Operational Service Standards

• Contact the applicant within 3 days of a successful bid to view property before signing up.

• We try to make the best possible use of our housing stock and therefore encourage transfers which can help resolve problems of under-occupation and overcrowding.
• Contact tenant within a week of end of cycle.
• Before the agreed moving date, we will have checked the property to make sure it is in good repair, and all the installations are in good working order.
• Somerset Council will participate in the CORE scheme for social housing allocations which captures information on the characteristics of the household and property each time a social or affordable property is let. This information will be submitted to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
• Council officers will visit a tenant’s current home to ensure tenants meet the council’s transfer conditions. Should the conditions not be met a tenant’s transfer may be suspended for a period allowing time to meet the required conditions.
• A key objective when allocating new build homes is to achieve balance and sustainability in a scheme and with the surrounding community.
• We will look to accommodate any displaced households within a development into our new build properties.
• We will ensure we create cohesive and inclusive communities that are attractive to stakeholders and tenants.
• We will create a balanced, sustainable community, with a mix of tenants successfully managing their tenancies and making a positive contribution to the local area.
• We will provide low income working households with improved prospects of accessing an affordable alternative to costly and often unaffordable private rented housing.
• We will support Somerset Council in its objectives and its statutory duty to offer reasonable preferences to those in housing need; and protect the capital investment made by Somerset Council in an area through the delivery of sustainable tenancies

• We will help facilitate mutual exchanges as a way of encouraging and promoting tenant mobility. We will do this by:
• Informing tenants of their right to exchange in the tenancy agreement, and tenants’ handbook.
• Providing an opportunity for tenants to move anywhere in the country without needing to go through our choice-based lettings system.
• Promoting mutual exchanges as a method to enable tenants to choose a home in the area they wish to live in.
• Providing advice and assistance for those carrying out an exchange and facilitating access to an online mutual exchange register.

Homes in Somerset

• Respond to serious complaints or harassment by the next working day and less serious complaints in 10 days.

Somerset Council

• We will take all anti-social behaviour complaints seriously and investigate them promptly. We will offer clear advice and support when tenants report an incident.
• A risk assessment will be completed to help identify vulnerable and repeat victims.
• We will never identify a tenant as the person making the complaint unless permission to do so is given.
• We will make initial contact within 24 hours for reports of racial harassment and domestic violence.
• We will support and work with tenants when trying to resolve a complaint and if necessary, we will agree an action plan with tenants within 5 to 10 days of when reporting an incident. This will include agreeing on the way we communicate with tenants throughout a case.
• We will remove offensive or discriminatory graffiti within 24 hours of it being reported.
• We will use a range of prevention measures to reduce anti-social behaviour. We will offer mediation if we think this would be the most effective way to deal with the problems.
• We will adopt a victim centred approach.
• We will review all open cases after 3 months. If we feel a case should be closed, we will discuss this with the tenant and give them an opportunity to appeal within 10 days.
• After a case is closed, we will conduct a satisfaction survey. We will also conduct a perception survey as directed by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) to meet the requirements of the tenant satisfaction measures.
• We will report data as required by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in relation to ASB and hate crime.
• All information tenants give us will be treated in confidence and in accordance with data protection legislation.

• As part of the housing management service, we will keep the neighbourhood and communal areas associated with the homes managed clean and safe. Working in partnership with tenants and other providers and public bodies where it is effective to do so.
• All our communal blocks will be inspected monthly. Any remedial action will be taken and actioned using a checklist.
• Inspections include internal and external communal areas and ensure they are free from items which are not permitted as well as identifying slip, trip and fire hazards.
• In the communal area of a block of flats we will ensure that internal communal areas are cleaned on a frequency based upon our agreed cleaning schedule.
• As a minimum, we will ensure we can evidence satisfaction that we keep communal areas clean and well-maintained measured by tenant perception survey.

• Answer 80% of calls in 2 minutes
• Aim to resolve 80% of queries at first point of contact
• Duty officer available
• Call back attempts within 48 hours
• Acknowledge by letter or email within 2 working days
• Written response in 10 working days
• Reception response within 10 minutes (5 minutes if pre-booked)
• Acknowledge all complaints within 2 working days
• Respond to complaints within policy timescales

• Call waiting time less than 60 seconds
• Abandonment less than 10%
• Wait in reception less than 10 minutes
• Duty Officer available
• Response from raising a case within 5 days
• Respond to calls and emails within 3 days
• Acknowledge complaints within 2 days
• Respond to complaints within policy timescales (10 working days for Stage 1 and 20 working days for stage 2)

Customer Involvement and engagement makes sure customers are empowered to have a strong voice. They can influence decision-making by their landlord at all levels on how housing-related services are delivered through scrutiny and challenge. 

