Havebury – resident-centred repairs and maintenance

Havebury owns and manages over 7,500 homes for social and affordable rent, shared ownership and supported housing across the east of England.

In late 2022, we began the process of reviewing our repairs and maintenance policy. We started by consulting with residents on areas we could change and received around 550 responses – all valuable feedback – which fed into the review.

In our existing repairs and maintenance policy, we had set criteria around how we defined a ‘vulnerable resident’. The feedback we received highlighted that sometimes we followed this definition too much to the letter, and there was no allowance for circumstances where a different approach was more appropriate for a particular resident or situation.

Following the review, we took out the definition of a ‘vulnerable resident’ and empowered our teams – particularly the customer advisors in the repairs team – to take ownership and deal with each case on its merit.

This means, for example, that if we feel a resident needs a repair to be brought forward, we will do this, or we will undertake a repair that isn’t necessarily our responsibility, and the advisor can make this decision there and then based on the resident and/or situation.

This enables a more resident-centred approach. Where somebody is in distress or crisis, for example, being able to complete or escalate a repair at the time of handling the contact is more powerful than a prescriptive policy – and more critically – empowering the advisors to do this means a better outcome for the resident.

We have also embedded this more tailored approach into other work areas beyond repairs. Depending on someone’s vulnerability, we may now adjust a service accordingly rather than using a blanket approach. Data from further resident surveys, and the development of some ‘vulnerable people principles’ and further training, has helped us to further improve this approach.

We’re continuing to collect resident data so we can truly tailor services to residents .

Impetus for change

There was a theme in our complaints that some residents felt we hadn’t taken their personal circumstances into account. Alongside this, some members of the team raised with us how they felt they weren’t empowered to make decisions that may sit outside a policy.

Challenges

Empowering team members and supporting them to take ownership and be resilient with the move away from a prescriptive policy took some time to bed in. To help with this, we share good examples across teams, and it is now business as usual. We are also creating a vulnerable person’s strategy which, together with training and support will underpin our approach to tailoring services.

This will be a continuous process for Havebury. We’re continuing to collect resident data to can ensure our services are tailored to whatever an individual or family needs. Ensuring the data we hold is current and accurate will take more time.

Impact

Overall, the impact has been positive, and we’ve seen this issue recur much less often in complaints.

It has also empowered our teams to do the right thing for the resident at that time. They don’t need to speak to their manager to expedite a repair – which makes the whole process much smoother. The issue can be managed in real time, meaning a better outcome for a resident.

This approach shows how important it is for housing associations to have sufficient data about residents to identify when they may be vulnerable with support needs, and a policy to tailor service delivery.

Critically, it also shows the importance of developing a culture that empowers individual staff to act flexibly when they think that is what a resident needs.

Find out more about Havebury on the Havebury website.