In our latest Ask the Leaders video we heard experienced Chief Executives of registered housing providers discussing income and disrepair challenges. One of the key themes arising from their reflections was the importance of engagement with tenants at all times but especially during the pandemic.
It has been vital for social landlords to engage with their tenants when it comes to income, especially when many tenants found themselves furloughed, without work or in receipt of reduced wages as COVID-19 had an impact on their lives. A key service social landlords provide is assisting tenants with their benefits, including navigating the world of Universal Credit. This became even more important than usual when many found themselves needing to access housing benefits for the first time during the pandemic.
Interestingly, rent collection did not necessarily decrease as a result of COVID-19. Putting more resources into engaging with tenants and helping them find ways to pay their rent actually led to an increase in rent collection for many landlords despite the crippling financial effects of COVID-19 on many.
Another aspect upon which the pandemic had a huge impact was tenants’ mental health. Uncertainty around lockdowns and the realities of financial hardship, experienced by some for the first time, caused an increase in mental health issues amongst tenants and social landlords were well-placed to offer support, make referrals and be there to listen when a lot of people felt cut off from their usual lifelines.
A priority in the sector is treating tenants as individuals and appreciating that support needs have increased. Listening to tenants and their stories is so important as knowledge is power; knowing tenants’ circumstances is crucial to knowing where to focus resources to support and help them. Registered Providers usually have limited support functions (especially when compared to Local Authorities), but being able to talk to tenants and make any appropriate referrals on their behalf can lead to an increased sense of security and belonging in their communities, the results being better looked after properties, reporting of issues to landlords and increased payment of rent. Disillusionment is reduced and trust in landlords is increased.
This can be crucial when it comes to disrepair claims as engagement leads to more reporting of required repairs meaning landlords can carry out repairs before issues worsen, resulting in improved quality of housing stock.
Claims management companies manage to engage with tenants and if they can do it then why can’t landlords themselves? Tenants know their homes better than landlords do so the more landlords engage with tenants then the more they will know about the properties they own. This should then provide opportunity to pro-actively address any stock challenges and engage with tenants about them before a claims management company gets their first.
Avoiding claims will save landlords money which could be better spent on improvement works to properties so providing a good customer service to tenants, listening to their problems and making informed decisions about how to remedy them could lead to better stock and therefore a better quality of life for tenants, which in turn would improve society and the communities social landlords serve.
A menu of opportunities for engagement is crucial to attracting tenants from all walks of life to get involved with their landlords. Some tenants enjoy volunteering to speak up on behalf of their neighbours, becoming members of boards and committees. Other tenants want someone at the end of the phone line to discuss their issues with. Young people, one of the most affected groups by the pandemic, might engage in less direct ways. Considering all of these avenues for engagement and making sure a suite of opportunities is available to all tenants will ensure increased engagement that is personal to individuals and provides the most value to landlords.
Click here to hear the Chief Executive’s views in relation to some of these issues and engagement of tenants.
