Service standards
We’re here to provide you with well-maintained, quality homes where you can truly thrive and feel safe and we want to put you, our tenants, at the heart of all we do and ensure you feel listened to and treated with respect.
Our promises
We want you to be satisfied with the services you receive from us and to be able to trust us to deliver on what we say we will do.
We know we don’t always get it right but by working together with you we can keep improving and provide the highest level of customer service possible.
We worked closely with a group of tenants and listened to what matters most to them, to create seven promises around how we will deliver all our services to you.
We will:
When you reach out to us with questions or concerns, we’ll always be polite and treat you fairly and with respect.
We understand your personal space and privacy are important to you, and we’ll always respect this.
When you have an enquiry or need something done, we’ll take full ownership of it until it’s sorted.
We want you to feel listened to and treated with respect. Your home is your sanctuary, and we’ll treat it with respect and care.
We’ll make sure we communicate with you in a way that’s easy to understand and on the things that matter to you.
We have timescales set out below for getting things done for you. We promise to meet these.
Understand and respond to the different needs of individuals
We are committed to providing you with accessible information about your rights and our responsibilities as your landlord. This includes our responsibilities for your homes and other facilities and services we provide.
We know that one size does not fit all, and our aim is to understand the diverse needs of our tenants, so we can deliver people-centred services that put you first. This includes making changes, often called reasonable adjustments, to the services we provide where these do not meet your needs – for example, owing to a different need related to a disability. This helps ensure that none of our tenants are disadvantaged by how we do things and that our services are delivered equally and fairly to you all.
The seven commitments above are reviewed every two years by tenant groups who regularly check in on our performance against these promises, for example through inspections and surveys. This helps us to make positive changes.
Our timescales
We listened to your views through tenant surveys and focus groups and then agreed on these timescales with you. Below are details of how long it will take for us to deliver a service to you.
Delivering a great experience to you so you can be happy and safe in your home is important to us. But we know that sometimes we may not get things quite right, so if that happens, we’ll always work together with you when you tell us you’re unhappy. We’ll listen, learn and take action to fix it as quickly as possible.
We will:
- Always be polite and treat you with respect when dealing with your complaint. We will always handle your complaint sensitively and fairly considering all the information
- Agree with you how often we will contact you and agree to contact you in ways that are suitable to your needs
- Always handle your complaint within the timescales set out below for investigating your complaint, unless an extension is agreed with you.
- Respect your right to privacy. We understand your personal space and privacy are important to you and we’ll always respect this whenever you make a complaint.
We want you to be satisfied with the way we handle your complaint. We promise that:
- When you first tell us you’re unhappy we will be in touch with you by phone, email or letter to let you know we have received your complaint within 5 working days
- We will investigate your complaint and write to you to let you know the outcome within 10 working days. If we need longer, we will let you know, this should not exceed another 10 working days.
- If you’re happy with the outcome your complaint is resolved. If you’re still unhappy you can ask for it to be escalated for review.
- We will contact you about why you are still unhappy and include this in a written acknowledgement within 5 working days.
- The outcome of the review and any resolutions agreed to resolve the issues will be confirmed in writing within a further 15 working days. If we need longer we will let you know, this should not exceed a further 10 working days.
- If you’re happy with the outcome your complaint is resolved. If you’re still unhappy with the outcome of the complaint you can escalate your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service.
We are here to help make sure your home is well maintained by completing any repairs quickly.
Below is a description of the type of repairs we do:
- Emergency repairs: This is a repair that, if left undone, would be a danger to you or your community, or cause major damage to your home. Think gas leaks, hazardous electrical faults, and major water leaks. Sometimes, depending on the repair, we may not be able to completely fix the problem, but we will always make it safe within 24 hours.
- Urgent repairs: This type of repair causes disruption to your home, and may affect your health, safety, or security – meaning they need to be done quickly and easily. This could be a partial loss of electrical power or gas supply, a blocked bath, or an unsecured external door.
- Routine repairs: These are repairs that are not unsafe, but if left for a long period of time may get worse and become a hazard. Think loose taps, faulty guttering, or minor plumbing repairs.
- Replacements: This type of repair is usually the replacement of items that need pre-inspection, ordering, and manufacture so they take a little longer.
We will ensure that:
- Emergency repairs or work on safety concerns will be completed within 24 hours.
- Urgent repairs will be attended within three working days.
- Routine repairs will be taken care of within 30 working days.
- Approved adaptations costing up to £1,000 will be completed within 27 calendar days.
- For approved adaptations costing up to £6,000, we’ll finish them in under 180 calendar days.
- We will ensure that 100% of homes have an annual gas safety check.
- We will ensure that 100% reinspection’s are carried out to communal areas.
- We will ensure that 100% properties that are required to have a fire risk assessment are carried out.
- We will ensure that 100% passenger lifts have a monthly service and a six monthly Loler (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations) inspection.
For any damp and mould repairs, we promise to:
- Arrange an inspection for all reported cases of damp and we will carry these out within 10 working days of being reported, but aim to be with you sooner
- Aim to complete 90% of all damp repairs within 40 working days, allowing space for those longer-term solutions
- Give you the opportunity to let us know if you’re satisfied with your repair before the repair job is closed
- Follow up with you in 3 months’ time to check that everything is still ok
We want you to feel happy and safe in your home and in your community. We promise that:
- New tenants will be contacted within the first month of moving into their new home to make sure they are settling in and getting the support they need
Graffiti reported or identified will be removed within one week, unless being investigated by the police. - We will investigate fly tipping on ForHousing owned land, to identify the person responsible and request removal. If the rubbish is not removed, we will arrange for the removal and recharge those concerned.
- We’ll acknowledge and assess reports of anti-social behaviour within two working days.
- If it’s serious anti-social behaviour, including violence, threats, harassment, hate behaviour, or domestic abuse, we’ll speak to you either over the phone or in person within one working day.
- We’ll discuss all other instances of anti-social behaviour with you within five working days.
You can find out more about how to report anti-social behaviour by clicking here.
We are here to support you on your journey to homeownership. You can find out more about if you are eligible to buy your home here. We know how exciting it can be when you are looking into buying your home. We promise to get you the information you need as quickly as we can.
- When you ask for a sales enquiry pack, we’ll send it to you within five working days.
- We’ll confirm we’ve received your application within five working days.