We work to the national Transparency and Accountability Consumer Standard for registered providers to take account of the diverse needs of tenants. Treating all tenants with fairness and respect, and to demonstrate they understand the different needs of their tenants. 

• We will proactively seek residents feedback and views; ensuring there are high levels of satisfaction and achieving a positive relationship with our residents.
• We will offer solutions to help residents overcome barriers to engagement and developing a training and support offer that will empower them to participate locally, regionally and nationally.
• We will publish our Annual Report which ensures all customers have an opportunity to be kept informed of activities, our progress, our plans and our service and financial performance. • We will use feedback from residents to shape our services and target engagement.
• We will carry out Tenant Satisfaction Measure surveys as required by the regulator.
• We will establish clear expectations and outcomes for our engagement activities.
• We will evaluate the effectiveness of our activities by reviewing satisfaction levels with services through both transactional and perception surveys.

• To help improve neighbourhoods we will provide support to Link Power, via the Taunton East Development Trust, Halcon, Taunton. Tenants and leaseholders who qualify for help from Link Power can have their gardens maintained for a small charge.
• To ensure we provide a great neighbourhood management service, we will complete inspections in a variety of ways. Our tenancy management officers and supported housing officers will have a regular presence on their patch and neighbourhoods and will monitor environmental conditions and respond appropriately to any concerns
• Where we have a larger concentration of properties, we will undertake neighbourhood inspections every 3 month and where the Council has outlying or more rural properties we will inspect twice a year.
• We are responsible for addressing litter and fly-tipping within the boundaries of the properties and land that we own and will arrange clearance accordingly
• We will work with the wider Council regarding the provision of litter and dog bins and the disposal of such waste.
• Where a tenant is unable to manage their household waste, we will provide advice and information.
• We will maintain all communal bin stores and their surrounding areas.
• Where we own properties in a neighbourhood, estate or road, we will undertake works to include the maintenance of:
• Un-adopted off street parking facilities, footpaths and roads;
• Streams and waterways;
• Maintenance of street lighting or communal area lighting;
• Play and other recreational areas; and
• Shopping parades
• A tree maintenance programme ensures our tree stock is safe, healthy and risks are reasonably controlled. The standard and frequency required for any work will depend on the location, and whether it is general needs or sheltered housing
• Grounds maintenance work includes grass cutting, maintaining shrub beds, cutting hedges, maintaining flower beds and planters, cleansing and litter collection, leaf collection, weed spraying of paths and hard surfaced areas.
• As a minimum, we will ensure we can evidence satisfaction that we make a positive contribution to neighbourhoods measured by tenant perception survey.

• Make sure each home complies with the Decent Homes Standard
• Survey homes and inspect conditions every 5 years
• Contact tenants in advance of planned major works to the home or communal area
• Consult with tenants about options or choices available
• Undertake programmes of planned and cyclical maintenance to maintain our assets and reduce levels of responsive repairs
• Publish planned improvement and cyclical programmes well in advance of consultation and engagement with customers
• Consult with residents and keep them informed about maintenance works affecting them, including providing information on our website
• Take account of residents’ wishes and, whenever practicable, provide choice when any improvement works are to be carried out
• Provide residents, wherever practicable, with adequate notice of anticipated start date for maintenance work to be carried out on their home
• Ensure investment is directed at providing homes that are sustainable, and which improves the alignment of our housing stock with housing needs
• Use targeted property MOTs to maintain assets and sustain tenancies

• Publish a programme of planned works on our website and make sure the programme is available at any time upon request
• Publish names of our main contractors on our website to make sure you are familiar with who we are working with
• Ensure the rolling programme of planned works will be available on our website and is available at any time upon request
• Introduce you to your Customer Liaison Officer who will be your main point of contact throughout the works

We expect our contractors, sub-contractors, and their employees to follow the high standards we set out when carrying out work on our tenants’ homes

We will do this by:

• Providing a safe working environment in our customer’s home
• Checking they have the correct details of work required and, wherever possible, arranging access with customers
• Contacting customers to tell them they are on their way
• Confirming with customers the work they need to do and approximately how long it will take
• Ensuring they have the correct materials and parts to undertake the required works wherever possible
• Arriving on time, and completing works as previously agreed with customers
• Informing customers if they need to disconnect gas, water, or electricity services
• Providing temporary hot water, cooking, heating, or lighting if required
• Ensuring they use an agreed list of materials
• Showing photographic identification, wearing clean and presentable uniform, and confirming it is convenient to start the works
• Always being polite, courteous, and respectful while taking care of customers’ homes and belongings
• Cleaning up after and removing all waste materials when work is finished
• Taking extra care if there are small children or people who cannot move around easily in their home
• Asking for feedback and comments on how well we are doing
• Carrying out work to a good standard
• Completing all work to agreed timescales, wherever possible
• Endeavouring to complete all repairs ‘right first time’

• Set rent in line with rent standard and review annually
• We will provide at least 28 calendar days’ notice of any rent variation
• Offer a variety of ways to pay
• Provide a service charge explanation
• Work with you to pay off any arrears
• Refer you for budgeting and benefits advice
• Send out an annual rent statement
• The council will provide accurate and timely data to the Regulator of Social Housing to demonstrate compliance with the Rent Standard

• Signpost you to support agencies when in financial difficulty

• Internal team to offer specialist debt and benefit advice
• Funding of external agencies to provide enhanced support

• Complete repairs on the first visit. If we attend a repair and cannot complete the job at that visit, we will arrange a follow-up appointment before we leave your home
• Flexible appointments
• Aim to complete on first visit
• Provide various reporting channels
• Emergency repairs are completed within 24 hours
• Provide a prompt, effective and efficient responsive repairs service (including an ‘out of hours’ emergency service) for all of our customers and to meet our statutory and regulatory requirements
• Provide an emergency responsive repairs service within a 24-hour timeframe, prioritising works relating to health and safety
• Ensure responsive repairs are completed ‘right first time’
• Ensure customers can easily access the responsive repairs service by telephone, request to a staff member, our website, email, text, letter, and social media. We will assist customers with specific needs in accordance with our Reasonable Adjustment Policy
• Agree a mutually convenient appointment with customers to undertake the responsive repair and advise them on who will do the work
• Carry out responsive repair pre-inspections where necessary
• Inform customers responsible for paying the cost of a responsive repair at the time they report it (where known at the time) and recharging for works in line with our Income and Arrears Policy
• We are committed to providing safe and dry homes which meet high standards of repair, allowing tenants to enjoy where they live
• We operate both a proactive and reactive approach to damp and mould. We use our knowledge of our properties to reduce instances of damp and mould and respond in a timely way to our tenants’ concerns through our maintenance and repair services

• Other repairs are assessed next working day

Somerset Council

• We will work with prospective tenants, new tenants and current tenants to identify tenancy sustainment needs and how to resolve them. We will do this when they view an offered property, when we go through the new tenancy checklist with them or during a new tenant visit. This will all be as a part of an initial tenancy review and during any subsequent contact.
• Where support is needed, we will make a referral to a case manager (internal) and or to external services where specialist support is required. We use a partnership approach, building strong relationships with support agencies and developing service level agreements where appropriate to ensure an effective response to the needs of vulnerable tenants.
• We will make resource available to support the Somerset wide Tenant Accreditation Scheme (TAS) that helps potential and existing tenants develop the skills and knowledge needed to improve their chances of securing and maintaining a tenancy.
• Tenancy support services promotes independence and supports improving quality of life for older people and other vulnerable adults through a paid for service.
• We will ensure that adaptations will be considered for tenants who have an impairment which has a significant or serious long-term effect (12 months or more, or the remainder of someone’s life) on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities in and around their home or to access essential facilities in their home.
• We will increase supply of adapted properties to meet the changing demographics and requirements of tenants.
• Deane Helpline is a 24-hour telephone link to our community alarm and emergency response service that allows tenants to stay safe and independent in your own home.
• We will work with a tenant/s where hoarding occurs and take immediate action, intervening and providing support where there is a fire or health and safety risk to the home, garden or shared areas.
• We will carry out a risk assessment to determine the level of risk and to identify the most appropriate course of intervention and support required.
• A safeguarding concern will be raised where an adult is living in a hoarded property and in cases where there is a risk of harm, concerns around capacity or vulnerability.
• Where a child is found to be living in a hoarded property, a safeguarding alert will be raised. We will work jointly and collaboratively with multi- agency organisations to deal with hoarding to provide intervention and support.
• Our aim is to sustain an individual’s tenancy. Our approach is prevention, support and intervention, with legal intervention only when other options have failed.

