Housing customer service standards

We are committed to providing excellent customer service and have listed below a summary of our service standards, so that you know you to expect from us.

Housing Income Service Standards

• provide a choice of payment methods which include direct debits, swipe cards, telephone payments, internet payments and standing orders
• provide a replacement swipe card for payments within 15 working days
• provide quarterly rent statements which are easy to understand, include all transactions and a breakdown of charges to your account
• show any court costs separately on your account rather than including them in your rent arears
• provide financial inclusion advice to help you maximise your income and reduce your rent arrears
• sign-post you to more in depth financial and debt advice where needed
• give you four weeks’ notice of any changes to your rent or service charges
• allow you to make an agreement with us to pay any arrears by instalments and not take any further action provided you keep to this
• visit you at home to discuss your rent if you are unable to come to our offices
• provide confidential and private interview rooms in our offices so that you can discuss your rent in private

Tenancy and Estate Management Service Standards

• inspect communal areas of flats and sheltered schemes once a month
• visit all new tenants within four weeks of their moving in to provide advice, information and answer any queries
• give you a decision on a mutual exchanged application within 42 days
• identify any support needs for vulnerable new tenants before or at the point of moving in, sign-posting to external support services or providing direct in-house support by the tenancy support team
• provide dedicated tenancy support to existing vulnerable tenants to help them keep their tenancy
• produce a tenancy support plan for all sheltered tenants and review this every six months
• provide sheltered tenants with access to an emergency alarm system and on call warden
• provide you with the opportunity to take-up home contents insurance

Repairs Service Standards

• Emergency repairs – we will complete the repair within 24 hours
• Urgent repairs – we will complete the repair within 5 working days
• Routine repairs – we will complete the repair within 28 working days
• Planned work (fences, paths, plastering etc.) – we will complete within 90 days
• Our staff will always wear photo identification
• We will protect your belongings from damage, dust and paint
• When doing repairs, we will clear rubbish from your home at the end of each working day
• When doing repairs, we will make sure that you have electricity, water and gas connected at the end of each day
• We will make sure that we keep you informed of progress
• We will provide adaptations to your home to address disability needs
• We will fit a smoke detector to your home
• We will service your gas boiler annually
• If we are replacing your kitchen or bathroom we will give you a choice of finishes and tiling to choose from

Anti-Social Behaviour Service Standards

• aim to reduce the numbers of people who believe anti -social behaviour to be of a high level in Charnwood
• provide regular updates to communities about actions taken to tackle anti-social behaviour and in particular, where appropriate, we will publicise, where permitted, enforcement
• provide residents with a swift and simple means of complaining, directly to the Community Safety Partnership via the Community Trigger, if effective action is not taken by local agencies through existing channels
• provide comprehensive support and help for victims and witnesses of anti-social behaviour, having particular regard for those identified as being vulnerable
• take complaints of anti-social behaviour seriously; risk assessing each reported incident and responding in agreed timescales (all serious incidents of anti-social behaviour, domestic abuse and hate crimes being responded to within 1 working day), recording and investigating all complaints, providing regular updates to all involved parties
  
• respond to all other complaints of anti-social behavior within a maximum of 5 working days, advising the complainant of who their main contact is
• agree an action plan with complainants of anti-social behavior
• ensure effective links with neighbourhood policing and other local partners to deal swiftly with anti-social behaviour problems
• ensure that the support needs of those who perpetrate anti-social behaviour are addressed and that they are afforded adequate opportunity to moderate their behaviour, leading to the best possible outcomes for all

Customer Service Standards

• reply to letters and e-mails within 10 workings days
• ensure that the information you provide is treated confidentially
• respect all customers and always be polite, helpful and professional
• respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days
• respond to stage 2 complaints within 20 working days
• provide documents in other formats, including audio and braille if needed
• provide interpretation and information in other languages where needed

Customer Engagement Service Standards

• provide and develop a range of ways for tenants and leaseholders to become involved including the use of focus groups, tenant/officer working groups
• consult tenants before making substantial changes to the service they receive
• seek feedback on services we provide, for example, repairs, decent homes works, and anti-social behaviour
• reimburse tenants and leaseholders for reasonable expenses occurred when attending meeting and involvement events
• provide training for tenants and leaseholders to enable them to become more involved in influencing the services they receive
• attend Tenant/Residents Association meetings when requested
• ensure that information is made available to tenants and leaseholders on the range of services offered so that customers know what to expect
• provide the quarterly newsletter “Your Homes Matter” with information and advice
• provide setting up grants to groups wanting to set up a residents’ association
• provide annual running costs grant to residents associations
• provide a one-off payment of £250 to support community events or up to £400 annually for an on-going project
• facilitate and support the Charnwood Housing Residents Forum at its monthly meetings, producing minutes and agendas and attending meetings
• facilitate and support the Leaseholders Forum, producing minutes, agendas and attending meetings
• carry out an annual satisfaction and feedback survey of leaseholders
• carry out a three year satisfaction and feedback survey of tenants
• measure satisfaction for key service areas monthly