Service standards

Our purpose is to be an excellent housing association, providing high quality affordable homes and effective services that meet our residents' aspirations.

We have agreed a number of service standards so that you know what you can expect from us.

Communication standards

If we visit your home, we will:

Make an appointment and arrive on time.
Give you plenty of notice if we cannot keep the appointment and offer to re-arrange.
Show identification before entering your home.
Make sure our contractors keep to these standards too.

If we get things wrong, we will:

Apologise for our mistakes. Put it right as soon as possible and keep you informed of our progress.
Let you know that you have the right to complain, and tell you how to make a formal complaint.
Tell you how we have learnt from our mistakes and what we are doing to make sure the mistake doesn?t happen again.
Always welcome your suggestions for improving our service.

In all our contact with you, we will:

Try to get things right the first time.
Explain when we will be able to deal with your enquiry, if we can?t do it straight away.
Be polite and treat you fairly and with respect, paying attention to any special requirements you may have.
Respect your confidentiality and give you access to any personal information that we hold about you, in line with our legal duties.
Explain your rights and responsibilities.
Provide a consistent standard of service.

In all our communication with you, we will aim to:

Write to you in a way that is straight-forward.
Be honest and clearly explain the reasons for any decisions we make, even if this sometimes means that we have to give you bad news.
Provide information in large print and/or audio CD upon request or where we know a need exists.
Provide access to translation or interpretation services upon request or where we know a need exists.
Look for ways to assist any residents who have a disability, mental or physical ill health which may make communication difficult.

If you write to or e-mail us, we will:

Reply with a response that fully answers your enquiries, within five working days.
If we cannot provide a full response, we will let you know who is dealing with your enquiry and when you can expect a reply.

If you telephone our offices, we will:

Answer your call within ten seconds and give you our Name.
Answer your enquiries immediately, or transfer you quickly to someone who can help you or take a message.
If you leave a message, we will return your call by the end of the next working day.

If you visit us, we will:

Greet you quickly and politely, within five minutes of your arrival.
Be on time for any appointment you have made.
If you do not have an appointment, we will make sure you do not have to wait more than 20 minutes to see someone who can help you.
Keep our reception areas clean and tidy, and display up to date information.
Provide private interview rooms to discuss confidential issues.

Repairs

Reporting a repair

Phone us to report a repair on 0800 107 0712
Send an email to enquiry@broxbourneha.org.uk
Use the online reporting facility at www.broxbourneha.org.uk
Send a fax to 01992 453 747
Report your repair at reception
Report your repair at a One Stop Shop and use the freephone service
Write to us at Scania House, 17 Amwell Street, Hoddesdon, Herts. EN11 8TS
Out of hours you can call Central Control for emergencies on 01992 639 561

Inspections

We will arrange an appointment to carry out a pre/post inspection.
Our contractors will make appointments where necessary.
If an appointment cannot be kept, we will tell you as soon as possible and arrange another appointment.

Ordering repairs

We will order repairs according to priority as below and in accordance with our policy.

Category 1

Response within two hours. We will make safe matters which are a threat to life and limb. For example, broken windows, dangerous or exposed electrics, gas leaks and locks where there are no keys to gain access.

24hr response. Used when the defect causes considerable inconvenience to the tenant or may become a risk to life or limb if not attended to, such as failure of cold water supply or burst pipe. We will visit the property and make safe or carry out the repair.

Category 2

Within seven days. Where a repair is urgent or you would suffer considerable inconvenience, such as a leaking hand basin and where the leak cannot be contained by use of a bowl or bucket. This also includes repairs to door entry systems, extractor fans, and roof leaks.

Category 3

Within 28 days. This priority is used for all routine repairs, such as replacement of internal doors, fences, tiles, plastering and replacement baths.

Category 4

Within 56 days. Where there is a requirement for bespoke fittings (such as renewal of UPVC windows or doors).

Major Works.

We will:

Write to let you know when major works are proposed at least 14 days prior to any works being started.
Telephone to make survey appointments.
Try to keep to morning or afternoon appointments as required.
Keep you informed through a dedicated Broxbourne Housing Association officer.
Liaise with you and contractors to keep things running smoothly.
Respond to you within two working days.
Check that you are completely satisfied with the works once they are finished.

Other housing management standards

Lettings.

We will:

Send you application forms and supporting information within two working days of you expressing an interest in moving home.
Register the application within five working days.
If you are elderly, we will visit you within seven days of your application, so that we can try to make sure you get the most appropriate housing.
Give you three days from receiving an offer to view the property and a further two days to decide whether to accept it.
Make sure the property offered to you is handed over in good condition, in accordance with our lettings standards.
We will give you contact details of your Tenancy Sustainment and maintenance officers.
We will give a final decision on any mutual exchange requests within 42 days of completed application forms.

Estate Management

To keep your estate in order, we will:

Visit you in your home to discuss any housing related matter, on request.
Invite you to join us on estate inspections, within a month of your request.
Remove any untaxed, dumped vehicles within 15 days, less if it is dangerous.
Deal sympathetically with any request for assignment or succession, and make a decision within 14 days of the relevant facts being obtained.

To help keep you safe, we will:

Respond to reports of anti-social behaviour within five working days.
Respond to reports of serious anti-social behaviour e.g. threats, racial harassment or actual use of violence, within 24 hours.
Investigate incidents as racist if a complainant or a witness calls the incident racist.
Keep you up to date with our actions, by whatever means you prefer (phone, email, and so on) .
Close a case of anti-social behaviour only after speaking to the complainant beforehand.
Support witnesses and victims wherever possible in a way that suits you.

To keep your estate clean and well looked after, we will:

Remove any homophobic, racist or sexist graffiti within 24 hours of being told about it.
Remove any dumped items within 48 hours of notification of it.
Remove any hypodermic needles or other dangerous items within four hours of being told about them.
Work to set schedules to keep your estates clean and tidy.
Attend to any calls where people are stuck in lifts within two hours of call being received.

Retirement housing

We will:

Paint two rooms every three years in the homes of elderly or disabled tenants, on application.
Redecorate the common areas of all retirement schemes every seven years.
Assess all new tenants to make sure that the retirement housing is appropriate for you.
Provide a varied programme of social activities and entertainment.
Provide a scheme manager, who will contact all tenants at a pre-agreed frequency.
Provide regular support on a needs-led basis.

Money matters

For tenants, we will:

Offer you a range of methods to pay your rent and any service charges, including direct debits, at any paypoint outlet, standing orders, at the Council?s One Stop Shops and by credit/debit card.
Provide you with a rent and service charge statement every quarter.
Offer you affordable payment plans if you fall behind on your rent or service charge.
Assist you with housing benefit claims and signpost you to other agencies as appropriate.
Take prompt and robust action against those persistently not paying their rent or service charges.

For leaseholders, we will:

Send an annual service charge schedule by the beginning of September each year.
Send quarterly invoices to those who do not pay their service charges by direct debit.
Send an annual invoice to all leaseholders paying by direct debit.
Only invoice for the cost of services provided. No profit element will be included in the charges.
Base invoices on the estimated charges for the current year, as set out on the service charge schedule.
Adjust charges after the year end for the actual cost incurred.

We have a number of different ways to measure whether we are meeting these standards. These range from call handling and correspondence statistics, to mystery shopping results and monitoring feedback from residents and service users. We will make sure that we give staff (and residents) feedback from these measures, so we all know how we are doing in delivering against these important standards.

If you would like to join our mystery shoppers group, take part in estate inspections or be on the residents? panel, please call Peter Walkinshaw on 01992 453 776.