To see how we’ve been performing, click here or visit www.forhousing.co.uk/together-with-tenants
The Together with Tenants Charter was developed alongside tenants and launched in April 2023 as a way to make clear what matters to you and our commitment to providing the best possible services, putting you as the centre of everything we do.
The aim of the charter is to:
- Make clear what is important to you as tenants
- Be open about our commitment to improve our services
- Improve accountability to you We have made this document so you can:
- See how we have performed over the last year
- Share examples of how we’re listening and learning
- Share stories and quotes from tenants so you can see how we have delivered on our commitments set out in the Charter
Kelly’s viewpoint
I grew up as a tenant in Stockbridge Village in Knowsley and thirteen years ago, I was handed the keys to my own tenancy, just a few streets away from where I used to play.
This place isn’t just where I live - it’s home. It’s where my roots are, where childhood memories were made, and where I’m making new ones with my own family.
As a mum to four children, I know how important it is for tenants like me to feel safe, supported, and comfortable in our homes. To do that, we need to have a say in how things are run - to point out when things aren’t working, and to give credit when they are.
That’s why three years ago, I became a member of ForHousing’s Customer Committee.
The Customer Committee works with ForHousing to improve the services tenants receive by listening to our experiences and suggestions, so they can make real, positive changes.
Since joining the Customer Committee, I’ve also become part of the People & Culture Committee, which looks at how ForHousing supports its staff and builds a positive working environment, which ultimately benefits tenants too.
Being involved in these groups means I can help shape how things are done and make sure tenants’ voices, like mine, are heard where it really counts. It was through the committees that I first heard about the Together with Tenants Charter, which is a national initiative that aims to improve the relationship between tenants and social landlords like ForHousing.
The Charter is a clear set of commitments that social landlords can make to their tenants, like being open and honest, treating tenants with respect, and
making sure our voices influence decisions.
It’s a way of holding landlords accountable and making sure tenants are genuinely involved. ForHousing is just one of many housing associations that are taking part in this campaign.
Reflecting on Year Two of the Charter
One of the biggest improvements I’ve noticed over the past year is how much easier communication with ForHousing has become. It’s never been this simple to get in touch or to receive support when you need it.
The Customer Connect Hub is a great example. It’s quicker now to speak to staff and a lot easier to report any issues, so instead of feeling stuck and waiting around, we’re getting the help we need without any hassle or unnecessary delays.
People I’ve spoken to in the community have noticed a real difference too. Conversations about the Hub feel more positive, and I think that’s because more tenants feel their voices are being heard.
We’ve started seeing our feedback being used to make actual changes. For example, our rent letters are now clearer and easier to follow, which is a huge help when managing a busy household.
We also get a regular newsletter, which is such a useful tool for keeping everyone informed and helping to direct people to support services.
It’s those little changes that make a big difference in people’s day-to-day lives. The Charter is making sure tenants are not just seen but heard.
Looking ahead to Year Three
There’s still work to be done, of course. One area where we’re focusing on is around how complaints
are managed. From talking to my neighbours, I know this is an important issue for many in the community.
It’s encouraging to see ForHousing taking steps to make the complaints process clearer and more transparent, especially online. It’s becoming easier to understand how to raise a complaint, where to go, what to expect, and how to follow up.
I believe it’s important to give young people, particularly, the chance to make a positive impact in their neighbourhoods - it’s all about building a stronger, more connected community where everyone is proud of where they live.
As we move into Year Three of the Charter, I’m looking forward to seeing even more progress, not just in how services are delivered, but in how we feel about the places we call home.
Getting involved
If you’re thinking about getting involved with the Charter or any of ForHousing’s committees, or even just giving your feedback to ForHousing, I really encourage you to go for it.
Even if you just want to learn more about how things work behind-the-scenes, it’s a great way to get involved and start sharing this knowledge with others.
You quickly realise that your voice really does matter, and being listened to can lead to real, positive changes. The Charter has already made a difference, and with more tenants getting involved, I believe we can achieve even more together.
