I did. Apparently there are only two focus groups, one for tenants and one for leaseholders, and the leaseholder one is at the Town Hall on 28th June...the tenant's one is probably next week – not much notice, eh?
Number Crunching
Meanwhile I was interested to read on page 9 the results of a National Housing Federation survey of residents, carried out on Lewisham Homes' behalf. "The results show that we are seeing results..."
At the end of this article it says "See more performance information online, or register to take part in surveys and have your say!" But if you go to the Lewisham Homes website, you will be hard put to find where on the site you can do this.
Meanwhile, the Council's Housing Select Committee found a less rosy picture in an independent survey on the service provided to leaseholders:
71% were dissatisfied with the standard of major works carried out
74% were dissatisfied with the standard of repairs
67% felt charges for repairs and maintenance were unfair
82% felt charges for major works were unfair
70% were dissatisfied with the billing process
64% felt their housing manager did not keep them informed about repairs and maintenance
Perhaps leaseholders are a more whingeing bunch!
(The Committee's report can be downloaded here)
Obviously tenants aren't asked to comment on their bills, and half of them don't even know what they are because they're on benefits.
ReplyDeleteA small proportion will have the balls to complain about a bad repair, when it may be a much larger percentage who are experiencing it.
Those who are working complain more because they are less able to be there for the repair...
But they also have less time to complain. Folk on benefits may experience less of a wait because they can more easily guarantee to be in...
The figures mean nothing. In fact Lewisham Homes had a 'tick' next to a 2% down in REPAIRS...Surely a misrepresentation of figures?