September Customer Newsletter
www.sbhg.co.uk
Welcome
Welcome to the first edition of our new customer newsletter.
We’ll be producing this newsletter every other month to keep you up to date with what we are doing at SBHA. In this first edition we discuss what we are doing to improve customer satisfaction, how you can become involved in holding us to account and improving our services. We know that the service we provide isn’t perfect, but we are working hard to improve this. Our Customer Service teams have recently been restructured to help make your experience more seamless. Part of this change is training our repairs team to be able to carry out multiple repairs in one visit and introducing a new team of Customer Relationship Managers.
As part of the Customer Relationship Manager role there will be an emphasis on them visiting your neighbourhood and community more frequently to meet with you and to help resolve any issues you may have. This will provide you with your own advocate within SBHA who can resolve and escalate issues on your behalf. Our team of Customer Relationship Managers will be in place by the end of this month and they will begin to introduce themselves to you through October. The team will provide you with support throughout your tenancy - from letting to termination.
Customer Newsletter | September 2021
The Customer Relationship Managers will be responsible for: •
Carrying out estate inspections
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Monitoring Health and Safety property actions (including Fire Risk actions)
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Managing complaints and customer dissatisfaction
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Resolving low level ASB issues (that do not require our specialist ASB team)
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Lettings and ending of tenancies
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Safeguarding and complex case management. They will work with agencies, signpost to support and ensure tenancies are sustained
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Offering advice on housing moves
Later on in this newsletter you will hear about our customer involvement groups. These groups have been created to ensure that you are involved with how we run our services, to scrutinise our plans and support the improvements we make.
We have also recently formed a dedicated Leasehold team who look after our leaseholders and shared owners. Previously, they were looked after by the Resident Experience team. This new team will provide dedicated expertise to our growing number of leaseholders and shared owners. We want you to be involved in this newsletter as much as possible. Please let us know what you would like to read about in future editions, get in touch here: communications.team@sbhg.co.uk
I also want to take this opportunity to thank those of you that have recently completed the customer survey. In our next edition we will share the results and steps we are taking to continue our improvement plan.
Mark Field Chief Customer Officer
July & August Key Performance Data
Customer Newsletter | September 2021
Leaseholder Responsibilities As we approach winter, we wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that you are responsible for some of the repairs and maintenance of your home - always check your leasehold agreement (as it could vary according to the property) for full details. Generally, leaseholders and shared owners are responsible for the following: Electrical: • Faults within the home • Immersion heater • Fuses • Extractor fans Front door to your home: • Door • Door handles • Door locks • Lost keys • Additional security • Internal doors in flat Plumbing: • Burst pipe within the home • Tap and tap washers • Stopcocks, ball valves, bath, basin, sink and blocked waste pipes • Hot and cold-water tanks in the home
Windows to the home: • Window fixtures and catches • Windowpanes • Additional security Drain: • Blockage within your home Heating: • Individual heathing systems in the home • Room heaters • Sweeping chimneys • Fireplaces Gas (call Cadent Gas): • Gas escapes within the home • Cookers • Gas fires • Gas servicing
Balconies: • Unblocking gulleys (drains) • Pigeon infestation
If you need to report a communal repair, the quickest way to do this is via our online repairs form.
We are changing the ways we work We have now launched our Customer Charter.
The Charter is based around six central commitments, built on two key principles; working with you and working with us. Those commitments are:
The Charter communicates what you can expect from SBHA. It clearly sets out our commitments to you and the standards of service we should be delivering.
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You can read more about our Customer Charter, here.
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Involving and empowering you Finding you the right home Making your neighbourhood a great place to live Fixing your home Setting & collecting your rent and service charges Ensuring the safety & quality of your home
In each edition of this newsletter we will explain what each of these commitments means. This time, we are going to talk about our first Customer Commitment, involving and empowering you.
Customer Newsletter | September 2021
Involving and empowering you
We want to empower you to get involved in shaping the future of our organisation and the decisions about your home.