Kelly Nash ForHousing tenant
Communication & visibility
We’ve improved the surveys that are sent to you
Following the survey, if you are dissatisfied with the service you receive, the Customer Connect Hub will contact you in ‘real time’ to give you a call to understand why and solve any issues you may have had.
We use the information to listen and learn and create a ‘continuous improvement plan’ so we can understand where we need to improve services and act upon them.
We also include a question about whether you are treated fairly and with respect, with information about what this means, so we continue to make sure you are satisfied with the service you receive.
COMMITMENT 1: Treating your fairly and with respect
Making reasonable adjustments to suit individual needs
We have committed to tailoring our services to better meet your needs. Our ‘Reasonable Adjustment statement’ provides a set of guidelines, and all colleagues were trained to make sure we provide services that are tailored to you. This can be anything from sending you a letter in your preferred way, such as large print or in your first language. To making sure we give you enough time to open the door if we visit you, as you may have limited mobility. We want to make sure our services can be equally accessed by all tenants with health conditions or disabilities, as well as those without.
Our commitments – what’s been done
COMMITMENT 2: Continuing to improve our communication and providing a variety of ways for you to get in touch
We’re changing the way we do things and proactively getting in touch with you
We’ve introduced a new programme where we proactively call and support you. These calls will help us identify and address issues before they escalate to make sure you receive a service you’re satisfied with.
By listening and learning from past repairs, we can predict where further support may be needed. To prevent dissatisfaction, we proactively contact you to check that all follow-up work has been completed.
We’ve changed how quickly we answer the phone to improve services
We’ve changed our target to answer your calls from 30 to 90 seconds. This decision was taken by listening and learning from you. We consulted with tenants, who agreed that a slightly longer wait time would be worthwhile if it meant that we could provide a more effective and efficient service. This will make sure we can give dedicated time to proactively call you to solve any issues, making sure you’re satisfied with the service you receive and putting things right, before it goes wrong.
ONE Communication & visibility - continued
Our commitments – what’s been done
Communication & visibility - continued
We’re collecting your information so we can meet your needs better
This year we’ve contacted all tenants to make sure that important information we have for you is up to date. This information is used to make sure that we can communicate with you in way that suits your needs. For example, if you need a different language, or large print, or you need us to call before visiting. It also helps us to understand your needs and make changes to our services to support you. This could be things like whether you have children of school age, so you can’t be in at school drop/off pick up times or you may have mobility issues and you may need longer to answer the door. We can make reasonable adjustments to help.
We have also improved the way colleagues see your information on systems, so they know straight away if there is anything they need to do to support you before providing you with a service, so you don’t get asked questions that you have already answered.
COMMITMENT 2:
Continuing to improve our communication and providing a variety of ways for you to get in touch
We’ve launched digital maps so you can see what’s available in your community
We know that your neighbourhoods and your communities are important to you, and you take pride in where you live. By listening and learning from you, we’ve created the ‘Go, See, Do’ digital maps that let you see everything that’s available in your community. From your favourite restaurants and cafes, oneof-a-kind activities to great outdoor spaces, all the amazing things that make your neighbourhood special.
We’ve communicated this with you in a clear way and is available on our website www.forhousing.co.uk/go-see-do/
We now communicate with you in your preferred way
COMMITMENT 3:
Providing
information that is clear, accessible and jargon free
Communication & visibility
- continued
Our commitments – what’s been done
We now communicate with you in your preferred format, whether that’s your first language, large print or braille – we communicate with you in any way you tell us so that it’s easier for you to understand. This included communications such as the rent setting letters, rent statements and the quarterly tenant newsletters.
We’re updating the letters on our systems
A focus group of involved tenants met to review a sample of the letters that are automatically created on our systems and sent to you. From this, the involved tenants produced guidelines for improving letters for teams to use. This included:
• Making letters personal to you
• Using direct and easy-to-understand language
• Avoiding any difficult and hard to read words Using these guidelines, we’ve now made changes to our rent related letters, and we will continue to look at other services too.
