Developing what we do
Co-creating services
As well as the involvement and hard work of the Resident and Board Partnership, Scrutiny Coordination Group and resident scrutineers, we’re giving residents even more say in what we do and how we do it.
We’re an early adopter of the National Housing Federation’s ‘Together with Tenants’ charter 
; we’re ‘walking in our customers’ shoes’ and we’re co-creating services.
Click the headings below to find out more:
Customer journey mapping is a way of examining, in-depth, the services Sovereign delivers but from the customer’s perspective. Putting the customer’s activities and experiences into a chronological order then creates a customer journey map.
Mapping journeys that customers experience helps Sovereign to understand how it feels to receive services, whilst also highlighting points of customer effort and irritation so improvements can be made.
Up to March 2022 we had completed nine customer journey mapping projects. In total, these projects included:
- Hosting 19 interactive workshops
- Asking 210 customers about their experience
- Involving 102 different staff delivering the services
- Recommending 156 service improvements
In April 2022 we mapped the journey customers experience when using our Mutual Exchange service, and this project:
- Hosted 2 workshops
- Carried out a feedback exercise involving 35 customers
- Involved 8 employees delivering the service
- Recommended 7 service improvement actions including:
- Emphasise at the very start of the journey, and the application stage, the importance of the rent in advance payment
- Re-introduce the online application form that a customer can fill out rather than download
From Summer 2022 we carried out out a customer journey mapping project looking at why customers do not allow access to their homes for major works, like upgrades to kitchens, bathrooms, and windows. This project follows on from the scrutiny project carried out in 2020.
Imagine the advantages of designing a service from the bottom up, where customers and staff will deliver the service hand in hand by designing a service offer that works for everyone.
We call this approach co-creation and we’ve used it to develop elements of our new Home & Place standard.
Our co-creation principles are built around these themes:
Together – we are non-judgemental and we accept and respect everyone’s viewpoint
Partnership – we are brave but realistic, motivated to succeed and courageous
Collaborate – we are constructive, creative and forward-thinking, and work towards a result that will benefit both our customers and Sovereign
A group of residents, staff from the Development team and architectural consultants came together for a series of 10 workshops, held face to face and virtually.
These workshops focused on environmental sustainability, the home itself, the place and surroundings where our homes are built, and what homes and places our customers want to live in in the future. Customers discussed what key principles we should apply in all these areas when we undertake future developments.
The result is a design guide and an assessment tool which can be used to holistically assess what decisions are needed to deliver social, environmental and economic benefit for existing and new-build homes.
This standard sets out our vision for the homes we want to build and the places and communities people want to live in.
Jointly developing this standard with residents, and by using the following three co-creation principles:
Together – we are non-judgmental and we accept and respect everyone’s viewpoint
Partnership – we are brave but realistic, motivated to succeed and courageous
Collaborate – we are constructive, creative and forward-thinking, and work towards a result that will benefit both our customers and Sovereign
This new draft Empty Homes standard will influence the works we carry out on our homes after one tenancy ends and before another begins.
Currently this Standard is being trialed in a number of properties across Sovereign, and we have engaged with customers to find out what they think. We’ll measure their reaction against the cost of the new specifications before finalising the standard.
Update, Spring 2021
The new draft Empty Homes standard represents a significant change to the works we complete before new residents move into an empty home.
The first wave of the pilot is now complete. Customers who moved into the upgraded homes were pleased with the standard, particularly if they’d moved from another Sovereign home.
Teams working to upgrade the homes were also proud of the work they’d done, and were positive about the upgraded standard.
However, the pilot was affected by the pandemic - we weren’t able to trial the standard in different styles and ages of homes. Because of this, the pilot has been extended, so we can see if the standard is practical and affordable to deliver in every single one of our homes when they become empty.
Early in 2019, the National Housing Federation (the national organisation for housing associations in England) introduced its Together with Tenants charter, which sets out what tenants can and should expect from their landlord.
The charter contains six commitments around the following themes:
- Relationships with residents
- Communication
- Voice and influence of residents
- How associations can be accountable
- Quality of homes
- What happens when things go wrong
We’re an early adopter of the charter, testing it out and feeding back to the National Housing Federation about what we learn.
We’re developing a new customer strategy, and we’re ensuring the six principles of the Together with Tenants charter are embedded into it.