Repairs Roadshow – feedback and updates

We would like to thank everyone who took time to respond to our survey on repairs to help inform how we procure and manage our new repairs contract and everyone that attended our roadshows. 

We had just under 100 responses on our survey in total and the feedback we got is really helpful to find out what is most important to you, what works and what doesn’t. We gained a lot of insight from your comments and we’ve identified some of the key issues you’d like us to address below: 

Just under 70% (68%) of the people surveyed were dissatisfied with their last repair and the main reasons for dissatisfaction were: 

• Waiting too long for appointments 

• Quality of work 

• Poor Communication. 

22% of the responses were positive overall, with nearly 40% of respondents agreeing that:  

• The operatives and staff were polite and helpful. 

When asked what works well within the current service offer there was a more even split of positive and negative feedback, with over 40% of respondents giving some positive feedback. The majority of comments are - 

• Lack of information about the repair 

• Poor communication – 60% of respondents stated they felt that communication was lacking and poor. 

• Repairs taking more than one appointment – follow on works, 70% of respondents would like a repair to be completed in one visit rather than being booked further appointments. 

Again, we had some positive feedback: 

• 40% of responses said that staff were polite and helpful. 

• Almost 20% of responses stated they felt the operatives were knowledgeable 

• Over 30% of respondents felt it was easy to report a repair 

We asked you how we could improve the service, with communication with residents being the main area you’d like us to improve on, along with a quicker repairs service overall while making sure we fix the problem first time. 

When we asked you what you’d like to see in the new repairs contract the main responses are below. 41% of people also left us comments around how we could make other improvements to the service which we are going through to learn from throughout the survey.  

the main comments were around: 

• Having more transparency with you, our residents. Recognising our residents are the customers who pay for the service but don’t often get to have much input on the choice of contractor for repairs.  

• Repairs resolved first time (69%)

• The length of contract is too long  

• Clear and better communication - (64%) 

Many of the responses also indicated a keen interest in becoming involved in a resident panel(s). For example:  a repairs complaints panel and/or procurement panel. 

We are currently looking to appoint a consultant to support Origin in the scope and delivery of a new repairs contract. This includes deciding what type of contract, whether it is one or multiple contractors and length of the contract. They will also assist in recruitment to our resident procurement panel alongside the Resident Engagement Team and Property Maintenance who will have input into these decisions. 

The consultant should be in place by early March 2022. 

The timetable for a new contract is currently planned as: 

March 22 – Appoint Consultant

Summer – 22 Invitation to Tender (ITT)

Winter - 22 Appoint/Award Contractor

Spring 23 – New Repairs Contract starts 

Our Resident Engagement Coordinator will be in touch with the people who have asked for further information. 

We know that we have lots more work to do to get things right for you consistently and we are committed to improving our service to you now and in the future. 

If you have any questions, please let me know by emailing enquiries@originhousing.org.uk or by calling 0300 323 0325.

Vanessa Reilly, Repairs Improvement Programme Manager.