We’ve added software to our website to make it more accessible
We want to provide you with information on our website in a way that you can easily understand and to suits your individual needs. Features include:
• Screen reader, that will read the text on our website
• Translations, that will translate all text into 100 languages, 65 of these can be read out loud
• Reading aids, such as a ruler, screen mask (for focused viewing), magnifying glass, margins and a dictionary
• Styling and customisation, to let you change the colour, spacing and text style such as changing the font to open dyslexic
COMMITMENT 3:
Providing information that is clear, accessible and jargon free Our commitments – what’s been done
We’ve improved our online website forms by listening and learning from you
We held a focus group to listen and learn from you about your experience using our online website forms.
The focus group was a meeting with involved tenants who reviewed our online website forms for anti-social behaviour, rent, repairs and complaints.
Tenants tested the pages, and forms, gave feedback on what we can do to make improvements to the way you contact us. They recommended 14 changes that will positively impact your satisfaction when contacting us using the online website forms.
If you would like to read more about what’s been done, visit www.forhousing.co.uk/listening-andlearning-from-you-online-website-forms/
Communication & visibility - continued
We’ve updated the information on the MyAccount+ app and web portal
You told us that some of the wording used on the MyAccount+ app is difficult to understand. We listened and we have reviewed and updated the language used on the app to make sure it is easy to understand for everyone.
Our commitments – what’s been done
COMMITMENT 4:
Providing information about the services we offer, and which teams can help you
We continue to send a newsletter every three months
The YOURAREA newsletter shows all the different services and support that is available to you. This is anything from repairs to money support, the things we know matter to you.
We made changes to the rent area on our website
You told us that there was too much information on the ‘Paying your rent’ page and that you found it difficult to find the contact us form to speak to someone about your rent. We listened and redesigned the page, so it was easier for you to get in touch about rent.
Communication & visibility - continued
Our commitments – what’s been done
Communication & visibility - continued
We share how we’ve listened and learned through different communication channels
On our website we have a page where we share how we are listening and learning and acting upon your feedback. We also publish these in the newsletter that is sent every three months and on our social media channels.
If you would like to visit the page, and see all the different ways we’ve listened and learned, visit www.forhousing.co.uk/you-said-we-listened/
COMMITMENT 5:
Telling you how your feedback is making a difference
Scrutiny have reviewed services to make positive changes
Scrutiny is a group of tenants who inspect services and recommend change.
This year, they have completed two reviews on how we handle noise nuisance, how we are delivering our ForHousing Strategy, and supported an internal audit on Neighbourhood Management. They made a total of 16 recommendations for improvements. We have shared this online here www.forhousing.co.uk/scrutiny/
– what’s been done
COMMITMENT 6:
Being honest with you on what we can and can’t do
We supported Scrutiny with an exercise on tenant repairs responsibility
Scrutiny is a group of tenants, who work together with ForHousing to investigate different service areas, and make recommendations based off their findings.
The panel carried out an exercise on how we communicate your responsibilities with repairs so we are honest with you on what we can and can’t do.
This led to some changes on the website, that make it clearer what repairs and improvements are your responsibility and what you need to consider when carrying them out.
Communication & visibility - continued
COMMITMENT 7:
Putting things right when they go wrong
We have relaunched The Complaints and Feedback Panel
This panel is a group of tenants, who have volunteered to work with our Complaints Team. They have agreed how they will work together to audit complaints cases and make sure they are fair and transparent. Recently, The Complaints and Feedback Panel have been working on:
• Improvements to our complaint response letters
• Agreeing a dashboard of information that they will receive to make sure they can carry out their role effectively
• Make sure that you have influence, oversight and accountability
• Identifying themes and trends in complaints and make sure we are learning from
• Supporting ForHousing to complete the Housing Ombudsman’s self-assessment
Our commitments – what’s been done
Influence & accountability
COMMITMENT 1:
Providing a wide range of opportunities to influence how we develop and improve services and for you to feedback about our services
We’ve introduced new ways you can get involved
We have developed a new Repairs and Maintenance Service Excellence Group made up of tenants who have agreed the ways in which they will work with us to make positive changes. This group will make sure that tenants are involved in scrutinising the repairs and maintenance contractor performance, hold us to account and support the development of service improvement plans.
