Looking after your neighbourhood
Highlights of this year
1. Tenancy visits
These began in September 2024 in response to customers saying they do not know who their Housing Officer is. The tenancy visits are being done on roughly a three year cycle and creates a great opportunity for the tenant’s Housing Officer to meet them in their home, to better understand their needs and support them with any issues. These have proven largely successful since being rolled out with a total number of 800 visits completed in the last nine months.
2. Fraud Investigations
In the last financial year, we continued the work we do investigating fraud within the homes we let. A total of seven properties were recovered through our investigations, enabling those homes to be recovered and let out to those who genuinely need a home.
3. Resident meetings
We know how important it is to speak to our customers on a regular basis. Last year we carried out resident meetings with 18 different resident groups in order to help build trust and address issues across our schemes. Key issues have included antisocial behaviour (ASB) and repair issues, all of which have been addressed in a more proactive manner. The meetings have enabled us to develop relationships with customers and nip issues in the bud before they escalate into bigger issues.
Learnings and improvements
1. Abandoned Vehicles
Abandoned vehicles have become a growing problem across our schemes. We began to step up the work we do to ensure owners of abandoned vehicles are traced and vehicles are removed off site. Last year we removed eight abandoned vehicles and continue to step up the work we do in this area to ensure our estates are well maintained so residents and their visitors can enjoy the environment in which they live in. We are now proactively managing abandoned vehicles, reviewing progress on each vehicle until removal.
2. Customers with needs
There has been a huge amount of work that has gone into ensuring we better understand our customer’s needs, and with that, understanding vulnerabilities that we need to factor in when delivering a service and communicating with you. All frontline staff are trained in ensuring a resident's needs are picked up and recorded so we are able to cater our services in line with their needs.
3. Antisocial behaviour (ASB)
Antisocial behaviour cases reported by customers are increasing significantly. There have been long delays in progressing cases where customers are experiencing antisocial behaviour, often due to the perpetrator having significant mental health issues which must be addressed through capability assessments with Social Services.
What we’re focussing on next year
1. Block communications
We are producing regular newsletters and arranging resident meetings with our customers that have high levels of communication with Wandle. Doing this will improve customer satisfaction, as well as increase our knowledge of our customers and the issues they are facing.
2. ASB service improvement plan
The safety of our customers is a priority, and we know that too many of you feel like your wellbeing is negatively impacted by the anti-social behaviour of others. We will design our ASB service so it is clear how we deal with cases, what residents can expect and improve customer satisfaction.
3. Commitment to tenancy visits
We want to know our residents, ensure they know who their Housing Officer is and how to contact them. Our Housing Officers will become customer advocates when there are issues that need resolving. We will also review tenancy visits at 12 month intervals.
Estate improvement case study
A customer was chaining their bicycle to the handrail on the communal hallway of their block.
We wrote to them asking them to remove it. They refused saying that the bicycle was at risk if left chained outside the block. We worked with them to install a bicycle store directly outside the block. They were delighted to remove the bike from being stored inside the block and it is now stored in the bike store. It is no longer a health and safety risk to their neighbours.