St Neots

August 2020

You said: In 2020, we took the decision to close communal lounges in all schemes across the country. The aim was to minimise contact between residents and to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading. As the country began to emerge from lockdown, some residents wanted the communal lounges to reopen.

We did: We consulted with residents to determine whether they would be in favour of reopening the communal lounge and what safety measures they would like to see in place if the communal lounge were to reopen.

November 2021

You said: Residents missed seeing our staff and contractors out on-site, due to the coronavirus restrictions, and were starting to feel disenfranchised.

We did: As restrictions began to lift, our thoughts turned once again to how we could safely meet with customers face-to-face once again and deliver a 'personal' customer experience. Our local team attended the scheme's regular coffee morning to catch-up with residents (new and existing), to find out how they'd been coping with the restrictions and provide any support they could.

March 2022

You said: Residents were concerned about the impact of the rising cost of living.

We did: With shortages of labour and materials driving up the costs of repairs and maintenance, rents and some service charges were set to increase in April. We held a residents' meeting to hear residents' concerns and offer them any assistance we could. Most residents had expected the rents to increase and had no major concerns, but were grateful for the explanation and the offer of support.

However, residents indicated that they would like to see the the Scheme Manager on site more often and would like greater involvement in monitoring the performance of the estates services contractors. We agreed to carried out a joint inspection of the estate to identify any problems and hold an annual meeting to discuss such matters. We communicated the outcomes of the meeting to all residents by means of a newsletter.

May 2022

You said: Residents expressed dissatisfaction with the grounds maintenance service.

We did: We invited residents to take part in a joint inspection of the scheme, to provide them with a clearer understanding of what is actually covered by their service charge. The inspection helped us to understand how residents would like their communal grounds to be landscaped, and which areas they would like us to invest in. To start with, we agreed to provide a new storage space for tools and equipment. We issued a reminder to all residents who had opted to maintain areas of the communal grounds themselves to look after them or, if they are no longer able to do so, allow our contractors to resume maintenance of them.

August 2021

You said: Residents missed seeing our staff and contractors out on-site, due to the coronavirus restrictions, and were starting to feel disenfranchised.

We did: As restrictions began to lift, our thoughts turned once again to how we could safely meet with customers face-to-face once again and deliver a 'personal' customer experience. Our staff visited the estate to catch-up with residents (new and existing), to find out how they'd been coping with the restrictions and provide any support they could. The restrictions had led to a backlog of repairs in some areas. Our staff were on hand to take reports of repairs and chase up any repairs which were outstanding.

The good weather helped to attracted a great turnout. We served food and drinks and the event became an impromptu picnic. We were even able to fix one resident's bike! Residents commented that they would like to see more of these events as it makes Accent more accessible.