We have also reintroduced the Complaints & Feedback Panel and increased how many tenants can join, to make sure that the panel can hold ForHousing to account in managing complaints.
Our commitments – what’s been done
COMMITMENT 2:
Providing information about how your involvement and feedback has led to service improvements and changes
Tenant involvement groups
We have lots of opportunities for tenants to get involved, so we can listen and learn and act upon your feedback. From our Customer Committee that works alongside the ForHousing Board, to Scrutiny. We also have the Complaints and Feedback Panel, Repairs Service Excellence Group and reviewers from Community Voice – the majority of those involved are tenants.
This year, groups have:
1. Completed two scrutiny exercises, and supported with one internal review by reviewing what we do and why we do it, making 16 recommendations to improve services
2. Our Repairs & Service Excellence Group have asked to investigate our out-of-hours services and gas repairs after tenant satisfaction decreased
3. Reviewed our complaints service to make sure that we are following the Housing Ombudsman handling code and recommended changes to our stage one letters
4. Community Voices, a group made up of tenants and members of the community, have taken action locally.
a. Community Voice Stockbridge Village, coordinated a response to community anti-social behaviour, facilitating a meeting with local police, the MP and the local authority to ensure that full plans are in place for dealing with this around Halloween and Bonfire Night.
b. Community Voice Oldham, have worked to raise awareness of traffic and highway issues on the Fitton Hill neighbourhood, coordinating a response to the Council and to the developer.
c. Community Voice Salford have raised concerns regarding pest control and the communication around tenants’ responsibility for repairs, leading to the scrutiny of two service areas.
Influence & accountability - continued
COMMITMENT 2:
Providing information about how your involvement and feedback has led to service improvements and changes
We created a Repairs Service Excellence Group
The Repairs Service Excellence Group launched in October 2024 and is made up of 8 tenants. Tenants meet with us to share their views on the repairs services we deliver, so the homes we provide you are safe and well-maintained. They also look at how we are performing, feedback about the service and complaints alongside ForHousing colleagues.
Influence & accountability - continued
Our commitments – what’s been done
We have formalised our Colleague and Tenant working Group
We have now formalised a group of colleagues who are also ForHousing tenants. The 13 members will be working with service areas to provide scrutiny of the design, development and delivery of operational plans. They will also be supporting with the initiative to employ more ForHousing tenants into roles within our organisation.
We have recruited more tenants and residents to our Customer Committee
Our Customer Committee is made up of nine tenants and residents, they are part of our formal Governance Structures that are in place to hold us to account and have oversight for how we work as an organisation and the decisions that are made.
We have recruited two new members who will support us to make sure we continue to put tenants at the heart of our decision making.
COMMITMENT 2:
Providing information about how your involvement and feedback has led to service improvements and changes
Customer and Tenant Reviewers have carried out five inspections
Tenant and Customer Reviewers have carried out 5 inspections including the Regent Street Office where you can come in and speak to someone face-to-face. They agreed that customer service standards were met on each occasion. They have also carried out Grounds Maintenance Inspections in Salford and Stockbridge Village.
We held a recruitment event so that more tenants can get involved and work with us
A total of 66 tenants expressed an interest in working with us as involved tenants to help improve services. They were then invited to attend a recruitment event in March. From this, nine tenants attended and have been invited to come to meetings before committing to joining a group.
commitments – what’s been done
Influence & accountability
- continued
We held focus groups with tenants to help improve services
The following Focus Groups were supported by involved tenants:
• Disrepair easy read leaflet – tenants were asked to assess whether the leaflet was easy for you to read and understand. Amendments were made to the final leaflet in response to the feedback from involved tenants
• System generated letters - tenants were asked to review and produce guidelines for standard letters to make sure letters were clear and easy to understand
• Online website forms - tenants reviewed the anti-social behaviour, rent, repairs and complaints forms. They tested these and gave feedback on what we can do to make improvements to the way you contact us. They recommended 14 changes that will positively impact your experience when contacting us.
