Tenants are being given the opportunity to see how well the Council is performing when it comes to Housing. Tenants will now receive an end of year performance report via the Councils tenant’s magazine Open House. Work is also being carried out to link performance data to the Council’s website so that in the future tenants can see the housing teams performance figures for themselves to give them a greater insight into how well the service is performing and to reassure tenants of the level of service they are receiving.

“Significant changes to the Housing service were made at the beginning of the year and I am very pleased with the positive outcome these changes are having for our tenants” said Councillor Mary Oates, portfolio holder for Quality of Life. “A great deal of improvements have been made and we have been able to build on the strengths the service already had as well as introducing new ideas and initiatives. Our tenants are at the centre of the service we provide more than they ever have been in the past and this is something we hope to continue to improve upon by involving tenants at every opportunity.“

Improvements made to the Housing service over the last financial year include:

·        Housing Officers are now more visible on the estates they cover spending 50% out on the patch

·        100% of reported cases of Anti Social Behaviour were investigated by a housing officer

·        99.76% of all council properties had a Gas service completed

·        The Financial inclusion officer has assisted 16 tenants with debt advice

·        A successful rent campaign offering support and advice as well as encouraging tenants to pay their rent.

·        Temporary collection officers carried out personal visits to nearly a quarter of tenants to discuss the payment of rent.

·        An increase in the amount of rent arrears recovered has been achieved;

·        The Housing Benefit team now regularly update how many council tenants have benefit claims outstanding to provide up to date information and help to provide greater understanding of any arrears.

·        The first weeks rent is now requested at sign up for a tenant leasing a property.

Tenants will also be given the chance to comment on a series of agreements relating to customer service standards. This is to ensure that the standards set out are what the tenants think should be prioritised and what is important to them. The documents will be available for consultation via our Housing pages next month.