We can be very quick to criticise in the UK. Too often we take to social media about one problem or another, very quick to jump on the negative and far less likely to mention any positives. This is the situation I see housing associations have got themselves in to with their residents. There’s been a breakdown in trust somewhere along the line and whether it is fuelled by the reality of a poor service or some other factor, it needs repairing and fast.
The first thing to say is I understand why some residents do moan. The service we’ve received has always been poor and the communication we get from our landlord and contractors matches that – dreadful. When I first moved in to my James Butcher housing association property it must have had over 100 hammer holes in the walls - left as a parting gift from the previous tenant. There was no thought from the landlord to fix it before I moved in. Instead, I felt pressured to accept it as ‘favour’, however unfit for habitation it was. But take it I did and from there I started to do it up myself rather than wait, and wait, and wait on the ‘cowboys’ they would send – if they did ever actually turn up.
It was from this starting point that I began to get involved. I wanted to help change things for residents and for my community in the short and long-term. The only way I believe you can do that is by rolling up your sleeves, doing everything you can to get the resident voice heard, and helping to find practical solutions to problems rather than sniping from the sidelines.
That journey has taken many years and I’ve faced many frustrations in getting our views taken seriously. However, the other month I found myself sat around the same table as the CEO of Southern at one of several workshops I’ve attended since the creation of the new organisation through merger. There he was alongside members of his executive team, asking myself and other residents what our experience of their services were and how to shape them better in the future. I thought – finally, we’re being listened to.
Repairs has always been the main point of service failure for my landlords, so to work on the solution to this, which in-part involves the re-tendering of the London repairs contract, was a fascinating exercise to go through. Working alongside the Procurement team in evaluating the tenders, seeing where the complaints were coming from and how each organisation pitching for the contract would address these, and collaborating with other residents to ensure our lived-experience was written in to every line was heartening and reassuring.
One of the aspects I wanted embedded as part of any successful tender was the communications between the new contractor and residents. My view is that if we can improve communications as well as deliver a more effective repairs service we can begin to breakdown the stigma that has too often come attached with resident association tenants – which is we should just accept what we are given and be happy with it. That view has existed for too long and I’m extremely hopeful that it will disappear forever not just for our residents, but for everyone in a housing association property. The roadmap to achieving this change is clear at Southern – better tendered contracts, more inhouse delivery, greater accountability by the landlord themselves, and importantly far more scrutiny by residents on performance.
I’m beginning to see a change in Southern that I can get behind. The people I’ve met from there have been professional, organised, respectful and willing to treat us as equals in drawing up a vision for the future.
There is still a lot of hard work ahead of us but I feel we are already moving at pace to where we need to be. When we get there, residents may be a bit more willing to offer up praise rather than complaints across the various media channels…but let’s take things one step at a time!
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