Our teams have been hard at work supporting and engaging with residents across the country. We have made a difference in dozens of communities, adding value beyond what people might expect from their landlord.
This includes:
Working with partners to fund a work-ready coach in Liverpool, who is supporting residents gain education and experience to get a job.
Funding a furniture project to help residents without possessions make their new tenancy more homely.
Providing a space for weekly prayer to Hackney’s Islamic community, saving residents a 30-minute journey to the nearest mosque.
Hosting sessions with a local artist for residents in Rochford to strengthen their sense of belonging.
Developing a new approach with residents on the installation of Electric Vehicle Charging Points.
Looking at how we can provide more support and advice to residents affected by the cost-of-living crisis.
Providing four community allotment sites in Chester where local residents can grow their own fruit and vegetables.
Developing a new Veterans offer to provide greater support for ex-services personnel.
of residents said we provide staff who are knowledgeable and treat you as a valued customer.
Care Quality Commission ratings (Good or Outstanding)
Information at your fingertips
We want our website to be a quick and easy method for you to find the information you need. We launched our new website earlier this year, bringing several of our existing websites together. Residents have told us this improved user experience makes it easier to find out more on who we are and what we do.
The Plain English Campaign also carried out a full review, looking at the language, design, layout, accessibility and navigation. The review found our new website to be a “well laid out site with clear options”. The Plain English Campaign noted that it loads quickly and provides good, clear information about our services and how customers can access them.
We used the latest technology, accessibility and service design principles to build the website from a customer’s perspective. Residents played a key role during both the design and testing phases of the project.
Average weekly rent levels across general needs and sheltered homes
Average weekly rent levels across Supported Living
Tenants registered with Homeswapper
Swaps on Homeswapper
Better for you, Better for the Earth
Our housing application process entered the digital age after a massive investment in the technology we use. We previously sent 30 pages of paper documents by traditional post but new tenants now get our application pack by email.
A software package called DocuSign allows people to add their signature digitally. This speeds up the process by several days, enabling residents to move into their new home more quickly.
This process change has reduced the administrative work our Housing teams have to do, giving them more time to help residents directly. It also reduces the amount of CO2 emissions involved, saving the equivalent of around 193 trees every year.
The minority of tenants who do not use email continue to get a printed pack through the post.
Visiting you and your home
We also introduced a new service, known within Sanctuary as ‘Housing 360’. Housing Officers visit residents who are rarely in contact with us to check they are well and that their home is as it should be.
This new team has helped us identify cases where a resident needs personal support and advice, and also where an issue with their home needs to be reported and repaired. By the end of August we had carried out more than 2,500 visits.
Your complaints help make us better
We aim to deliver a great service to our residents but don’t always get it right. When things go wrong it is important you tell us about it and that we work with you to fix the issue. We have worked with residents to improve how we handle complaints. Our complaints process is now clearer and easier for you to raise any concerns.
The number of resident complaints has risen in line with the increase in the demands for our services. This is especially true when it comes to repairs and maintenance. We received over 350 more complaints than last year, with almost seven in every 10 about our responsive repairs service. We carried out around a quarter of a million day-to-day repairs last year, with the vast majority completed as planned.
We know the time taken to carry out major, more complicated repairs can cause some frustration. While some of the reasons for this are not under our control, we continue to look for ways to improve this service. Between April 2021 and September 2021, for example, it took us an average of 33 days to resolve a complaint.
We reduced this average to 12 days in March 2022. By the end of the year, we resolved three in every four complaints within our target timescale. Our improvement has continued with an average of 10.3 days to resolve complaints in the first three months of 2022/23.
We have reviewed our approach with the 150-plus resident members of our Complaints Community of Interest. We continue to focus on resolution and better communications with you. We see complaints as an opportunity to learn and a chance to put things right.
Complaints breakdown 2021/2022
Complaints received - Housing England
Complaints received - Supported Living
Complaints received - Supported Living (Extra Care)
Average days to respond to Stage 1 complaints
Complaints received per 1000 properties
Complaints responded to on target
What customers complain about
- Responsive Repairs - 67%
- Gas Repairs / Servicing - 11%
- Housing Management - 5%
- Other - 4%
- Antisocial Behaviour - 3%
- Estate Services - 3%
- Income Management - 3%
- Development - Sales - 2%
- SSL Support Provided - 2%
Whilst our focus is always on resolving a resident’s individual concerns, we also see complaints as an excellent opportunity to learn where things aren’t working and to find improvements to our services.
For more information please visit the complaints section of our website.
Calling back to save you waiting - Learning from complaints
Towards the end of 2021, we were receiving an increase in complaints from residents telling us that they were finding it hard to get in touch with us, and that the waiting times to reach our Customer Service Centre were too long. This was particularly frustrating for residents who were calling us with emergencies that they needed to report to us.
We were already working on plans to recruit more colleagues to help us to answer calls quicker, but when reviewing complaints residents had made, we identified some more improvements we could make.
As a result of complaints that you made, we introduced some changes to how we deal with your calls. These changes included:
- We introduced a set of options onto our telephone line to help us to give those residents with emergencies a quick and direct way to tell us about this. This meant that anyone with an emergency was able to reach us within two minutes.
- We increased the focus of our most experienced staff on more complex and challengng enquiries. This helped us to improve how we managed these enquiries.
- Finally, we introduced the option for residents to request a call back from us where the waiting time was too long or inconvenient. Where residents requested this, we have been able to call residents back within 60 minutes.
As a result of the above changes, and by adding more colleagues into our Customer Service Centre, we have made it easier and quicker for residents to get in touch with us.
Housing calls answered this year
Repairs calls answered this year
Income calls answered this year
Emails received this year into our customer service team
Hitting the right tone together
When we communicate we can lift, frustrate or annoy our audience, simply by how we say something. An otherwise positive message can rub people up the wrong way due to clumsy wording or a poor choice of phrase.
We have many different teams who communicate with customers, and know some residents can get multiple letters in a short space of time. When we looked at our many communications with you, we found the tone of voice used varied widely. It did not surprise us to hear that some residents felt our letters came from multiple organisations. From warm and friendly, to quite abrupt, the tone varied widely.
We recognise choosing words with care and thought can help us foster a positive and respectful relationship with our residents. More than 400 of you responded to our consultation as we sought to bring cohesion to our tone of voice. It is a continual process but we are making progress in how we communicate with you. Residents played a key role in helping us create our Tone of Voice Guide.
This document has been designed to help our staff communicate in a consistent tone, appropriate to the purpose. You encouraged us to think differently and to make sure we consider the tone and method of communicating from every perspective. Your contributions made us better informed and better able to deliver communications that work.
Overall tenant satisfaction
Overall client satisfaction Sanctuary Supported Living
Sanctuary Supported Living residents recently provided feedback on the services they receive in the annual customer satisfaction survey.
Surveys were completed by residents
Said the service they receive helps them to be as independent as they can
Said that staff listen to residents and goals are worked on together