Housing service standards

SUPPORTING OUR TENANTS 

We will: 

• All officers will provide you with proof of our identification when visiting you. 

• All officers will be polite and treat you with respect. 

• Provide an online portal where you can:     

Report and view outstanding/historical repairs  

View your rent account and make a payment 

Produce a rent account statement 

View your tenancy details and update your contact details 

Contact us 

• Offer all existing tenants access to a mutual exchange advertising service free of charge and respond to all requests to mutually exchange within 5 working days, and make a decision within 42 calendar days, from receipt of a completed application. 

• For transferring tenants, we will conduct a property inspection and advise you what works need to be completed (or rechargeable works) before being considered eligible for a move (at point of offer) 

• Complete tenancy change, lodger and home improvement requests within 20 working days of us receiving all the required information 

We will measure our success by: 

Upper quartile Tenant Satisfaction Measures performance against the rest of the social housing sector in the following tenant perception indicators: 

• TP01 Overall satisfaction 

• TP08 Agreement that the landlord treats tenants fairly and with respect 

• TP11 Satisfaction that the landlord makes a positive contribution to neighbourhoods  

Meeting our targets on the following internal performance indicators: 

• Percentage of tenancy change, lodger and home improvement requests completed within timescales 

• Percentage of Mutual Exchange applications processed within 42 calendar days of receipt 

We will: 

• Provide you with a text message to confirm your appointment and send you a reminder message the day before for appointed repairs 

• Offer you a choice of a repair appointment for all internal work - (all day, morning, school run or afternoon) 

• Provide you with a date for any ‘follow up’ work which may be required 

• Keep you updated on how the work is progressing 

• Be available to attend emergency repair requests 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year where the situation requires it 

• Following an out of hours make safe emergency, we will attend the next working day to complete repairs, or if parts or specialist works are required, we will contact you to arrange an appointment to complete any outstanding repairs. 

• Provide daytime and ‘out of hours’ telephone numbers during major works 

• Invite you to an Open Day near to your home to discuss works (where we are replacing a number of elements within your home) 

• Provide a Tenant Liaison Officer when undertaking major works projects 

• Measure the levels of tenant satisfaction with the safety and quality of tenants’ homes 

We will measure our success by: 

Upper quartile Tenant Satisfaction Measures performance against the rest of the social housing sector in the following tenant perception indicators: 

• TP02 Satisfaction with repairs 

• TP04 Satisfaction that the home is well maintained 

• TP06 Satisfaction that the landlord listens to tenant views and acts upon them  

• TP07 Satisfaction that the landlord keeps tenants informed about things that matter to them 

Meeting our targets on the following internal performance indicators: 

• Percentage of tenants satisfied with the repairs service 

We will: 

• Carry out a stock condition survey at every ADC property every 5 years (subject to access) 

• We will refer all serious incidents of anti-social behaviour to the Community Safety Team within one working day. 

• We will respond to all other reports of anti-social behaviour within 5 working days, advising the complainant of their main point of contact. 

• Ensure all properties are safe in respect of gas, fires, lifts, legionella, and asbestos by completing the necessary tests and assessments 

We will measure our success by: 

Upper quartile Tenant Satisfaction Measures performance against the rest of the social housing sector in the following tenant perception indicators: 

• TP05 Satisfaction that the home is safe 

• TP12 Satisfaction with the landlord’s approach to handling anti-social behaviour 

• BS01 Proportion of homes for which all required gas safety checks have been carried out 

• BS02 Proportion of homes for which all required fire risk assessments have been carried out 

• BS03 Proportion of homes for which all required asbestos management surveys or re-inspections have been carried out 

• BS04 Proportion of homes for which all required legionella risk assessments have been carried out 

• BS05 Proportion of homes for which all required communal passenger lift safety checks have been carried out 

Meeting our targets on the following internal performance indicators: 

• Percentage of ADC properties with stock condition survey in last 5 years 

• Percentage of Serious ASB cases referred to Community Safety within 24 hours of the report 

• Percentage of domestic properties having a periodic electrical inspection within the last 5 years 

• Percentage of communal properties having a periodic electrical inspection within the last 5 years 

We will: 

• Following the completion of any works by the Council we will leave your home clean and tidy. 

• Advise you if you are responsible for the repair within the Tenants’ Handbook 

• Provide you with an allowance voucher towards the cost of redecoration where your existing decorations have been disturbed because of major works 

• Carry out all the work whilst you remain in your home and provided with temporary facilities where necessary. 

• Arrange for an Officer / Surveyor to visit your home if your repair is complex, requires further investigation or you require technical advice 

• Provide you with a target end date for the works to be completed 

• When replacing major components, give tenants a choice of colours and style of the material, where possible 

• Assist you with moving furniture or lifting carpets/floor coverings, where possible, if you are unable to do so (we will require a signed disclaimer form prior to completing this). 

• We will attend to an emergency repair where there is likely to be a danger to life or limb, or major damage to your home, or surrounding homes, within 24 hours 

• Diagnose the repair, at the first point of contact, if this is of a relatively simple nature and arrange a repairs appointment 

• Aim to Complete the repair works on the first visit to your home, where possible 

• We will ensure that repairs and improvement works are carried out to a high standard (reworded) 

We will measure our success by: 

Upper quartile Tenant Satisfaction Measures performance against the rest of the social housing sector in the following tenant perception indicators: 

• TP02 Satisfaction with repairs  

• TP03 Satisfaction with time taken to complete most recent repair 

• TP04 Satisfaction that the home is well maintained 

Meeting our targets on the following internal performance indicators: 

• Percentage of emergency repairs completed within target timescale 

• Percentage of repairs completed at the first visit 

• Percentage satisfaction with transactional repairs 

We will: 

• Undertake an affordability assessment before signing up a new tenant 

• Undertake accompanied viewings with all prospective tenants 

• Offer a decorating allowance voucher to new tenants when a property has been assessed as not meeting decorative standards 

• Advise new tenants of any repairs to be completed when the property is let and a timescale for completing these 

• Contact all Housing Register applicants on an annual basis to ensure the information held is correct and they wish to remain on the Register 

• Refer prospective tenants requiring help and support to move into their new home to our Tenancy Sustainment Service. 

• Visit all new tenants within 6 weeks of their moving in date to provide advice, information and answer any queries relating to the home or tenancy 

• Ensure that all properties meet the lettable standard, at the time of letting 

• Notify new applicants of which housing needs band they have been placed in, normally within 10 working days (upon receipt of all required information) 

We will measure our success by: 

Upper quartile Tenant Satisfaction Measures performance against the rest of the social housing sector in the following tenant perception indicators: 

• TP06 Satisfaction that the landlord listens to tenant views and acts upon them 

Meeting our targets on the following internal performance indicators: 

• Percentage of tenants visited within their first 6 weeks of residence 

• Proportion of tenants who remain in their tenancy for 6 months or more following the completion of the support package