In providing the Transfer Removal Grant (TRG) scheme the housing service will:

• We will offer financial support to existing tenants of 2, 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-bedroom properties who are presently under occupying and wish to move to smaller sized council, housing association, or private accommodation.
• We will offer financial support and additional assistance where we require a qualifying tenant who has been left in a family house, where children have grown up and moved away or, a disabled persons dwelling, to transfer to more suitable accommodation. These situations will arise where the former tenant has died or otherwise vacated the dwelling.
• We will offer financial support and additional assistance to help exisiting both tenants and the housing service to avoid expensive Disabled Facilities Grant work on their existing home, by arranging a transfer to a property where such extensive works are not required.
• We will offer financial support and additional assistance to any existing tenant, who is willing to vacate a purpose built disabled persons property and move to more suitable smaller accommodation.
• We will regularly promote the scheme in order to raise awareness.
• We will review our TRG policy every 3 years and the budget for the scheme annually.

• We will use our tenancy audit process to proactively identify any fraudulent activity
• We are committed to undertaking regular tenancy audits to maintain accurate and up to date tenancy records and to engage with our tenants.
• We will give reasonable notice to tenants prior to the audit visit. Where access to the property is refused or denied we will take appropriate legal action to ensure access is gained to carry out the audit.
• When tenancy fraud is identified, we will take appropriate and necessary action including criminal prosecution.

• Provide you with tailored advice and information on your housing situation so that you can resolve your issue

• Empower you to resolve your own housing situation so that you do not become homeless
• Complete an assessment within 5 working days of the homelessness application
• Create a Personal Housing Plan with customers within 5 working days of the assessment
• Be honest with you about barriers that you might have to retain or find accommodation
• Always carry identity badges – please always ask to see identification before letting anyone into your home
• Offer to phone you back if you are phoning the service from your mobile and you do not have credit / inclusive minutes
• Provide you with information on our complaints policy if you are unhappy with the service received
• Give you the contact details for the officer dealing with your case
• Keep arranged pre-appointment times with you wherever possible.
• Provide a private area for confidential enquiries for pre-arranged face-to-face appointments
• Use Bed and Breakfast accommodation to discharge a duty to secure accommodation for applicants with family commitments only as a last resort and then only for a maximum of 6 weeks

• Process your Homefinder Somerset application within 42 days of receiving the required information
• Be realistic and transparent with you around the supply and demand of social housing
• Offer advice around how to find a home in the private rented sector
• Where you are not eligible to register for social housing, you will be offered advice and/or signposted to agencies who can provide additional support

• Respond to all reports of rough sleeping and van dwelling within 1 working day and regularly search hotspot locations – most effective early morning or late night to verify someone bedding down or about to bed down.
• Carry out bi-monthly and annual rough sleeper counts
• Complete thorough assessments of the needs and aspirations of people sleeping rough.
• Reconnect people back to areas where they have support / family where they have no local connection to Somerset

• Acknowledge all new applications within 10 working days of receipt of the application.
• Fully assess an application and confirm the points awarded within 20 working days of receipt of the application.
• Make an initial offer of accommodation to the successful applicant no later than 5 working days after the property is ready to relet.
• Carry out emergency repairs within 24 hours of reporting, urgent repairs within 5 working days and other repairs within 21 working days.

• Respond to a request for service within 10 working days
• Respond to an urgent request for service within 1 working day
• Submit a grant application for approval within six months of the enquiry *
• Complete a Disabled Facilities Grant within twelve months of approval *
• Customers who use our self-service support options can achieve an appropriate outcome
• Achieve the individual and community outcomes in the attached document

• 98% of birth and stillbirths registered within 42 calendar days of event
• 90% of deaths registered within 5 calendar days of death
• 95% of certificate applications dealt with within 7 days of request
• 100% of citizenship certificates to be completed correctly and notified to Home Office within 14 days of ceremony

• 90% of customers offered an appointment to register a:
• birth within 5 working days of request.
• death/stillbirth within 2 working days of request.
• notice of marriage or civil partnership within 10 working days of request.