Our Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 is Coming Soon…

We want to make sure we provide good quality services to our customers.  Delivering a service that makes a positive impact starts with understanding what good service is from the customer’s point of view. What we do, how we do it, how well it’s done and being consistent are all fundamental to keeping customers happy.

Our Customer Satisfaction Survey will take place between August and September 2020. It’s the first large survey we’ve done since 2019, and we’re excited to know what our customers think. We’ve commissioned experienced and independent surveying company Research Resource who will be calling a random selection of 1000 of our tenants. The survey will be by telephone this year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey will take place between 1 August and 12 September 2020. It is completely confidential, and all information supplied will be anonymised by Research Resource unless you tell them you want us to contact you about anything. 

We always use survey results to inform how we improve our services, so the results are extremely important. We would encourage any tenant who gets the call to take part, and we thank everyone who takes the time to respond. 

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Talk to Us About Performance – Online!

If you answered our Tenant Involvement Survey, you’ll be interested to know what we found.

Some of the key messages we got from the survey were:

• tenants were keen to know more about how we spend their rent money and how we perform
• they also wanted us to listen to tenants more and have more online events

So, for the first time, we will hold an online meeting about our performance in the last year. Don’t miss this chance find out more and get involved from the comfort of your own home.

We will explain how we have performed in areas such as

• the time taken to re-let properties,
• rent arrears, and
• the length of time taken to complete repairs.

We will send more information before the meeting so that participants can send in any questions in advance to shape the discussion on the day. Don’t be nervous, you won’t have to speak if you don’t want to, you can type in questions during the meeting or just listen and get back to us with your thoughts and comment later.

If you would like to take part please email cldcarnoustie@angus.gov.uk

Places are limited so best to book early!

Help Us Tackle Antisocial Behaviour

Since the start of April, we’ve received increasing numbers of anonymous complaints about antisocial behaviour.

While we understand that people might be reluctant to give us their contact details, we would like to reassure everyone that we don’t pass on names or contact details to the person you’re complaining about, if you ask us not to. By giving your contact details, it helps us investigate the issue and we’re more likely to be able to resolve the problems you’re experiencing. In most cases, when we receive an anonymous complaint, we try and contact neighbours, so you may well speak to an investigating officer, who will ask if you’re experiencing antisocial behaviour, regardless of whether you give us your contact details now

For more information about antisocial behaviour and what we can do to help, see our webpage.

If you want to report antisocial behaviour, please use our online form or call ACCESSLine 03452 777778 in confidence.

Private Landlord Survey – Please Help!

We want to hear from private landlords in Angus…

The national homelessness charity Crisis* is working with us to improve housing options and support in the private rented sector. This month, Crisis is conducting a survey of our landlords on our behalf.

Please help by completing the survey by 31 August.

Why are we getting in touch during COVID-19?

We recognise many landlords are seriously concerned about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on tenancies and the rental market, and may be looking for advice or options which offer support and longer term reassurances. Now more than ever, we want to ensure existing tenants get the right help and support to avoid tenancies failing.

At the same time, because of the pandemic, we have a large number of households in urgent housing need, some of whom are in temporary accommodation. All of these households are seeking long-term homes. 

What do we mean by “urgent housing need”?

This does not simply mean sleeping on the streets. It means not having a safe home. Whilst sleeping on the streets is the worst form of homelessness, this is very rare in Angus. Most people registered with us as being in urgent housing need have experienced a family or relationship breakdown.  They’re likely to be sleeping on sofas, living in unsafe or overcrowded conditions, or staying in our temporary accommodation.

Why can’t everyone get social housing?

There’s simply not enough social housing to meet demand. We have especially high demand for one bedroom homes across Angus, particularly in the Forfar and Arbroath areas. This means people who are in urgent housing need can still wait a very long time for a home. We know the private sector can help to fill this gap, as private landlords often have good quality homes in the areas people want to stay.

What’s in it for private landlords?

Through Crisis’ work with Councils and private landlords in Scotland, we know there are many successful initiatives bringing landlords and local people in housing need together.

We want to give better support and incentives to landlords to help people in housing need move into private tenancies. We also want to improve the sustainability of private tenancies, by ensuring the right services are in place for tenants and landlords, preventing unnecessary homelessness, especially as we move out of the pandemic.

We’d like you to tell us what we could do to encourage and incentivise more landlords to work with us, to provide more homes for people who desperately need them and work together to reduce tenancy problems like arrears and neighbour nuisance.

Why should landlords do the survey?

