We recently recruited tenants, just like you, to support with scrutinising our damp and mould services. It gave tenants who got involved the opportunity to be the voice of your community, make positive changes to our damp and mould services and have your voice heard. There were five core scrutiny group members who carried out the scrutiny exercise and a total of 19 tenants were contacted to discuss their damp and mould repair. Tenants who got involved, were able to review what we do and why we do it, influencing what happens.
1
The information published about damp and mould on the website, social media and in the newsletter is good. However, when speaking to you, there were concerns about those of you who were unable to access the internet to get this information
2
Advice around heating homes is different between the website and leaflets
3
The website doesn’t clearly set out what you can expect when reporting damp and mould
4
There was no contact number on the contact us page specifically for damp and mould
5
All tenants who were contacted during the scrutiny exercise felt that their report of damp and mould had been taken seriously, however there were delays in completing the work and tenants who were contacted were dissatisfied with the service
6
The operatives who attended the property were courteous
You said…
We should review the content of the different ways we communicate damp and mould such as the newsletter and website to make sure the messages are consistent
We listened and…
A working group of maintenance and communications colleagues and involved tenants has been set up to review all communication in relation to damp and mould.
You said…
Further information should be provided around heating properties and what the cost may be
We listened and…
We will review the information we provide both digitally and offline and update this with potential cost implications for heating homes to avoid damp and mould.
You said…
We should look at the use of digital communications and explore other non-digital methods to signpost tenants to guidance and information
We listened and…
We have recently launched our tenant newsletter that is also available as a printed version. This will include damp and mould messaging. We will also look into whether we can plan a print mail out of a damp and mould flyer to all tenant addresses.
You said…
We should look into the cases where damp and mould works have not been completed in a timely manner and prioritise any outstanding works
We listened and…
We have contacted all tenants who were interviewed as part of the scrutiny exercise to make sure all outstanding works are progressed and prioritised. We’re now back in target with damp and mould timeframes and we’re currently reviewing communications to reassure and update tenants.