To see the amazing impact our tenant involvement groups have had on services, by working with us to make positive changes, visit www.forhousing.co.uk/ whats-been-done-this-year/
COMMITMENT 3: Making it clear about how you can complain to us if you need to
We improved our complaints service
In June 2024, we relaunched our complaints process, aligning to the new Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code. We introduced additional contacts, to make sure you are provided with consistent and accurate information throughout the process. We’ve also completed a self-assessment against the code, which is published on our website and shared with the Ombudsman.
Our
commitments – what’s been done
COMMITMENT 4: Take ownership of issues and work with you to resolve them
HEART is our approach to delivering excellent customer care and links closely to our values and behaviours. Every person who works at ForHousing follows these steps:
• Have the right attitude
• Ensure YOU do all you can – own it
• Always deliver on promises
• Recognise people are individuals
• Treat them with respect
Influence & accountability
- continued
We want to make sure we always work with you so that you feel listened to, and you’re treated fairly and with respect.
COMMITMENT 5:
Undertake tenant led scrutiny on services and issues that you have identified through feedback and performance
Influence & accountability - continued
Our commitments – what’s been done
Scrutiny is a group made up of tenants. They review what we do and why we do it and make recommendations – influencing what happens to your home and community and putting you at the heart of our decision making.
This year, they have:
• Made nine recommendations for improvements based on a Scrutiny exercise of noise nuisance
• Taken part in an internal inspection on neighbourhood management, leading to improvements on our website
• Scrutinised our ForHousing strategy by working with colleagues. This created seven recommendations to make positive changes.
From this, the following positive changes have been made to services by listening and learning from tenants, just like you. We will now:
1. Share communications on the website and in newsletters that shows what we are doing in your neighbourhoods to improve our presence
2. Continue dealing with hard floor coverings on an individual basis
3. Review and improve communications on how to be a good neighbour and reduce noise
4. Make sure you are included in the review of the anti-social behaviour policy as standard
5. Repairs performance information will be made available to the Repairs and Maintenance Service Excellence Group so they can hold us to account and make sure we’re on track
6. Re-introduce inspection of homes that are ready to let by the Tenant and Customer Reviewers
Our commitments – what’s been done
COMMITMENT 6:
Work in partnership with the Customer Committee to hold us to account on delivering the commitments of the charter
Our Customer Committee is made up of nine tenants and residents, they are part of our formal Governance Structures that are in place to hold us to account and have oversight for how we work as an organisation and the decisions that are made. This year, they have taken responsibility for:
• Making sure we are doing what we said we was going to do against the Customer Strategy
• The transfer of ownership of Liberty to Wates making sure that the right decision for tenants was at the heart of the sale
• Rent increase communication
• Reviewed quarterly how we are performing against the Together with Tenants Charter
Influence & accountability
- continued
Our commitments – what’s been done
Environment & neighbourhood
COMMITMENT 1:
Working with you to improve local greenspaces and exploring new ways of doing it
This year we have supported:
• The Big Eccles Clean up, Keeping Clifton Clean partnership and fun day to help make Eccles cleaner and greener
• The Big Green Day in Stockbridge Village, that saw partners and the community coming together to have a big clean up
• Funding Patricroft Community Group, who are making improvements to a local park on Ivy Street
• CommUNITY Little Hulton in the build of their new pavilion, built using ‘wiki’ tech the new pavilion was the result of the hard work of local volunteers
• The local community to get Arts Council funding to create a mural for the gable end of the shops in Stockbridge Village, a local artist worked closely with schools and members of the community to design the mural, called ‘Home’ which has brightened up the shops
• Knowsley Council’s Community Action Day to hold a Responsible Dog Owners Session with the Dogs Trust at the Craigs Community Centre
• Stockbridge Village Play Park event to celebrate the completion of the redeveloped Play Park
• Awarded £26,625 of grants to 9 groups to support community led environmental projects
COMMITMENT 2:
Working in partnership to effectively manage estates and neighbourhoods
Community Voice
The Community Voice is a group made up of tenants and members of the community. We have a group in Fitton Hill, Salford and Stockbridge Village. They hold us to account on how we deliver services in the local areas, giving us valuable feedback that we can use to listen and improve. Members also make important decisions about funding applications to our Community and Local Area Improvement Fund, where money is granted to local projects.
