Customer Service Standards
South Lakes Housing (SLH) is committed to putting customers first and providing an excellent customer experience. The information below sets out our standards for the services we provide.
We have consulted our Tenants Committee on these standards and we are keen to make sure these standards continue to reflect what’s important to you.
You can read more about our Customer Service Standards here:
SLS Colleagues:
We will…
+ Be polite, friendly, courteous and helpful
+ Treat you fairly with respect and dignity
+ Listen to your views and act on them in a timely manner
+ Explain our reasons when we are unable to do something
+ Apologise to you if we get things wrong and aim to put it right
Accessing our Services:
We will…
+ Be open between 8.45am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday and provide an out-of-hours service to deal with emergencies
+ Provide access to our online customer portal ’My Account’ allowing you to access our services 24/7
+ Meet your specific needs if you need an interpreter, translation of key documents, a larger print size, or Braille
Customer Services:
We will…
+ Provide you with a wide range of methods to allow you to communicate with us e.g. My Account, phone, email, website and by appointment
+ Answer your enquiries promptly and apologise if there has been any delay
+ Aim to resolve your enquiry at the first point of contact. If this is not possible, we will see if someone else can help you. If the right person is not available, we will request they get back to within 2 working days
Repairs:
We will…
+ Respond to repairs within the relevant timescale:
- Emergency Repair— within 24 Hours
- Routine Repair— within 28 working days
- Larger Repairs—within 3 months
+ Keep you updated on your repair by sending you a text to confirm your appointment, remind you of your appointment the day before and let you know when we are on our way
+ Prioritise getting your repair right first time
Planned Improvements:
We will…
+ Where possible offer you input and choices when fitting new kitchens and bathrooms
+ Let you know in good time that we intend to carry out planned improvements to your home
+ Inspect completed improvements to check the quality of the work
+ Issue a satisfaction survey once the work is complete
Noise Complaints/Anti-Social Behaviour:
We will…
+ Give clear definitions of what qualifies as noise complaints and ASB
+ Listen to your report of ASB and take it seriously
+ Make initial contact within 2 working days for serious ASB and 10 working days for all other cases.
+ Agree an action plan with you around roles and responsi-bilities
+ Use a range of measures to resolve issues or tackle ASB
+ Work with you and other agencies to ensure
Rent & Service Charges:
We will…
+ Offer you different ways to pay your rent and service charge so you can choose the one that’s easiest for you
+ Contact you promptly if you get behind with your rent or service charge payments
+ Be sensitive and supportive if you are having financial difficulties, and work with you to find a manageable way for you to pay off your rent debts
Tenancy & Neighbourhoods:
We will…
+ Work in collaboration with partner agencies to maintain the appearance of your neighbourhood
+ Keep communal areas clean and safe
+ Ensure fly tipping, abandoned vehicles, hazardous substances and graffiti are dealt with promptly
+ Design plans to improve your experience as a resident
+ Provide support and safeguard
Housing Applications:
We will…
+ Register your application within 10 working days so you can bid for properties as soon as possible
+ Assist you with the completion of forms if required
+ Provide you with all the information you need to make your tenancy a success when signing up to your home
+ Ensure all properties we let are in a safe, clean and good condition
Keeping You Safe:
We will…
+ Carry out an annual gas safety check in every property with a gas supply
+ Carry out an electrical safety check every 5 years
+ Give you notice in advance of safety checks being carried out
+ Ensure you understand the importance of this check for you and your neighbours’ safety by providing you with this infor-mation
+ Carry out chimney sweeping as required
Involving You:
We will…
+ Listen to our customers and provide opportunities for cus-tomers to provide feedback on our services and how well we deliver these
+ Involve customers in regular reviews of our service activi-ties and standards and take on board ways we can improve
+ Provide clear up to date information on the services that we provide and our decisions on these
+ Reserve up to 2 places for residents on our Board
In Return:
We ask you to…
+ Treat our colleagues with respect
+ Be considerate and polite to us and other customers
+ Keep to the terms of your tenancy
+ Provide the information we need to deliver services
+ Ask us to explain anything you are not sure about
+ Keep any appointments that you have with us
Monitoring & Reviewing:
We will…
+ Review our standards on a regular basis with our customers and let you know of any changes.
+ Monitor our customer satisfaction levels through surveys after you have used our services and through our annual customer sur-vey
+ Provide feedback on any improvements we make as a result of our suggestions or feedback
Complaints:
We will…
+ Acknowledge your initial complaint within 5 working days
+ Provide you with a Stage 1 response within 10 working days from your acknowledgement date
+ Manage the process through our Customer Insight Partner
+ Work with you to find a resolution you are seeking
+ Use the findings of your complaint to improve the services and processes we have in place using our Learning Loop
