HOMELIFE

December 2023

We’re passionate about ensuring your voices are heard and providing opportunities for you to shape and improve our services. So, in August 2023, we asked a group of residents to review our approach to damp and mould.

This review included the reporting process, how we are assessing damp and mould and finally resolving the problem. We also asked them to tell us what they thought of the information we share, including leaflets and the relevant pages on our website.

Residents told us that there is a clear process in place for responding to initial reports of damp and mould, but they would like to be given more information on our contractor’s visits, as well as clearer expectations about what will happen. To improve this, we’ll be closely monitoring our contractor’s performance and feeding this back to residents.

Residents also told us that they would like to know which part of the damp and mould policy relates to their type of home and rental agreement, so we are making changes to the wording to make sure this is clear.

We’ll be using this feedback to make improvements to the damp and mould services we offer from Spring 2024, and will share this information with you online via Homelife. These will aim to provide residents with a single point of contact for their case and ensure that communications from us during the damp and mould process are better. We’re also now making improvements to the information we provide about our damp and mould services across our website, leaflets and letters.

Reflecting on the consultation exercise, one member of the Damp and Mould team, said: “We got to hear first-hand resident’s experiences of when they have had to report damp and mould to us.

"They told us what some of the challenges were, highlighted where we had got things wrong and suggested how we could improve the service. Mostly, it was about communicating better, and they came up with ways to ensure that communication happens at the right point and in the right way.

"For example, someone suggested we need to ask more questions at the start to ensure the call is routed to the right place. This is very helpful feedback and something we will be taking forward.”

We believe the best way to improve our services is by residents and staff working together. That's why we provide a variety of formal and informal volunteering opportunities for you to get more involved with us and have your say.

The residents who supported this project were members of our ‘involved resident’ community. To find out how to join this, and about future involvement opportunities, visit our Resident Involvement and Accountability page or email our Resident Involvement team.