Council Housing Officers have been busy this spring visiting and engaging with residents from across the district.

Over a seven week period the housing team have been out-and-about speaking in person with residents – a nice communication change from over the past few years, during lockdowns and the pandemic. The visits have provided an outlet for tenants to address concerns within their communities, raise issues on their estate and Mid Devon Housing staff have been able to check in, record information and complete repairs.

This year’s spring neighbourhood walkabouts looked a bit different to previous years as the repairs team were also in attendance with a truck offering to dispose of any unwanted items for free. This service proved successful with the truck being filled on each of the 21 area visits.

Simon Newcombe, Corporate Manager for Public Health, Regulation and Housing said:

“The Mid Devon Housing Team have really enjoyed being back out on the estates for the spring neighbourhood walkabouts.

“It was great to speak with so many of our tenants and residents who live on our estates, to generally hear how things are and to listen to their ideas and suggestions for service improvement. Colleagues were astounded with the time and effort that our residents have clearly spent on maintaining their gardens too, there certainly was some very serious contenders for next year’s Chelsea Flower Show!

“The neighbourhood walkabouts have been a really valuable exercise, where colleagues covering different areas of work have worked in partnership and identified a number of issues that we were able to either address there and then, or investigate further. For many of the walkabouts we were joined by ward members and the local policing team who we work very closely with on a day to day basis, this was also extremely valuable.”

Mid Devon Housing have been busy online too!

The Mid Devon Housing Facebook page was relaunched in February and has gained more than 300 followers. Content on the page includes tips for tenants and community events, as well as a chance to meet-the-team. A number of how to videos have also been created, soon to be shared, showing residents how to deal with common issues and repairs within their homes.

The housing pages on the Mid Devon District Council website have also been re-organised for a more user friendly experience.