In the last year they have:
• Discussed an ongoing problem with littering in the Peel Estate, one of the members had organised community litter picks and arranged for a new hub with litter picking equipment to be available in Little Hulton
• Raised concerns about pest control and commissioned a Scrutiny exercise into the service to give tenants confidence that we are doing all we can to tackle the issue
• Supported a review of the Local Area Improvement Fund to make sure it’s as easy as possible for groups to apply
• Reviewed the Community Group Grant, opening it out to more groups and making sure that our hard-working volunteers get the support they need
• Stockbridge Village community Voice raised concerns about the local shops and have championed us to install new CCTV. This will now be fitted in 2025. They also asked for us to contact all shop tenants to remind them to lock the gates and dispose of rubbish to support a cleaner and safer local area
• Led an initiative to engage with local partners such as the Police, Council and MP to encourage them to take more action about community anti-social behaviour. This was successful and Community Voice got assurance that more resource will be placed towards tackling these issues in October/November time, when these incidents traditionally peak
• Community Voice raising concerns about anti-social behaviour, we have invested in detached youth work for older young people, to support them to engage in positive activities such as sport
• Played a really important role in identifying ‘grot spots’ in the local area and supporting us to report these issues, so we can clean them up and notify the local authority where needed
• Fitton Hill has supported a consultation on the new play park at St Martin’s and will continue to work with the council on this brilliant project
• Raised issues with traffic due to a local development, and issues with footpaths, this has allowed us to escalate these within the local authority and support the community voice to find a resolution to these issues
Every quarter our Community Voice members meet to discuss topics affecting their area.
To view the latest blog, visit www.forhousing.co.uk/ updates-from-the-community-voice/ THEME THREE Our commitments – what’s been done
COMMITMENT 2:
Working in partnership to effectively manage estates and neighbourhoods
Neighbourhood Inspections and Walkabouts
Through Neighbourhood Inspections and Walkabouts, we work with partners and tenants to spot any problems in your area, including fly tipping hot spots and environmental issues. Our Neighbourhood’s and Ground Maintenance Teams have successfully been completing these walks in Knowsley, Oldham and Salford. We have also extended the invite to partner organisations, including the Local Authority Environmental team, the Police and Local Councillors so we can have a proactive approach in responding to issues.
In the past year in Salford, we have responded to:
• 1047 reports of fly tipping and side waste issues
• 1112 garden issues • 203 reports of dog fouling
• 22 reports of graffiti • 105 littering issues
• 902 pest reports
• 21 abandoned vehicle reports on ForHousing land
• Raised 590 actions including fire safety concerns, repairs, fly tipping, grounds maintenance issues, garden concerns, lighting and highway concerns.
• Dealt with 177 poor property and garden condition breach of tenancy cases
• The waste compacting team attended 185 blocks each week to compact side waste around large communal bins to reduce the risks of pests and hazards.
Our
commitments
– what’s been done
• Decontaminated 120 bins and replaced 284 bin padlocks this year
In the past year in Oldham, we have responded to:
• 29 reports of fly tipping and side waste
• 41 garden issues • 4 reports of dog fouling
• 1 report of graffiti • 1 littering issues
• 49 pest reports
• 2 abandoned vehicles reported on ForHousing land
• Dealt with 3 poor home and garden condition that are a breach of tenancy cases
In the past year in Knowsley, we have responded to:
• 87 reports of fly tipping and side waste • 89 garden issues
• 15 reports of dog fouling • 4 reports of graffiti
• 7 littering issues • 64 pest reports
• 1 abandoned vehicle reported on ForHousing land
• Raised 17 actions including fire safety concerns, repairs, fly tipping, grounds maintenance issues, garden concerns, lighting, and highway concerns
• Dealt with 18 poor home and garden conditions that are a breach of tenancy cases
We work with partner agencies such as the Local Authority and other external contractors such as waste removal services, grounds maintenance and pest control to resolve these issues.