We will launch a new community platform enabling us to expand our conversation and engagement with you through different channels. We know we will have achieved this when: -
What this will look like for you: We have two customer involvement groups; Resident Voice, which scrutinises our performance and service improvement plans, and a new Leasehold Forum, which is open to leaseholders and shared owners. We will start engaging with you on your housing aspirations for the future so we can ensure our homes and service are fit for purpose over the next 20 years You will receive regular customer feedback surveys and we will be transparent by publishing actionplans in response to the results of these surveys. Our complaints process will be more accessible so that it is easier for you to tell us when we need to put things right.
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We have a high level of customer satisfaction and advocacy, and customers feel we listen to, and act upon their concerns Our overall customer satisfaction is 90% by March 2024
Want to get involved? Contact governance.team@sbhg.co.uk about joining Resident Voice to scrutinise our performance and service improvement plans. Tenants, leaseholders and shared owners can join this forum. If you are a leaseholder or shared owner and you would like to help shape and influence new services and initiatives and act as a consultative group on leasehold projects please email leaseholders.enquiries@sbhg.co.uk In the next edition of this newsletter we will be discussing our second commitment, finding you the right home.
Invest with BE WEST We’d like to introduce BE WEST, our new shared ownership and private sales brand. BE WEST operates within the four boroughs of West London, with a no-nonsense approach to homeownership. If you are a leaseholder or shared owner and you are interested in buying a larger share in your property (the process is called staircasing) speak to the team at BE WEST. Find out more about staircasing in our step-bystep guide.
Our BE WEST team believes that buying a new home doesn’t need to be stressful; we want to cut the jargon and pave the way for an effortless experience. We offer truly impartial advice and support from genuine experts who put your needs above all else, to get you settled in your new home and onwards to a brighter future. The team has recently won an award for our Waterside Heights development at the First Time Buyer Awards. The team picked up Best First Time Buyer Apartment! The team has also picked up the highly commended award for Best Shared Ownership Development at the Evening Standard New Home Awards. If you are interested in shared ownership in west London, look no further. Learn more about BE WEST here.
Customer Newsletter | September 2021
Visits to our office & opening hours You are able to visit our office, but on an appointment only basis. Contact us to book an appointment and organise your visit.
Our phone lines are managed from 8AM – 5PM Monday to Friday. Our social media channels are monitored 8AM – 5PM Monday to Friday. They are not checked during the weekends. Please report repairs outside these hours by using this form or by calling 020 8996 4200. Please report emergencies that happen outside of office hours by calling our ‘out of hours’ phone line on 0800 9170839. This is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
COVID-19 update Repairs and maintenance
We are operating a full repair and maintenance service, including planned and reactive repairs.
Estate services and estate visits
We are running a full grounds maintenance and cleaning services. We are also carrying out site visits and estate inspections to ensure our estates are safe, clean and well maintained.
Visiting your home
Our operatives will carry out a COVID risk assessment before visiting your home. If our team feel that a repair or visit cannot be completed safely, they will leave and we will reorganise this repair for a time and situation when it can be completed safely. Operatives will wear a facemask if requested. We encourage you to wear a facemask if you wish to do so.
Customer Newsletter | September 2021
Frequently Asked Questions Have you created a My SBHG portal account on our website? This is a convenient way to help you check your rent statements and make payments from your smartphone, computer, tablet or other device. Create an account here.
Links, tips and tricks
Have a question you need to ask? Read through our FAQs first and save yourself a phone call. You can access many of our services online via our website, portal and FAQ page.
My SBHG
West London is home to lots of useful community organisations and charities. We’ve listed useful resources to help you, your loved ones and your community in the boroughs we serve. This includes help from local councils, foodbanks as well as mental health support, cooking tips and more. View the list here.
SBHA is registered with the Homes and Communities Agency (No. LH0050) and a Community Benefit Society, registered as a Mutual Society with the Financial Conduct Authority (No 16442R). SBHA is National Housing Federation and Housing Ombudsman scheme member. SBHA complies with the NHF Code of Governance.
www.sbhg.co.uk