We are a small team and benefit from being located on site where our properties are, which means we have a high level of contact with our tenants. They get to know our staff well and this improves communication all round, which is very much valued by all.
We hold regular Tenant Meetings and issue Newsletters, to keep our tenants up to date on important issues. Our tenants also liaise with us via our Facebook profile and recently we have set up our own Ducane App.
Our housing management staff and maintenance team are very accessible and available for tenants for help and advice. This is a valuable resource, as quite a lot of our tenants are here in London for the first time and can feel isolated from their families. We encourage tenants to make good use of our Common Room facilities for interaction, meetings, social events and children’s activities. During the summer months, one of our staff involved the children in football coaching across the road at Wormwood Scrubs, which was very popular. All new tenants are given a 6 week review after moving in, to check on how they are settling in, identify any problems and offer support or advice.
By having our own in-house maintenance team, we can respond quickly to tenants’ repair requests.
We categorise our repair requests into four main categories and response times;
- Emergency repairs, e.g. serious leak/flood, safety or fire hazard – 2 hrs
- Urgent repairs, e.g. blocked sink/toilet, heating and boilers – 24 hrs and 48 hrs
- Day to day repairs, e.g. faulty appliance/lighting, minor plumbing/electrical – 10 days
- Non urgent repairs, e.g. redecoration/furniture, external contractors – 28 days
We are always reviewing the way we manage our repairs and the ways we can improve our performance. We encourage tenants’ feedback and comments to help us try to get it right.