THEME THREE
COMMITMENT 2:
Working in partnership to effectively manage estates and neighbourhoods
We’ve improved neighbourhood management with Scrutiny
Scrutiny, a group of tenants, were asked to support an internal review of our Neighbourhood Management Services, by looking at the communications to you and found that:
• The Together with Tenants Charter included agreed standards that were co-produced with tenants
• Standards are communicated and readily available to you
• Information for dealing with fly tipping was clear on the website but Scrutiny thought it should be under Your Community, not Your Home. This has now been moved
• There should be a link to reporting fly tipping in the Contact Us section of the website where there are links to reporting repairs, anti-social behaviours. There is a button now available on the web page that lets you report things in your community
• Pest control was also clear under the Your Home section of the website
COMMITMENT 3:
&
- continued Our commitments – what’s been done
Work with communities to develop and deliver activities that make a difference
Funding to support the community
We have three funding streams that sets money aside to support the community to make a difference to the area they live in. This includes:
• Community Group Grant that’s supports the running costs of constituted groups within the community
• Community Fund offers financial support to local groups so they can keep delivering services and projects in their community
• Local Area Improvement Fund is used to support small scale improvements to ForHousing communities. This year, we have:
• Approved 162 Community Fund applications totalling £79,397
• Approved 9 Local Area Improvement Funds totalling £26,625
• Approved a total of £5,524 in Community Group Grants
THREE
Our commitments – what’s been done
COMMITMENT 3:
Work with communities to develop and deliver activities that make a difference
Delivering activities with partners
We’re working closely with our contractors to support them to give back to local communities. This year we have worked on several projects and appeals, including:
• The Little Hulton Toy appeal that gave toys and gifts to families in need
• Working with the local community to plan and deliver a Gala Day in Stockbridge Village to help celebrate the amazing community in that area. The day had fun activities, stalls and information advice and guidance for the community. Any children taking part in activities also got a free lunch, which supported those families who may struggle in the summer holidays
• We have worked closely with the Fitton Hill Bulldogs to support the opening of their new building in Oldham. The group have accessed our Community Fund, the Local Area Improvement grant and also received help from Liberty to fit out their new building
• We worked with Thomas Roofing to support the donation of 1000 Easter eggs that were distributed across communities
• Liberty donated nearly £2800 to buy 1,700 Cadbury chocolate selection boxes that were shared in our communities
• Supported Blackleach allotments to benefit from three days volunteering from TJ Morris to install a composite toilet, drainage and access ramp
• Supported CommUNITY Little Hulton by working with contractors to support donation and installation of a new kitchen and toilet
Environment
& neighbourhood - continued
Our commitments – what’s been done
Repairs & asset management
COMMITMENT 1:
Improving how we communicate with you about repairs
We made changes to the repairs section on the website
Following tenant feedback, we have changed the repairs section on the ForHousing website to improve your experience and make things easier to find and clearer to understand.
We improved the section by creating a navigation bar on the left-hand side which now clearly shows repair responsibilities, service standards, complaints, repair timescales and information about gas servicing.
We shared key messages in the colder months
To support you in the colder months, we shared winter-related communications to reduce the risk of you not having heating or hot water.
We’ve made sure when sharing all messages around repairs that these are accessible to you by using both digital channels such as social media but also by printing them in the tenant newsletter. This was also sent in your preferred way, whether that was in large print, translated to your first language or an easy read version.
– what’s been done
COMMITMENT 2:
If follow on works are required, being clear about what they are and making arrangements quickly
We have improved the way we do things when there is further repair work required
If further works are required to fully complete a repair, our operative will explain this in detail, complete a ‘next steps’ card to leave with you detailing the work to be carried out and agree a convenient appointment date for the repair to take place before they leave your home.
