Quarterly report January - March

In March, we asked customers to give us their views on how they wanted to get involved in shaping, influencing, scrutinising and giving us feedback on our services and key decisions that impact customers.  

We were delighted to receive 5,291 responses and are now using this feedback to develop our customer engagement model with tenant engagement experts, TPAS.

We also completed six workshops with colleagues, current panel members and residents, with a total of 72 attending altogether.  These were very productive sessions, with great conversations.  

We also sent an email to 1,438 residents who said they wanted to be involved via email and are working on getting letters, text and phone calls out to those who preferred these methods of contact. We are also looking at comments from customers regarding queries and breaking down issues they are raising in more detail to then develop engagement activities or escalations to teams to remedy these.  

Next steps 

On 10 April, TPAS presented final feedback to all those involved in the workshops, including colleagues and customers. 

We will be presenting the final Engagement Model to final feedback group 16 May, then presenting it to Executive Board on 20 May. 

We will be finalising the Engagement Framework by 6 June and sending more information to customers on the new model, with details of how it will work, once it has been approved. 

We’ve launched View My Documents on MySovereign, so that customers can download their rent letters and service charge statements. Before this, customers had to email or call us if they wanted a copy. 

Available 24/7, this is just one way we’re creating an effortless customer experience with self-service solutions. 

Feedback from customers about using MySovereign to manage their tenancy has been positive, with customers commenting “it’s easily accessible” and “convenient to use”. 

We saw some great joint working between our Bristol teams when they helped new customers moving into our brand-new flats at the Carriageworks development. 

The block has several complex features like Modulair Heat Pumps that customers may not have experienced before, so we felt it was important to tie their viewings in with a workshop nearby. 

Customers got to know their new neighbours ahead of their move and to meet our officers. We also talked through their aspirations, move in arrangements, all of the additional SNG services they can access and their responsibilities as customers.  

One customer said: “Today's been really, really good. It's nice to come into somewhere and meet people. Some people can be socially awkward, you can think ‘should I approach that person?’  

“So it's nice to get to know people, see what's going to happen in the community, listen to everybody's ideas, but I just think that this is an absolutely brilliant workshop, so well done to you lot." 

We hope this personalised approach for new neighbourhoods will help create thriving communities over generations. 

There are times when we can’t offer someone a tenancy, even if they’ve successfully bid on a property. This is normally due to affordability or because we think they may not be able to manage a tenancy yet. 

To help those we have to say no to, we offer them the opportunity to join our pre-tenancy programme: Steps to tenancy success, run by social enterprise Your Own Place (YOP). 

Since we started working with YOP, we’ve referred 26 people of all ages and backgrounds who couldn’t take up the tenancy when we did our checks. 

• 7 of them took part in YOP’s online programme of support 
• 14 engaged with phone calls, texts and via Whatsapp - discussing their current situation and what steps they’re taking, with signposting if relevant 
• 2 people have since moved into social housing  

Watch how YOP changed Amy’s life:

Read a text-only version of the animation above

Mum of two Amy applied for an SNG home but was unsuccessful because of affordability and rent arrears issues. Determined to improve her financial situation, she was referred to our pre-tenancy programme partner =- Your Own Place (YOP)

After completing the YOP course, Amy said: “I feel ready to start a new era that I’ve been waiting for for so long... being able to do this course has given me hope ”

They worked with her one-to-one via Zoom and focused on courses around budgeting and debt management. 

She was able to use her new skills to pay down much of her rent arrears and debt, and let the housing team know. When further bids on properties were unsuccessful, YOP helped her find ways to manage. Then she found a home, passing the affordability checks. She is now looking forward to living in a safe and secure home.

If you think Your Own Place can help you, and want to learn more, get in touch now at steps@sovereign.org.uk.

We partnered with Citizens Advice to run our free Energy Outreach Programme. 

 This provided customers with impartial advice on how to improve energy efficiency, save money and access the very best energy deals. We also ran a series of energy advice webinars in partnership with Testlands Wellbeing Hub. 

By the end of the programme, we had completed 409 individual household assessments, which led to us delivering: 

• 310 household focused energy packs 
• 163 warm packs 
• 85 referrals for ongoing support from either our Customer Income Advice (CIA), Debt Advice or Employment Support services 
• 101 referrals to the Pocket Power switching service  

We also had some great feedback from customers we helped: 

Customer 1 

“I just cannot believe this support is available – I recently become a single parent and work full time but still cannot pay my bills. This call could not have come at a better time! The information and items you are able to provide will really make a difference to me and my son.” 

