What do tenants want?

It is self evident that any organisation that provides services must work out what their customers want. Over the years I have spoken to thousands of tenants, held large meetings, visited residents at home, read their letters of complaint, organised improvement plans and even changed the direction of the organisations I worked for. More than once.

What did I discover?

There were just three things that all tenants wanted

• Get repairs that I ask for done quickly and to a high standard,
• Listen carefully to what I need and resolve the problem
• Keep in touch – a person I can communicate with who says what is happening so I don’t have to ask, especially if things are not going to plan.

Interestingly I also got some insight into what our staff wanted.

• I find the job rewarding when I can help tenants and fix things.
• A personal relationship with my tenants so we get to know each other.
• The organisation should support me to do this through giving me enough authority and budget to sort things out.

The interface between the customer and the company (or between resident and housing association) is fraught at present despite all the warm words of “putting customers first/at the heart of what we do/delighting customers/etc”. Despite hugely good intentions and genuine sincerity, the sad reality is that housing association services are not good enough.

Some issues are structural – for example the quality and design of HA homes, and the lack of investment over many years. Some are economic – rents are restricted by the Secretary of State. Some are political. Some are about attitudes at senior and board level that permeate an organisation. And some are technical, such as what technology is contributing or causing.

There is a limit to what can be done about the quality of the stock, although many HAs are diverting funds from new build to stock improvement. The rent settlements are never generous enough and government investment in stock renewal, safety and sustainability is minimal.

But a lot can be done about attitudes. And about technology. I will deal with these issues in a future post.