Whether you are contacting us by phone, email, fax or in person you should receive a prompt, efficient and courteous service. However, it is not possible to sort out
every enquiry immediately, so this leaflet lets you know the minimum standard you can expect. Although many of our staff are often out of the office, you will usually find our service is much quicker.
By phone
When you call, we will put you through to someone who can help with your enquiry.
If you ask for a specific person, such as your Area Housing Manager, we will normally be able to put you through to them. If the person you need to speak to is not available or out of the office you can choose to leave a voice mail or a message for them. They should contact you within one working day – please make sure you leave a contact number.
Letters, emails and faxes
All these will be dealt with in the same way. You should receive our reply within
7 days. If this isn’t possible – for example we may need to do some research – we will let you know when you should be able to expect a reply. We aim to do this within a further 14 days (21 days from receiving your enquiry). Again if it is not possible to give you an informed response we will contact you at least every 21 days to let you know how things are progressing.
Please send your enquiry to the relevant department at your local office.
Departments such as accounts, property services or the directors are based at
head office.
Visiting the office
You can pop in to your local office where staff will be able to deal with most of your enquiries. If not, they will let you know within one working day when you can expect a response. It is better to make an appointment first so you don’t have to wait. Feel free to bring someone with you such as a friend, relative, advisor or interpreter.
Emergency Repairs (Known As Priority 1)
Some examples of emergency repairs are total loss of power, gas or water, no
available toilet facilities, or those which are a threat to the health and safety of
you, your household or the general public.
Emergencies between 9am-5pm weekdays call or email your local
office or your specific service provider
Emergencies out of hours (5pm-9am weekdays; weekends; bank holidays and after 12pm on Christmas Eve) tel: 0845 757 3842. You will be asked your name, address,
contact number, details of the repair and access details for the contractor.
Emergency repairs will be made safe within 24 hours with follow up repairs
as soon as possible.
Non Emergency Repairs
These should be directed to the maintenance department at your local office. Your repair will be given a priority level from 1-4 and you will be told the maximum time it will take to resolve the problem. Priority levels may be adjusted to suit tenant circumstances.
Priority level 2 – within 7 days
Priority level 3 – within 21 days
Priority level 4 – within 91 days
We usually meet these targets but there are some instances – for example if we
need to order a specific part – where this is not possible. We will keep you informed at least every 3 weeks.