Customer 2  

“Thank-you! It has been really tough….. I have no income, haven’t heated my home in 2 years due to the cost of my storage heaters and am unable to find work. This call has been so incredibly useful and I am now looking forward to accessing help to clear my other debts and find work that can help me.” 

Customer 3 

"My daughter isn't well, I care for her and my money doesn't last, everything is a struggle. I can't believe there is so much I can do to try save money, thank you. The air fryer will mean I am able to cook hot meals again, I look forward to hearing from your CIA team to see what I can do to increase my income." 

If you’re struggling with costs, please visit our Cost of living support webpage for details on what support is available. 

In February, we launched our new digital mutual exchange process through HomeSwapper. Before this, all applications were done manually and customers had to call or email us to check on the status of their exchange.  

Now they can manage their whole exchange online and get live status updates any time of day or night, seven days a week. We make decisions on whether an exchange can go ahead within the statutory 42 days and since launch, the average time to complete an exchange has nearly halved, from 114 days last October to 77 days in March.  

Our carpenters are a credit

“I have never come across such lovely operatives - they were nothing but professional, tidy, knowledgeable, polite and respectful. They were an absolute pleasure to meet and deal with.”

Debt advice changes lives

“The help I received was exceptional, I was made aware of things that I had no idea existed, and if it wasn't for the help from your Jon [Debt Advisor,] I would still be struggling, or worse still, homeless. We are now looking forward to a brighter future and hopefully will never be in that place again.”

Apprenticeships matter

“The operative teaching the apprentice was wonderful and encouraging. The apprentice was clearly excited about the work and they very clearly worked very well together and to a very high standard.”

Life-changing benefits support

“I cannot thank you enough, I’m due to pay every single penny of my rent arrears. It’s [because of] your guys’ hard work, patience, and resilience with me as a person and also all the hard work with the [PIP] paperwork. Thank you so much.”

In quarter 4, we: 

• answered phone calls in an average of 1 min 52 secs (2 min target) 
• answered emails in an average of 25 hrs 41 mins (vs 48 hrs target) 
• responded to social media messages in 49 mins 45 secs on average (vs 1 hr target) 
• responded to webchat in 42 secs (no target as it’s a new channel). 

In our post-call customer surveys, we received an average of 4.1 out of 5 from customers vs our target of a minimum 4 out of 5. 

Complaints 

• In quarter 4, our Complaints Specialists continued to work hard to provide quality responses in a timely manner, with a view of reaching the right outcome for our customers. 
• 1,531 complaints were received and 58% of cases were responded to within 10 working days. 

Although we continue to focus on the quality of our responses, and ensuring we resolve our customers’ complaints effectively and efficiently, our performance is not where we, or our customers, want it to be. We are seeing an improvement, and this will be enhanced with the recruitment of a number of new roles, that will be put in place during the spring. 

We have also, appointed a Board Member to be our Complaints Champion, and they will ensure we report and challenge our complaints performance on a regular basis, and that complaints are being managed, change is happening and that customers are being heard through the complaints process. 

Between January and March 2024, we saw these great results. 

Community investment 

• 31 community organisations supported 
• 463 young people took part in youth social action through our  SNG #iwill programme 
• Invested in 14 'environment and place' programmes and initiatives          
• Supported 10 ageing well programmes and initiatives      
• Contributed to 8 health and wellbeing programmes and initiatives 
• Invested in 25 social inclusion/isolation reduction programmes and initiatives 

We also launched three community grants programmes: our Commercial Support Fund , EDI community microgrants and Black History Month (BHM) 365 Fund . 

Debt advice 

• In the financial year 2023-2024, we helped customers reduce or clear £27,332.44 of arrears 
• The service also generated £1,734,444 in social value 

Employment and skills 

• 97 people were helped into work or better work 
• 237 training outcomes were achieved 
• 10 people were supported with business start-up and self-employment 

Financial inclusion 

• We helped save customers £73,424.78 
• We supported 1,814 cases of fuel poverty 

Funding  

• We secured £1,037,081.96 of external funding  

We have seen some great results from our teams working closely with customers to understand what they want us to focus on in their communities. 

In Greenham, our Localities teams worked alongside the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, Newbury Neighbourhood Police team, Berkshire Youth and West Berkshire Council to offer the community: 

• free half-term activities 
• safety advice 
• free skip use 
• repairs advice 
• housing, budgeting, benefits and training support 

The community was pleased with the help provided - a lot of information and support was given, skips were filled, fly-tipping and litter were shifted, and gardens and communal areas cut back.

