01271 312500
0800 917 0619
Resident Involvement
NDH is fully committed to involving you in the management of your home. We want to encourage all tenants to become more involved in the housing service; and at whatever level each individual feels most comfortable. We are seeking to provide a wider range of opportunities for you to participate. We also recognise that tenant involvement is a process that will evolve and develop along with the Company.
Click on the links below for more information.
Garden Assistance Scheme
Keeping you informed
Becoming a Member of North Devon Homes
Tenants’ and Residents’ Associations
Tenant Housing Inspectors
Postal Survey Groups
Personal Notification of Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Customer Involvement with Advantage South West
Minor Works Budget
Rent Surgeries
Policy Review Workshops
Diversity Forms
The Tenant’s Panel in Partnership with North Devon Homes Ltd launched a new and exciting Gardening scheme on 1st April 2005. Click here for more information.
Information and consultation are vital if we are to provide you with the service that you want. We use a number of methods of consultation:
· writing to all tenants and allowing time for responses;
· home visits to individual tenants;
· sending regular newsletters and magazines to all households;
· arranging regular tenant meetings and conferences to discuss particular issues of concern;
· a wide range of policies are available for all tenants to see at our offices
· customer surveys are carried out to measure how we are performing and so that you can tell us what we are doing right, what we are doing wrong and how you think our service might be improved;
· focus groups when appropriate, to target specific issues.
Becoming a Member of North Devon Homes
All tenants are entitled to apply to become a member of the Company. Becoming a member of NDH will not cost you any money nor will it mean that you have to attend regular meetings to make decisions. Members are allowed to vote at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Company and receive copies of the annual report and the accounts.
As well as tenants, members of NDH will consist of North Devon District Council and independent people representing the local community. The voting rights at General Meetings will be one third for each group: tenants, North Devon District Council and independent members.
If you are interested in becoming a member of NDH please contact the Tenant Participation Manager using the contacts page.
Tenants’ and Residents’ Associations
We are always keen to encourage more Tenants and Residents’ Associations. We will provide advice and practical assistance - including financial help - to support existing and new residents’ associations. The principal purpose of the Tenants’ and Residents’ Association is to represent the views and interests of people living in a particular neighbourhood or estate. Different tenants’ associations have different aims.
An association meets regularly and you can invite specific staff from the Company, or from other organisations such as the Police, to attend meetings to help solve particular problems or develop new initiatives to improve your area.
Some associations arrange events such as barbecues, bus trips and other social outings.
If you would like to know whether a residents’ association currently operates in your area or you would like to know more about setting up an association, please contact the Tenant Participation Manager. We can provide you with a starter pack and also some funding to get you going. If you don’t feel able to contact other people within your community – we can also assist, so there’s no reason to delay.
We are setting up mystery shopping for the first time. This means that a group of tenants will be seeking repairs or some other service from the staff and then carrying out an assessment on the service they receive. If you would be interested in joining this group or would like more information – please contact Elaine Yorke or Clare Paddon on 01271- 313384
Some tenants do not want to or may not be able to travel to group meetings. This doesn’t mean that they don’t want to be involved. So – for the first time we are proposing to establish a postal survey group. This group will be set up to assist us when we carry out reviews of our policies or practices. Once again if you are interested or would like to be part of this group please contact us.
Personal Notification of Customer Satisfaction Surveys
We are carrying out satisfaction surveys on our programmed works of kitchen and bathroom improvements. We will be writing to individual tenants who have had works carried out on their properties, with the results of these surveys.
Customer Involvement with Advantage South West
We are part of a consortia of Housing Associations in the South West that are working together with their tenants to provide common house types, floor plans, materials etc. This will assist with off site production and reduce our development costs. Our partners in this group are Ocean Housing, Devon and Cornwall Housing and South Somerset.
The Customer Forum have within their budget £20,000 set aside for minor works and community projects. This year they have gained complete autonomy of how they spend this money. So if you have a community project that needs financial help or have a suggestion that would benefit the residents on your estate; then why not call the Pete Ratcliff - Chairman of the Customer Forum and he can provide you with information on how to make a claim.
This year we have decided to hold rent surgeries in the week following the publication of our quarterly rent statements. For a rent surgery near you, look out for the dates in our newsletter. These surgeries will also have other members of staff and a member of the Customer Forum available for you to talk to, so why not come along and have a chat. They will be held in different locations throughout the district - so look out for one coming to you!
We now involve tenants at the beginning of the review process. This provides you with a real opportunity to influence the services that you receive and the way in which you receive them.
In order to discover the variety of different needs of our tenants we need to establish where and what your needs are. Look at different ways of improving our services to maximise the benefits of our service delivery. This is why you will be asked to complete a diversity form at some stage during the coming year.
IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR SUGGESTIONS TO MAKE ON RESIDENT INVOLVEMENT PLEASE CONTACT US ON THE CONTACT DETAILS SHOWN.
