2021 was another challenging year for organisations and businesses due to the ongoing pandemic. But many aspects of our organisation returned almost to normal this year, which was great to see.
As always, 2020-2021 has been an incredibly busy time for the team at Accent Housing. Our dedicated team has worked tirelessly to improve the service we give to our residents, whilst developing new properties to provide even more affordable housing in England.
In this blog, we’re going to share highlights from our Annual Performance Review and outline other achievements of 2020/2021.
Improvements To Our Repairs Service
In 2020/2021, we spoke to our customers to gain a better understanding of how we can improve our repairs service.
We then launched a repair improvement project to completely overhaul the repairs process and make it much more efficient for customers. We are hoping to have this completed in 2022.
In the meantime, we invested £23 million into improving and repairing your homes. And we are pleased to say that the customer satisfaction score for Accent’s Repair and Maintenance Service increased from 75.10% to 78.70%!
Although this is a positive step in the right direction, we are conscious that some of our residents were not happy with the repairs service they receive – and we hope to change that ASAP.
Developments Started In 2021
Accent Housing also started a series of new developments in 2021, including:
- 75 homes in East Hempsted, Peterborough – this includes a series of one, two, three and four-bedroom homes to rent.
- 82 homes in Ramsey – this includes affordable rent, social rent and shared ownership properties.
- 21 homes in Fordham, Ely – this includes two, three and four-bedroom homes for affordable rent and shared ownership.
- 46 homes in Godmanchester, Huntingdon – this includes a mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes for affordable and social rent.
- 12 homes on Alma Road, Peterborough – this includes one and two-bedroom maisonettes for affordable rent.
Planned Improvements Carried Out
As well as new developments, we have also carried out almost 2,000 planned improvements to our existing homes! We invested £7.2 million into making our properties better for our residents.
Even with the ever-changing COVID-19 restrictions, our team managed to fit 1,957 windows, doors, heating systems, kitchens and bathrooms. This was a huge jump from the 4,861 improvements carried out the previous year.
Signed Up To Building A Safer Future Charter
In 2021, Accent Housing officially added its signature to the Building A Safer Future charter. The charter was launched in 2020 following the devastating Grenfell Tower fire to promote urgent change in the building industry and ensure people’s safety always comes first.
It was created by a group of local authorities, contractors, housing associations and developers, and was backed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
By signing the charter, we have pledged to “help make sure that buildings are safe for those who live and work in them, and to protect life by putting safety ahead of all other building priorities”.
Launched Your Voice
In an effort to gain quality feedback from our customers, we launched Your Voice, a dedicated customer engagement website. Your Voice enables customers to fill out surveys and give feedback on a broad range of topics.
We are pleased to say we had 2,535 responses to nine surveys and consultations!
Recent improvements we have made by listening to your views include improvements to our online services, changes to how we reward customers for providing quality engagement and improvements to how we encourage the participation of younger residents.
We are currently looking for feedback on the following topics:
- Green energy - would you switch your tariff?
- Your Neighbourhood - what does a quality neighbourhood look and feel like?
- Life After Lockdown - how has lockdown affected our lives, communities and future plans?
Want to get involved? Find out more here.
Improved Our Digital Services
To provide the best possible online service, we have gained your feedback and continuously invested in our digital services, making improvements regularly. This included improvements to MyAccount and the Let’s Move online application system.
We are pleased that we now have 11,096 MyAccount users (compared to 9,457 in the previous year) and 15,906 Let’s Move users (compared to 11,447 in the previous year).
Complaints Process Working Effectively
Customer satisfaction is one of our biggest priorities. In 2020, we launched a brand new complaints process to make it easier for our customers to bring complaints to our attention.
Our new complaints process also aimed to improve the speed and efficiency in which complaints were resolved.
In 2021, it was apparent that the new complaints process was working well. Accent’s complaints satisfaction scores are measured with our automated ‘Rant & Rave’ surveys, which showed we are on track to reach our target of 4.5 out of 5.
Get In Touch
If you have any questions about any of the topics outlined in this blog, or you would like to become an Accent Housing tenant, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