In quarter 4, we saw: 

ASB 

• January – 81 active cases 
• February – 76 active cases 
• March – 100 active cases 

ASB is an emotive topic and has a big impact on people’s lives. It’s therefore a key focus for us. We report internally and externally to our regulator on numbers of cases and how our customers feel about how we manage issues. We also report on Hate Crime. We are always looking to improve in this space.  

We recently got together the teams responsible for managing ASB cases and shared some of the challenges.
We also looked at the key actions that both our customers and industry experts tell us drive good customer satisfaction. We’ve mapped all of our ASB incidents on to our Electronic Mapping System and have new management information on cases per 1,000 homes in our various localities, which will help us identify hot spots and take action to address things proactively.  

Safeguarding 

• January – 107 cases 
• February – 81 cases 
• March – 73 cases 

We’ve seen a real increase in Safeguarding concerns coming in to and from our teams in the last year. We’ve also seen a sharp increase in people experiencing a mental health crisis. We believe much of this is linked to the increased pressures in the community due to the cost-of-living crisis. Our teams are working hard to advise and signpost people to support available as well as referring them to the range of grants and supportive offers SNG has to mitigate some of the worst of the cost-of-living crisis.   

Please remember our fully funded 24 hour mental health text support service ‘Not Alone’ provided by our mental health partner ‘Shout’. To use this service simply text ‘NOTALONE’ to 85258. 

Domestic abuse 

In the financial year 2023/4, we had 261 reports of domestic abuse. 

We have been adding lots of information to our domestic abuse webpage, including additional places you can get support if you are a victim or a perpetrator.  

(Please note, clicking the link below can show in your browser history. Women’s Aid has advice on how to cover your tracks online .) 

• In quarter 4 we completed 705 lettings, of which 502 were re-lets to existing homes and 203 were lets on new build homes. 
• We also completed 131 mutual exchanges. 

• In quarter 4 our Customer Income Advisors took 773 referrals. 
• They also closed 725 cases, with 580 (80%) of these customers engaging with the service and working with us to maximise their income and improve their financial resilience. 
• They assisted 496 customers with their Universal Credit (UC) claims, representing 27% of all UC-related support provided in 2023/24. 
• And they referred 80 customers to our money partners - ensuring they received expert debt advice and could explore viable options. 

Repairs

Preparations and training last summer and autumn increased our resources and gave us more capability to meet the extra demand for repairs over the winter. In January to March, we completed over 64,000 responsive repairs and customer satisfaction with these increased to 85%. 

We know it’s also vital to deal effectively with reports of condensation, damp and mould. We continued to focus on this, improving how we identify the extent of any problems – such as by enabling customers to upload photos and introducing video calls so we can make initial assessments more quickly. Our website and leaflets also include extra sources of support and tips to avoid condensation, damp and mould. 

In addition, we: 

• completed work on 586 empty homes 
• replaced 232 kitchens, 227 bathrooms and 126 roofs 
• fitted new windows to 304 homes 
• replaced 1,065 front and back doors, flat entrance fire doors and garage doors

Gas              

In quarter 4, we installed: 

• 403 planned boilers through our planned programme 
• 359 new boilers following a responsive repair issue 
• 13 Air Source Heat Pump systems 

For the financial year 2023/24, we were 100% compliant for domestic and commercial properties with gas. We also negotiated savings of £500k with our boiler supplier: money we can plough back into other activity.  

In total, we installed: 

• 1,253 responsive boilers 
• 1,396 planned boilers 
• 34 Air Source Heat Pumps 

Electrical 

In quarter 4, we completed the modernisation of 5 passenger lifts and, over the financial year 2023/24, we: 

• installed 154 new modern efficient electrical heating installs (responsive only) 
• upgraded 1,600 electrical distribution boards 
• completed 122 full property rewires 

Did you know?  

We now include arc fault detection devices (AFDD) into our new fuse boards and have done for some years. These aren’t mandatory unless buildings are over 18 metres tall, but we choose to provide them for all new fuse boards as they can detect a fire risk from a faulty appliance and switch off the power. This is in addition to the normal tripping feature if an appliance is faulty. 

We were Highly Commended for this approach in the ‘safety and compliance initiative of the year’ category of awards run by the Association of Safety Compliance Professionals (ASCP).