This year we offered more ways to talk to us and made every contact count. We provided Keep Well & Warm advice and marked our 1st birthday at a conference where involved customers shared their views with our board.
Every contact counts
We want to give customers a stronger influence over the way we do things and make sure that every contact that you have with us, counts.
We want to provide a service that meets or exceeds your expectations. To do that, we are working together with customers as we introduce new services, improve our existing ones and measure how we perform against standards developed with our customers.
You can be part of that, by giving us feedback and getting involved. Because every contact counts, our approach is making it easier for you to have your say, as well as helping us to ensure we take into account your needs and preferences in all our communications.
Workshops for board and customers
Involved customers and board members marked the 1st birthday of Homes Plus with a conference aimed at improving our communication with tenants.
Workshops focused on the best ways for us to obtain feedback and the ways in which we can report back, after we receive comments or requests. Ideas arising out of the workshops will form the basis of our new customer engagement strategy.
Homes Plus board chair, Jason Burt, was one of those taking part:
“It was an absolute pleasure to be able to meet some of our customers and hear, first-hand, their views about our services,” he said. “The conversations have given me an invaluable insight into what really matters to our customers and the communities in which they live. It will certainly help to shape our engagement with tenants, in the future.”
Keep Well & Warm
We introduced a Keep Well & Warm campaign to help people with the rising cost of living. We shared useful information and provided a central source of cost-of-living news, advice, and signposts to help.
This campaign included pointers to initiatives like the NHS Healthy Start scheme and other sources of help and support, including Citizens Advice, local councils and the government’s ‘Help for Households’ campaign. There was also a directory of foodbanks in Staffordshire and Shropshire, and energy saving tips.
The campaign also shared practical advice about how to beat the chills by carrying out some simple checks to make sure your home was safe and winter-ready.
Affordable homes made more energy efficient
Customers who live in some of our older properties are now benefitting from warmer, greener and more energy efficient homes thanks to a £2.3 million project.
We have been working with contractor Broad Oak to upgrade the energy efficiency of 129 homes, particularly our older properties that were not built to today’s stringent energy-efficiency standards.
The properties have benefitted from wall and loft insulation, draught proofing and improved heating systems. As well as low carbon technologies including air source heat pumps and Solar where possible – all of which will make homes more energy efficient.
We successfully bid for £1.2 million in funding for the project from the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), with Homes Plus investing a further £1.1million in the project.
The fund was set up by the government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to improve the energy efficiency of social housing.
We worked with Stafford Borough Council, South Staffordshire Council and Shropshire Council to secure funding from the first wave of SHDF last spring.
Different ways to get in touch
We offer a range of ways to contact us, to suit your needs and preferences. As well as calling us on 0800 048 8955, you can send us a private message on Facebook.
You can also email us, or make an appointment to visit our offices at Parker Court in Stafford or Brassey Road in Shrewsbury. Advice and information is available in our community hubs in Staffordshire and Shropshire and you can use online forms for things like reporting anti-social behaviour, non-emergency repairs and complaints.
Soon, you will be able to ask Chatticus, our new chatbot which will be available 24/7. Clever Chatticus can respond to your questions in seven different languages! If Chatticus can’t find the answer to your question on our website, your query will automatically come through to a member of our team who will start a live chat with you (during office hours).