Get Involved

The panel met again with the marketing team to discuss how we present statistics about how we are doing and performing. We shared our performance pages as well as the information presented in the newsletter and annual reports.

Based on their feedback, we have:

• Reduced the amount of statistics we share in our newsletter, focusing on areas we needed to improve or residents had been talking to us about recently.
• We produced an infographic video to display complaints statistic in the newsletter, rather than using the usual table.
• We’ve made sure to make it obvious whether we have met the target or not.
• We’ve added more statistics on the website about what the panel wanted to see. This was around their neighbourhoods and their housing officers.

In June 2024, the panel requested to meet with the teams who look after service charges. We were joined by the Neighbourhood and Housing Services teams and the Finance team to answer questions from the panel.

From this, we found we needed to improve our communication around service charges.

For the April 2025 rent and service charge increase letters, we created new webpages to answer those frequently asked questions.

The panel met with the marketing team to discuss what they liked and what they wanted to see from their newsletter. They wanted to see more about their communities, have it be more personable and still provide useful information.

Based on their feedback we have:

• Included information about events and activities in Croydon, Sutton and Bromley.
• We’ve included a ‘resident spotlight’ previously and will continue to build relationships with residents so we can continue these in future editions.
• We introduced a ‘Connections Gallery’ to allow residents to share photos and get to know their neighbours.
• We’ve made the ‘money matters’ articles a regular feature in the newsletter and the website as the panel said these were useful for financial support and advice.
• We’ve included ‘quick updates’ in the beginning of our newsletter to provide staffing updates and also sent out emails in between newsletter with any further updates, especially about how to book appointments to visit the office.
• We will continue to share about the President’s Fund and share good news stories about how the funding has been used.
• We’ve shared opportunities for young people previously and will continue to look for these to share in the future.

1,129 residents had the chance to tell us what they wanted to see from us over the next five years. With the current business plan finishing in March 2025, we wanted to make sure that our new business plan was focused on the areas that are important to you.

169 residents completed the survey and from this we have created our priorities for the next five years which will launch later in 2025. These priorities are similar to the last business plan, but focus more around what residents said they care about, including current residents, existing homes and improving our service.

Residents said that:

• Improving repairs and communication were the two main ways ccha can ensure they receive an excellent service. These are the two most important services to them.
• They want better communication through phone calls, meetings and a face to face presence.
• They want ccha to listen to them.
• Community services would be nice, but it isn’t the most important thing to them.
• When awarding a new contract, ccha should focus on quality of the work and reliability of the contractor. They should carry out checks on the contractors and make sure they are doing a good job. Cost should come second to quality.
• They want to feel safe and secure in their homes and this will help them feel more like their home is their home.
• They would like information and support on how to buy a new home.
• New homes should have enough space and be affordable.

What have we done in response:

In our new business plan, we’ve focused on existing residents. We want to continue the work we’ve been doing over the past five years and we feel our values continue to reflect the needs of our residents.

Some projects we’ll be looking at doing include:

• Creating a new repairs service, which aims to improve the service to residents.
• Bringing in a contact centre so that we can better communicate with residents.
• Improving the safety and security of our residents homes.
• Focusing on improving existing homes and building affordable new homes.
• Supporting staff to deliver the best service possible to our residents.
• Making our staff and services more efficient to help save money and provide a service that is value for money.

Our full business plan will launch later in 2025 and will provide a detailed overview of our plans for the next five years.

In February 2024, we held two workshops for residents to attend to help us build a new repairs service. 10 residents attended in person and 4 attended online. We asked them about their experience with repairs discussing how easy it was to report, whether they were kept informed etc., and if they had any other feedback for us.

We also held an online survey for those who couldn’t attend the workshops. We had 6 responses back from this survey.

Residents said that:

• They can’t always get calls answered without delays
• They often have to chase the contractor about their repairs
• They are often not given an order number
• They aren’t always confident their repairs will be completed
• They aren’t always kept informed about the progress of their repairs
• The top challenge they have with repairs is lack of communication.

Key themes:

• Improve communication and keep residents updated on progress and delays
• Improve delays on repairs
• Improve the amount of control ccha has over repairs

What we’ve done in response:

• We’ve ended the Axis contract at 5 years, rather than continuing for the full 10 years. Axis’ contract will therefore end on 31 March 2025.
• We’ve made sure that the procurement process for a new repairs contractor is thorough and that the above is considered when shortlisting. Our aim is to make sure that this new contractor will meet the needs of our residents.
• From April 2025, we’re taking repair calls in house to help improve your experience reporting and chasing repairs. This gives us better control over the repairs process.