1.      it’s anonymous. You don’t need to provide your name or contact details unless you want to

2.      it’s quick. It will only take 5-10 minutes of your time – the questions are mainly multiple choice

3.      it doesn’t commit you to anything!

4.     it’s a chance for landlords to have their voices heard, and tell us what they’d like from us in future

5.    whatever your opinions, by completing this survey you’ll be helping us to help people in Angus. All landlord feedback gives us a better understanding of what they want and what we could do next

So – please help.  Thank you in advance

* Your responses will be collated and analysed by Crisis. No landlord data has been passed to Crisis.  The survey will close on 31 August. 

Please note Crisis is also working with Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Council on this subject. If you rent out properties in those areas too, you’ll be contacted by those organisations too – but you only need to complete the survey once. If you have any questions or comments on this survey or this work, please contact Lucie at Crisis: lucie.dunn@crisis.org.uk  

COVID-19 Repairs Update – Draft Health and Safety Guidance Leaflet

In our post of 9 July, we advised that we were developing a Tenant Repairs Health and Safety Guidance leaflet. We shared the draft with our tenant participation panel and are awaiting comments, but we wanted to share the first version at the earliest opportunity ahead of the repairs restart.

You can view the leaflet here.

We will revise the guidance as we receive comments to ensure it reflects any concerns, and we will continue to provide updates on any developments relating to the repairs restart to make sure you are kept fully informed.

 Thank you for continuing to help us deliver a safe and efficient service.

 

 

Have Your Say on our Domestic Abuse Policy

We are taking action to support people experiencing domestic abuse and would like to hear your views on the new policy we plan to introduce.

The policy has been drafted based on the recommendations from research completed by Women’s Aid, the CIH Domestic Abuse Guidance for Social Landlords and following discussions with key stakeholders.

You can view the draft policy here.

Have your say on the policy by:

• Completing our online survey
• Emailing us at HousingPP@angus.gov.uk

The consultation will close on 17 August 2020.

For more details visit the Domestic Abuse Policy Consultation website.

Have Your Say on Our New Tenant Repairs Health & Safety Guidance leaflet

In our post on 30 June, we advised that we are working on a Health and Safety risk assessment for repairs in tenants’ homes. This is an important part of keeping our tenants, staff and contractors safe.

As a result of this, on Monday 13 July we will seek comments on our draft Tenant Repairs Health & Safety Guidance leaflet through the tenant participation process.

If you have registered to take part in tenant participation consultations, we would welcome your comments as they will be a valued contribution to the safe operation of repairs work in all our tenants’ homes.

If you have not yet registered for tenant participation and want to comment, please email  TenantParticipation@angus.gov.uk and we will do our best to register you in time for the document consultation.  

Keep an eye on your mailboxes!

 

Letter to social housing tenants from the Minister for Local Government Housing and Planning

Scotland’s Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, Kevin Stewart, has written an open letter to social housing residents to provide information and advice on Scotland’s Route Map for moving out of the coronavirus crisis.

If you are our tenant, or the tenant of a housing association or housing co-operative, please take a moment to read the letter from the Minister.

COVID-19 – Update on Housing Allocations

Following the Scottish Government announcement to move into Phase 2 of their route map, we have further reviewed our Lettings and Allocations service.

We are currently only allocating properties in very limited circumstances and we are following new arrangements that allow our customers, contractors, and staff to maintain social distancing.

Mutual Exchanges will not restart until Phase 3 which will not be before 13 July, however further information will be provided nearer the time.

We will continue to correspond with applicants mainly by email and phone, so please continue to ensure that you have an up to date email address and contact number on your application.

As the situation is continuously changing, we will keep you up to date with any changes to the service, when they will take place.

If you need to apply for housing, please download an application form or contact your local housing office.

Coronavirus – Information for private landlords and letting agents

On Monday, 29 June the Scottish Government updated coronavirus guidance for private landlords and letting agents to reflect the move to Phase 2 of their route map to recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak.

The guidance contains the latest information about COVID-19 and support available for private-sector tenants and landlords who may find themselves in financial difficulty due to the virus.

From 29 June, all home moves are allowed, provided they can be carried out safely.  This includes students moving home and other home moves resulting in two households merging. It also applies to custom and self-builders looking to acquire a plot or a property to renovate or to demolish. The Scottish Government guidance on moving home provides advice on how to do this. This guidance contains advice to ensure that moving home in any tenure and supporting activities, such as viewing property, can happen safely during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Scotland.