COMMITMENT 3:
Reviewing our current repairs and maintenance contract and understanding your experience, working with you to improve the way we deliver the service
We sold Liberty to Wates In October 2024, we announced that we’ve sold Liberty to Wates and have been working alongside Wates to improve the repairs and maintenance service based on consistency, communication and culture. This change, will be focusing on:
• Improving our systems to let us manage performance to make sure we’re delivering on our promises to you
• ‘In home’ behaviours training for operatives and the purchase of new tools for members of the teams
• Improvements to how we manage complex repairs and multi-trade jobs
You may have seen the new jointly branded vans and operatives wearing the new uniforms, which show the partnership between Wates, Liberty and ForHousing
We have also started to see an increase in tenant satisfaction, with transactional repairs satisfaction increasing from 80% in August 2024 to 88% in February 2025.
Our commitments – what’s been done
Safety
COMMITMENT 2:
Undertaking an annual review of feedback about ASB and making changes to the service as appropriate
COMMITMENT 1:
Offering
a clear and simple process to report anti-social
behaviour (ASB)
We trialled the use of an anti-social behaviour app for phones for an 8-week period.
It let tenants record, monitor and report anti-social behaviour, such as noise nuisance. The feedback during the trial was positive with tenants using the app to upload incident diaries and audio recordings.
We have now committed to continue using the app for next 12 months to help improve your experience and satisfaction with the service you receive.
We shared information on Cuckooing Cuckooing is when a criminal befriends a vulnerable person to exploit them and use their home. The person is usually intimidated and too scared to report it to anyone who may be able to help.
In 2024, we supported the Greater Manchester week of action to help tackle exploitation, including Cuckooing. As part of the campaign, we raised awareness of the issue and how to report it.
We achieved the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance Accreditation (DAHA)
The DAHA accreditation is a mark of excellence in the work we’ve been doing on domestic abuse and it’s our promise to support survivors.
It also helped to strengthen our key partnerships, with local domestic abuse charities and the Police, so we can best support survivors using a collaborative approach.
COMMITMENT 3:
Offering support to tenants who are experiencing ASB and advising how to report issues that are police matters
As part of the everyday delivery of our service we work closely with you to support your through the process. We will always advise you what we are able to support with and where you may need to report issues to the police.
We have lots of information available on our website, visit www.forhousing.co.uk/keeping-yousafe-anti-social-behaviour/
Safety - continued
Our commitments – what’s been done
COMMITMENT 4:
Working closely with tenants in high-rise buildings to support them to raise any issues of concern about safety
We launched our Communal Areas Policy, to keep you safe
The Policy will make sure all communal areas are kept clean and clear at all times from personal items as they can:
• Contribute to the spread of fire
• Create accidental fires by their explosive nature
• Prevent or reduce your ability to escape in the event of fire
• Produce smoke
• Hinder or prevent Emergency Services access
• Injure people by causing trips and falls.
It will help keep you and others safe from harm.
We will do all we can to work with and support you to store your items in a safe place in your home.
A note from Toria
Our Together with Tenants Charter was produced with tenants, and we identified the issues that are important to you. Through this, we have made a series of commitments making clear how we will work to improve our services based on this. As you can see, this year has been a busy and exciting year, we have made significant changes to both our complaints and repairs and maintenance services, worked closely in communities to support projects that make a real difference and expanded and improved our formal tenant involvement options to make sure that you have real oversight of how we are doing as an organisation. Next year we expect continued progress, we will continue to work closely with Wates to improve how we are delivering repairs, we will be finalising our Scrutiny reports on Pest Control and how we communicate about what repairs tenants are responsible for. We will also be formally relaunching the Tenant and Customer Reviewers, with some exciting new opportunities, and working alongside lesser-heard tenants to understand how people want to work with us.
If you want to find out more about getting involved please contact us on getinvolved@forhousing.co.uk or visit www.forhousing.co.uk/getinvolved/#expression-form
Toria Buzza Head of Community and Tenant Involvement
