“Your feedback is helping to change mhs services for the better.” That was the message at our Tenant Conference on Saturday 16 November.
Around 40 mhs homes customers came out on a cold morning to connect with our teams and help shape the future of our services by sharing what matters most to them.
It was a chance to find out more about new regulations in social housing and their rights as a tenant. Guest speaker Alistair McIntosh, chief executive of the Housing Quality Network, talked about what happens when social landlords don’t listen to their tenants, including the tragic examples of the Grenfell Tower fire and toddler Awaab Ishak who died from a respiratory condition caused by mould.
Alistair spoke about the professionalisation of the sector, including an energised Housing Ombudsman, more active regulation, and new consumer and decent homes standards. “The bar is rising and mhs homes must know and act on the facts,” he said.
Members of the Customer Scrutiny Panel (CSP) took centre stage with Daniel Piggins opening the event with our CEO Ashley Hook, and Annette Beer hosting a Q&A.
CSP representatives also talked about the improvements that have been made to our gas services following their in-depth review. “If we work together to have the conversation, we can put things right,” said June Patey.
Ola Akintelure, our assistant director of asset management said the CSP’s review has shone a light on the areas to work on. “By helping us understand what the service looks like for you – our customers – we’ve strengthened the way we manage our gas contract.”
Neil Sargent, our assistant director of property and estates services introduced a new opportunity to influence the way our repairs service works by joining the Resident Asset Management Panel. “It’s about helping to drive changes in our services including repairs, empty homes, grounds maintenance and caretaking,” he explained.
#teammhs in action
Customers talked to members of our estates, housing management, repairs, communications and customer experience teams, putting forward suggestions or ideas about our services and collecting free raffle tickets for the prize draw. There were lots of winners, and we were pleased that a number of people signed up to get more involved which was a great outcome.
There were also opportunities to question Ashley Hook, Louise Humphrey and Amy Cheswick, from the mhs executive team. The panel took questions and explained more about what we’re doing to actively involve and respond to our customers.
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