Listening to residents has been at the heart of my career for over 20 years now, and I believe recent events are going to make this an even more important activity for social housing providers. We will have to wait to find out whether the official Grenfell enquiry considers to what degree residents’ views were …..Read the full article »
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Happier tenants, better value for money: where do you want to be in 2018?
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Why the job’s not done till you’ve told them about it
(Vital housing research questions, and what to do with the answers part 4) So you’ve found out what’s depressing your resident satisfaction statistics, and you’ve got a plan. Actually, you’ve got more than a plan, you’ve been running a new system for six months or more. But your tenants don’t seem to be any happier. …..Read the full article »
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Keep in the (feedback) loop to ensure resident satisfaction and self-improvement are on track
(Vital housing research questions, and what to do with the answers part 3) Recent events tell us that you cannot put enough stress on finding out what your residents think, both formally and informally. Resident surveys underpin your understanding of what’s going on with your services and your tenants, and it’s important to make them work …..Read the full article »
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A question of perception
(Vital housing research questions, and what to do with the answers part 2) Opinion can be divided on HouseMark’s perception questions. Landlords often use them in surveys, but at the same time dismiss them as being woolly and not informative enough. At Acuity, we’re always testing how useful surveys actually are to our customers, so …..Read the full article »
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When yes or no just aren’t enough
(Vital housing research questions, and what to do with the answers part 1) One of the big disadvantages of postal surveys was that they rarely asked more than one open-ended question. And while one question can get fantastic answers (my favourite is “If there is one thing that your landlord could improve, what would that …..Read the full article »
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Steve Smedley is running the Dragon’s Back
Acuity’s VFM expert Steve Smedley is taking part in the hardest multi-day mountain endurance race in the world. On five consecutive days he’ll cover 200 miles with 51,000 ft ascent (equivalent to Everest + Kilimanjaro + Cat Bells) over difficult terrain. The route follows the mountainous spine of Wales from Conwy in the north to Llandeilo in …..Read the full article »
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Put on that tin hat: why it’s time to ask questions of your dissatisfied residents
Your organisation does its best for residents, and it can be dispiriting when surveys come back showing a hard core of unhappy tenants. The last thing you might want to do is ask them more questions about your service – but it’s an important step to take, and will bring huge benefits if done well. …..Read the full article »
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Anonymity: is it the best policy?
Historically, surveys of tenants and residents have been done anonymously. So while the organisations carrying them out know who has said what, the landlord has no idea. While there were good reasons for doing things this way – everyone believed residents were less likely to complete surveys if answers could be traced back to them …..Read the full article »
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Benchmarking Supported and Sheltered Housing costs
In 2016 Acuity introduced four new cost-per-unit (CPU) indicators with detailed definitions provided by our colleagues at HouseMark. We have prepared some additional guidance to help providers of Housing for Older People and Supported Housing. The four measures are: Housing management Responsive repairs and void works Major works and cyclical maintenance Overheads (back office costs) …..Read the full article »
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Meeting your needs: what happens during a consultation?
One of the best bits of my job is going out to see clients around the country. While there are many common issues, every single organisation – whether a housing association, a council or an arm’s-length management organisation (ALMO) – is different in its tenant mix and housing stock. The challenge – and satisfaction – is …..Read the full article »
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