Local Service Offers

Neighbourhood and Community- our service offer

(Includes neighbourhood management, anti social behaviour and local cooperation)

You want your neighbourhood to be kept clean and safe

Here is what we will do…

• We will have a cleaning and landscaping standard we have agreed with you for all the communal areas we are responsible for. These standards will be regularly advertised in our newsletter so you know what you can expect
• We will work with other agencies to remove bulky items and fly-tipping. We have agreed timescales for doing this and will report in our annual report if we are meeting these timescales.
• We will maintain a high level of cleanliness on our land by carrying out regular estate inspections. Results of inspections will be published in your newsletter
• We will remove offensive graffiti from our land and property within 24 hours

You want us to deal with antisocial behaviour promptly and keep you informed

Here is what we will do…

• We will respond to reports of serious anti social behaviour, domestic abuse and hate crime within one working day; otherwise we will respond within five working days to your report of anti social behaviour
• We will keep you updated about what we are doing to resolve your problems and when the case is closed we will ask for your feedback.
• We will investigate properties reported as abandoned and if required make secure within three working days to prevent vandalism and other crime.
• Provide regular opportunities for you to let us know what is important to you and publish a “You said.. we did” response in our newsletter
• Provide a dedicated named housing officer for you and your home
• We will compare our performance with other landlords and will report how we are performing in our annual report

You want us to let properties that are well maintained and meet a minimum standard

Here is what we will do…

• All empty properties will be inspected and repairs will be done to an agreed standard. Some repairs or improvements may be done after the new tenant has moved in. The lettings standard will be reviewed annually by our focus group
• We will visit all new tenants within 4-6 weeks of moving in to make sure they have settled in. We also ask for feedback through a new tenant’s survey about the quality of our services. The results of the survey will be advertised in our newsletter
• All new tenants will be offered our handy person service for three hours free of charge.

You want us to make sure our neighbourhoods are places where people want to live

Here is what we will do…

• We will check applicants can manage a tenancy by carrying out relevant checks before an offer is made. If applicants are vulnerable or need support we will refer for appropriate help.

You want to pay rent that is value for money

Here is what we will do…

• We will follow Government guidelines when setting rents and will not increase your rent more than is agreed in your tenancy agreement.
• We will give you clear information about how we set our rent and will always give you 4 weeks notice of any increase
• All service charges will be reviewed annually and you will always receive a statement showing you how we have calculated your charges.

You want a tenancy agreement that offers you protection

Here is what we will do…

• We will normally offer you an assured tenancy and will only seek to ask you to leave if you break the terms of the tenancy agreement
• We will provide you with a named housing officer who will support you to maintain your tenancy. They will also be able to refer you for any money and benefit advice if this is needed.

You want us to work in partnership with other organisations

Here is what we will do…

• We will continue to work in partnership with other organisations such as the police, Warrington Borough council and the voluntary sector to make sure our homes and neighbourhoods are places were residents want to live.
• We will continue to be a community based association who supports and develops community based projects such as the Gateway, Warrington home improvement agency and community facilities such as the Quays Community Centre and Fairfield Neighbourhood Centre.

Resident Involvement and Empowerment – our service offer

(Including customer service and choice, complaints and diversity)

You want information from us

Here is what we will do…

• We will produce a quarterly newsletter which will keep you informed about we are performing and give you feedback on major surveys.
• We will inform you via our website and newsletter about any events or activities that are taking place.
• We will keep you informed about all planned maintenance that is taking place to your home.

You want to have different ways to get involved

Here is what we will do…

• We will provide many opportunities for residents to get involved by offering a “menu of involvement”. The different ways residents can become involved will be widely promoted and published. We will make sure that all residents have access to resident involvement activities, and that groups are broadly representative of our community
• We will hold an annual resident conference where you will have the opportunity to speak to staff and let us know what you think about our services
• We will offer up to three places on our Board of Management for residents. We will consult you about many resident members there should be at least every three years.

You want us to provide support

Here is what we will do…

• We will provide both practical and financial resources to support resident involvement, including a dedicated Community Development officer, who has a dedicated budget. This budget is to support all aspects of resident involvement and community development.
• We will attend all resident meetings when invited and provide any administrative help that is needed.

• We will provide access to training and support for residents who wish to get involved and will repay any expenses incurred, including transport and registered care costs, for residents who attend meetings.

You want to know how we are performing

Here is what we will do…

• We will monitor the effectiveness of all resident involvement by assessing the impact that resident involvement has had on our services. We will report on this annually to our focus group and to our Board. A full copy of the annual impact assessment for resident involvement will also be available on our website and on request.

• If we don’t perform we will advise our focus group and Board and look at how we can improve our performance. We will also report in our annual report

You want services that you can access easily

Here is what we will do….

• We will make it easy for you contact us by providing many ways you can contact us i.e. phone, email, free post, text, website.
• We will have “customer service standards” in place which will set out clearly how quickly we answer the phone; respond to correspondence and emails and how we will deal with visitors to our office. These standards will be checked every two years by our mystery shoppers and reported back to you in our newsletter
• We will make sure we know the profile of our residents so we can understand and take into account any specific views and special needs. We have a fairness and diversity strategy in place with equality action plans and we also use language line to assist with any translation services.
• We will let you know regularly in our newsletter, on our website and at resident meetings what our services are and how you can access them.

You want to be offered choices over the services you receive

Here is what we will do….

• We will offer choices to residents and details of the choices we offer will be identified within each local offer

Complaint service standards

You want a complaints system that is easy to understand and follow

Here is what we will do…

• We will make it easy for you to complain and we will accept complaints in any format that suits you.
• We will have a complaints process that is easy to follow with a clear series of stages with clear time scales between each stage. This will be regularly advertised.
• We will deal with complaints as quickly as possible and make sure that all complaints are handled in a fair and honest manner.
• We will apologise when things have gone wrong and learn from all complaints and use them to improve services.
• We will report the number of complaints we receive and any learning opportunities to residents in our annual report.

The tenancy standard – our service offer

(Includes lettings, rents and tenancy)

 You want a lettings system that is fair and transparent

Here is what we will do…

• We will allocate our properties using a banding system which priorities applicants into the greatest need. All details will be included in our lettings pack.
• We will advise applicants when they are registered onto the waiting list and explain what band they are in and their date of registration on the waiting list. All applications will be reviewed every 6 months.
• We will offer up to 50% to Warrington Borough Council.

You want us to make the best use of our homes

Here is what we will do…

• We will check all applicants can manage a tenancy by carrying out relevant checks. If applicants are vulnerable or need support we can refer for appropriate help.
• We will offer incentives to current tenants to move to smaller accommodation
• We will offer properties with any specialist adaptations to those who need them most.

You want all empty properties to reach an agreed lettings standard

Here is what we will do…

• All empty properties will be inspected and repairs will be done to an agreed standard. Some repairs or improvements may be done after the new tenant has moved in.
• Visit all new tenants within 4-6 weeks of moving in to make sure they have settled in.

You want rents that offer value for money

Here is what we will do…

• We will not charge rents higher than those recommended by the Government and we will only review your rent annually
• Service charges will be monitored closely to make sure that they offer value for money.

You want a tenancy agreement that gives you protection and sets out clearly your rights and obligations

Here is what we will do…  

• We will generally offer new tenants an assured tenancy agreement which is the most secure form of agreement we can offer.
• On occasion we may offer an assured short hold tenancy agreement but we will always explain why we are doing this and how long this will be for.
• We will provide new residents with an information leaflet that sets out clearly the key terms and conditions of their tenancy agreement.