is a crime and is never the fault of the person experiencing it. We will always take a survivor-centred and believing approach to domestic abuse. Our staff are trained to support victims and survivors of domestic abuse in line with our Domestic Abuse Policy.

When an incident of domestic abuse is reported, we will contact the survivor or referring agency within one working day. If, however, there is a risk of serious or imminent danger/harm to the individual, the person or person witnessing the event must dial 999 and ask for the appropriate emergency service. If you are unable to talk, press 55 when prompted and your call will be transferred to the police.

You can reach out to the Housing Management domestic abuse email at [email protected].

Ensuring the safety of our residents’ homes

Keeping residents’ homes safe is a key priority. We do this through regular inspections, responsive repairs and proactive maintenance, helping to ensure homes and communal areas remain safe, secure and well maintained.

If you are a council leaseholder or homeowner, Housing Management’s Home Ownership team have a set of service standards that outline the level of service you can expect. These can be viewed here.

Other important policies we have in addition to the ones below that help ensure the safety of our residents’ homes, which can be found on our website:

• Damp and Mould Policy 
• Asbestos Policy 
• Electrical Safety Policy 
• Water Safety Policy 
• Repairs Policy 
• Decants Policy 
• Improvements to Your Home Policy

Quarterly Estate Inspections

We carry out quarterly estate inspections to check that shared areas are safe, clean and in good condition, and identify anything that needs attention.

Inspection dates are published online and on estate noticeboards. Residents are encouraged to attend and share feedback about their estate. Residents can also reach out to their Resident Association (RA) as they are sent the inspection schedules. It is important that residents are involved in this process as it offers us an opportunity to hear directly from residents about the neighbourhoods and estates where they live. 

Repairs 

We prioritise the safety of our resident’s homes by having a clear process for carrying out repairs quickly and safely. Below is a list of our target response times for repairs related matters. These are outlined in our Repairs Policy. 

To help us keep your home safe, we ask residents to work with us by providing access for inspections, servicing, safety checks and repair appointments where required. We will always seek to arrange appointments at reasonable times and provide appropriate notice wherever possible.

Complaints, compliments and feedback

We want to hear your feedback, whether good or bad, so we can keep improving. We will also be clear on how we have used your input so that you know the difference you have made, in line with our Housing Asset Management Strategy which outlines our approach to Resident Involvement.

Where we have not met our own standards, we will be open about what went wrong, take responsibility and use what we learn to improve future services.

We also welcome compliments where we have provided a good service, as these help us recognise good practice and share learning across teams.

The Council is committed to ensuring there is more than one way for you to contact us:

Our complaints process follows the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, which can be found here Housing Ombudsman Service. The Stage 1 and Stage 2 response times set out below are consistent with the standard timescales expected of councils and housing providers.

Getting involved

If you would like more information on getting involved in any of our resident involvement activities, please visit the ‘Get Involved’ page on our website.

You can also contact our Resident Engagement team directly at [email protected].