By Helen Knight, Communications Officer, Trent & Dove Housing

With the introduction of Awaab’s Law this October, housing associations are taking vital steps forward, introducing stringent timeframes to swiftly address damp and mould cases.

Trent & Dove has already taken a proactive approach by incorporating the upcoming legislative changes into its recent repairs redesign.

Alongside the timeframe changes already implemented to improve its repairs process and promptly identify damp and mould cases, the redesign improves customer communication by integrating the customer relationship management (CRM) and repairs systems. This ensures colleagues can access the latest accurate information from when a repair is reported to completion.

They can also log a repair – even while in a customer’s home.

This is made possible thanks to an interdepartmental working group, consisting of repairs, IT and customer services teams.

The communication improvements align with the latest consumer standards introduced by the Regulator of Social Housing. These aim to ensure customers have clear communication and consistently good service from their landlord.

Trent & Dove’s repairs policy historically consisted of only two priorities: a standard repair timeframe of 28 days and an emergency category actioned within 24 hours.

“Expectations around damp and mould are also increasing which is having an impact on our average job costs as well as the fact that we’re now undertaking much more complex repairs on a larger scale”
Nick Sutton, head of property services, Trent & Dove

Trent & Dove’s head of property services, Nick Sutton, said: “Sometimes we couldn’t keep to that timeframe because of the amount of work involved in some repairs. For example, we would find it challenging to get a subcontractor to erect a scaffold, undertake the necessary roofing works, then remove it within this timeframe.   

“We would also find that some specialist order items – such as ventilation systems – weren’t immediately available.   

“Our historic priorities meant that we were trying to meet unrealistic timeframes.

“Expectations around damp and mould are also increasing which is having an impact on our average job costs as well as the fact that we’re now undertaking much more complex repairs on a larger scale.

“All these factors made us review our current working practices and it was decided that if we were going to make changes then we’d consider all options.”

So, a new repairs policy was born, led by Nick Sutton, repairs manager Richard Thornewill, and business improvement and procurement officer Clare Evans in consultation with Trent & Dove’s customer committee.   

Emergency repairs remain unchanged, but the scheduled repair category aims to ensure work is completed within 20 working days. It was previously 28 calendar days. Under a new programmed and major repairs priority system, work, such as complex repairs and component replacements, aims to be completed within 60 to 90 working days. This is communicated to the customer from the start.

The importance of the repairs redesign has been strengthened with the introduction of Awaab’s Law.

As the team compiled their policy, early details of Awaab’s Law started to filter through. Trent & Dove decided to “get ahead of the game”, taking on the timescales guidance and incorporating this into their redesign.

As an additional step, Trent & Dove’s specialist damp and mould team attend the property to reduce any severity while its report is produced within 48 hours. The team then has seven days from the date of the report to complete or start the work.

The system now enables the surveying team to track progress and assist them in meeting the timescales from initial stage, and the milestones in between, to completion.

To support these timescales, colleagues can, where possible, join a video call with residents to quickly identify any damp and mould cases without waiting for a surveyor appointment.

However, while Trent & Dove ensured they could support the new timeframes, they needed the IT infrastructure.

The main focus was rebuilding the repairs picker, making it easier to accurately log a repair on the CRM and ensuring that customers, regardless of who they speak to, receive the same level of service.

“Following customer feedback, we found many expected a 28-day turnaround on their repairs. When this couldn’t be achieved, our IT system meant customer services could not see whether the work would be completed on time. Now, all colleagues see every update for a repair including those made by the operative.   

“It has become more transparent, and everyone can see what’s happening.”

System errors affecting appointments – where confirmation was only received when both systems matched – were also resolved.

It’s been a long process to support the massive improvements involved, coupled with IT that couldn’t support the infrastructure at the time.

“It’s a huge customer-focused approach and we’re already in a good position to meet the requirements of Awaab’s Law.”