Lessons learned from complaints
When you make a complaint at Mid Devon Housing, we review and identify any service improvements from your complaint in order to ensure the same mistakes do not arise in the future. Please read our most recent improvements below, these are updated each month
What were we asked?
We were asked to improve the standard of information provided in permission letters to tenants to include a date when MDH will inspect works completed.
What lesson did we learn?
To introduce new working practices that provides clearer information to the tenant.
What improvement have we made?
Permission procedure and letters have been updated.
What were we asked?
We were asked to improve the standard of service provided to our tenants in regards to grounds maintenance
What lesson did we learn?
TP10 in the Tenant Satisfaction Measures will measure tenant satisfaction around grounds maintenance and so it is important that we improve the service
What improvement have we made?
Team Leader’s from each service to meet monthly for liaison and to iron out any issues
What were we asked?
We were asked to improve communications following death of a tenant
What lesson did we learn?
To provide a quicker turnaround of processing applications to the Public Trustee following the death of a tenant
What improvement have we made?
The ownership of this task has been passed to another team to deal with who have more capacity to deal with such matters
What were we asked?
We were asked to improve information on MDH social media pages in regards to Tenancy Home Checks and Tenancy Fraud. To publish the Tenancy Inspection Policy to raise awareness around the above matters
What lesson did we learn?
To publicise information about Tenancy Home Checks and Tenancy Fraud
What improvement have we made?
MDH social media pages were updated with information
MDH Tenancy Inspection Policy was also adopted by Cabinet on 12th December 2023 after recommendation by Homes Policy Development Group on 21st November 2023
What were we asked?
We were asked to improve information on MDH webpages in regards to accessible properties and local connections
What lesson did we learn?
To publicise information about local connections when housing applicants bid for MDH properties and information that we only adapt properties once the property has been tenanted.
What improvement have we made?
MDH web pages were updated
What were we asked?
We were asked to improve the data collected in regards to complaint handling
What lesson did we learn?
To gather information on themes of complaint data to support service improvement
What improvement have we made?
Internal reporting mechanisms have been implemented on complaint handling data
What were we asked?
We were asked to improve the information we collate during the Neighbourhood Walkabouts
What lesson did we learn?
That we must ensure we are collating and saving information relating to Neighbourhood Walkabouts
What improvement have we made?
We have introduced a simple Neighbourhood Walkabout sheet which highlights any issues on our estates and any follow up actions that have been taken
What were we asked?
We were asked to improve the information provided to tenants at sign up in regards to the type of tenancy they have
What lesson did we learn?
To ensure that tenants are provided with adequate information about the type of tenancy they hold
What improvement have we made?
Information is now provided at the sign up process
What were we asked?
We were asked to improve our record keeping
What lesson did we learn?
To ensure where a tenancy is ended and a person remains at the property that MDH’s internal housing management system is updated accordingly.
What improvement have we made?
We have updated our housing management system
What were we asked?
We were asked to improve our communications
What lesson did we learn?
To return call back requests in a timely manner to avoid any delays
What improvement have we made?
Our Housing Apprentice is now supporting one of our housing team to respond to call back requests
What were we asked?
We were asked to improve the information that MDH provides to residents in regards to their succession rights
What lesson did we learn?
To amend internal staff procedures in relation to succession rights. To clarify succession rights and under occupation within our Tenancy Management Policy
What improvement have we made?
Procedures and Tenancy Management Policy will be updated
What were we asked?
To improve how staff process and review flexible tenancies
What lesson did we learn?
To amend internal staff procedures in relation to flexible tenancies. This will ensure that the correct processes are followed. In addition, staff responsible for reviewing flexible tenancies will be given appropriate training.
What improvement have we made?
Procedures will be updated and staff provided with training.
Procedures and Tenancy Management Policy will be updated
What were we asked?
To improve our knowledge of tenants vulnerabilities to help to tailor our services to meet their individual needs. To have a clearer understanding how a tenants vulnerabilities may have been impacted as a result of a formal complaint made.
What lesson did we learn?
To promote tenants to report any vulnerabilities so that we can tailor our services to meet their needs, to have a greater understanding on how their vulnerabilities impacts them and to allow us to make any reasonable adjustments.
What improvement have we made?
MDH will promote raising awareness through their social medial platform, newsletters and on the back of rent statements.
What were we asked?
To improve our complaint responses.
What lesson did we learn?
To review the information we include within our complaint responses.
What improvement have we made?
Where applicable, we now try and provide a timeline of events within our complaint responses so that the resident has sight of any historical information that may be relevant to their complaint.
What were we asked?
To support staff's knowledge on how to access information.
What lesson did we learn?
To refresh our repairs operatives knowledge on how to quickly check our housing systems to check the asbestos database.
What improvement have we made?
Relevant staff have been given training on how to access asbestos information.
What were we asked?
To have a clearer process in regards to ending a tenancy on the Public Trustee.
What lesson did we learn?
To improve communications between staff and representatives of a deceased tenant
What improvement have we made?
MDH’s Public Trustee processes have been updated
What were we asked?
To promote better communications with our tenants
What lesson did we learn?
To improve how we communicate with our tenants in regards to scheduling specialised repair works
What improvement have we made?
We will ensure that when specialised work is required, these works are scheduled promptly and the tenant is communicated with promptly to avoid delays
What were we asked?
To provide clearer information on how a resident can contact us in regards to their complaint
What lesson did we learn?
To improve how a resident can contact us
What improvement have we made?
MDH letter and email templates have been updated with easy information on how to contact us
What were we asked?
To comply with recommendations by the Housing Ombudsman Service to improve how we manage permission requests.
What lesson did we learn?
To improve letter templates, procedures and update MDH's Improvements to Council Properties Policy.
What improvement have we made?
We set up a working group to look at procedures, letter templates and our policy relating to permission requests
What were we asked?
To support a positive change to how we manage MDH's commercial units
What lesson did we learn?
To improve standards
What improvement have we made?
We have implemented many changes since we took over the management of the commercial units from another part of the Authority, with much clearer leases and regular condition surveys.