We provide a range of meaningful opportunities for customers to share feedback, influence decisions and hold us to account. We offer support and adjustments where needed to ensure all tenants can make a valued contribution.
Not only is this something we are passionate about, but it is what’s expected by the Regulator of Social Housing.
Under the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard we must give tenants a wide range of real opportunities to influence and review our strategies, policies and services.
We must work with them to ensure homes and services meet customer needs and expectations and strengthen our relationship with our customers through good communication and mutual trust and respect.
Our Customer Engagement Framework
Formal governance
- Customer Board Member. We currently have one customer who sits on our Board of Management, the highest level of oversight in our organisation.
- Customer Committee of the Board. This is a committee of our Board of Management which sits alongside three other committee which all have a specific focus. This includes Audit and Risk Committee, Governance and Remuneration Committee, and Development Committee. These committees are part of our Board structure and members govern and seek assurance on their specific theme. The Committee is chaired by our Customer Board Member.
- Resident Scrutiny Panel. This is a group of customers who scrutinise our services through in-depth reviews which conclude with a set of recommendations for how to improve. These recommendations are reported to our main board after every review, and the delivery of the action plan is then monitored by the Audit and Risk Committee.
Customer groups
- We have various customer engagement groups which provide more informal opportunities for customers to get involved in specific areas which are important to them.
- Current opportunities include the Irwell Valley Foundation Group; Building Safety Group; Policy Review Group and Communications Group.
- Based on customer feedback, a new Communal Living Group will be launched in 2026, focusing on issues which affect customers living in buildings with shared spaces.
In-community engagement
- This type of engagement is the most frequent way we engage with our customers and is woven into all our day-to-day work.
- It includes activities like our Neighbourhood Inspections and Community Drop-ins, as well as direct outreach around specific issues, challenges or opportunities such as building new homes, improving existing homes, or tackling challenges in particular areas.
- It is an important part of being accessible and visible in neighbourhoods, allowing easy access for customers to come and talk to us and engage in their space on their terms.
Direct engagement
- We directly engage with customers and gather feedback from them using a variety of tools and channels, including telephone, email, text message and online.
- It includes the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) - a regulatory survey that all social housing providers must complete each year. It measures customer satisfaction across a range of areas and we have to report the results to the Regulator of Social Housing.