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1.1. This Policy sets out how we will aim to provide the support needed to enable all customers to sustain a long term tenancy.
1.2. The key objectives of this Tenancy Sustainment Policy are to:
2.1. Tenancy sustainment is an umbrella term to refer to the support we will provide to customers more widely to help them to be in a better position to successfully maintain their tenancy.
2.2. We define tenancy failure as a tenancy that breaks down within the first 24 months due to rent arrears, condition of property, abandonment or anti-social behaviour. It also includes where tenants are forced to terminate due to affordability issues, which can be directly as a result of the rent amount, or supplementary affordability issues such as fuel poverty.
2.3. The definition of vulnerability varies but from a safeguarding perspective it is simply an adult who is at risk of neglect or abuse. This definition includes self-neglect, which is when a person is unable or unwilling to care for their own essential needs and it threatens their personal health & safety.
3.1. We recognise that tenancy sustainment activities begin before the tenant receives the keys to the property. Where appropriate we will work with the incoming tenant to identify any risks that could affect tenancy sustainment, for example, household budgeting, claiming benefits and assessing support requirements for our Independent Living (IL) properties.
3.2. We believe that every person has the right to a secure home. We recognise that this requires not only the home, but also the skills required to meet the responsibilities associated with maintaining the tenancy. Where appropriate we will work with and offer direct support to residents to ensure that they can access appropriate services to help them build capacity and therefore help maintain their tenancies.
3.3. We will work with external, specialist partners as well as our own employees to help and support our residents. A range of mechanisms may be appropriate and support required could range from intensive short term interventions to long term care and support packages.
3.4. We recognise the value to the business of successful tenancies both from a financial and reputational perspective. For example, successful tenancies will lead to sustainable communities and also fewer vacant properties and therefore ultimately lead to improved tenant satisfaction and maximising rental income.
4.1. We will use risk matrices to identify and support vulnerability. One matrix is used before the resident is signed up to a tenancy, whilst another is used to identify vulnerabilities during tenancy. The matrices use different criteria to determine vulnerability, with various support options available depending on how ‘at risk’ we consider the resident to be.
4.2. Affordability assessments are also carried out on Affordable Rent properties to ensure that the prospective tenants are able to fully meet their rent obligation, or supported to claim welfare benefits where appropriate. Where welfare assistance isn’t sufficient, a referral will be made to the local authority or other external sources for debt management advice.
4.3. Frontline employees across the organisation are trained and supported in recognising potential sustainability risks and all are encouraged to report these risks so that we can seek to address the need. For example:
4.4. To ensure that the most vulnerable receive adequate support we are in the process of updating our approach to safeguarding training for all employees. Safeguarding referrals will be made where appropriate in line with our Safeguarding policy and procedures.
All employees are aware of our internal organisational ‘Step Up, Step In’ (SUSI) initiative that provides a centralised location for employees to report any resident well-being or property/garden condition concerns. All reports are routed to the Neighbourhood Management Team, who are responsible for recording and acting upon SUSI referrals that are received.
Our Specialist Front Line Housing employees, for example Neighbourhood Managers, IL Co-ordinators, Intensive Housing Management Officers and Welfare Teams, will also work with other partner organisations and have established procedures in place that enable referrals to be made to these and other support organisations, such as specialist support for cleaning properties, dealing with hoarding issues, support with domestic abuse and support with formal debt management.
4.5. All front line employees will help provide a level of basic support to help tenants sustain their tenancies. In addition, there are established procedures to ensure that they can make referrals to any of the above where a higher level of support is required.
4.6. Our Specialist Frontline Housing Team will enable us to seek intervention in urgent cases to provide support in circumstances which are not anticipated above, and to co-ordinate and manage the referral arrangements. This ensures that the variety of ways that we deliver support to sustain tenancies is effective.
4.7. Where it is established that a property is deemed to be unsuitable due to medical needs we will actively consider the installation of aids and adaptations to the property in line with our Aids and Adaptations procedures.
4.8. We can offer specific support to those residents struggling to maintain the decoration of their homes and/or the condition of their gardens. This is via the ‘Assisted Decorating Program’ for decoration and the ‘Gardening Scheme’ for gardens, which is a ‘paid for’ gardening service, which we run in conjunction with Idverde – one of our grounds maintenance contractors.
5.1. This Policy is supported by existing procedures. The Housing Services Manager has responsibility for the implementation of this Policy.
5.2. We will aim to achieve 90% of new tenancies being sustained after 24 months. Performance will be monitored annually by the Housing Services and the Support Services Manager.
6.1. The Policy will be reviewed at least every three years to ensure that it remains relevant to the business and fit for purpose.
Resident/Staff Implications - The Resident Forum Group were consulted during the creation of this Policy and have approved its content. All relevant employees will be trained as required.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion - We will ensure that in delivering our services we continue to be inclusive and representative. This will be achieved through the application of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.
Value for Money - We recognise the value to the business of successful tenancies both from a financial and reputational perspective. For example, successful tenancies will lead to sustainable communities and also fewer vacant properties and therefore ultimately lead to improved tenant satisfaction and maximising rental income.
Data Protection - All due care is taken to protect data held by us and in particular, we ensure we keep all residents data secure and comply with all relevant data protection requirements.
Accountability - The Resident Forum Group have been consulted during the creation of this document and are made aware of any relevant changes to its content.
Quality - We look to ensure that our residents are safe in their homes by supporting the prevision of well-maintained homes which are in line with legislative and regulatory requirements.
When things go wrong - Residents can communicate concerns through our formal channels: via telephone, email, our website or our social media channels.
Tenure Policy
Rent Arrears Prevention and Recovery Policy
Allocations Policy
Equality and Diversity Policy
Bucks Home Choice
Safeguarding Policy
| Author | Heledd Williams |
| Job title | Assistant Director of Housing |
| Date approved | March 2025 |
| Review due date | March 2028 |
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Access and Customer Care Policy Version 2 Approved 20 September 2023 - Level 1 policy. Part of Fairhives Customer Care Framework
1.1. Fairhive is committed to building strong and vibrant communities and is focussed on providing support to local people to help them to live healthy, rewarding and fulfilled lives.
1.2. We recognise the negative impact of poor housing and homelessness and aim to provide services which deliver decent homes, positive social outcomes and a great place to live.
1.3. We acknowledge the importance of ensuring services meet the needs of those individuals who are, or become vulnerable owing to age, illness, mental health etc. and will work with them to sustain their tenancies and continue to live independently in their own home, if this is what the individual desires and it is possible to do so.
1.4. By putting our residents at the heart of everything we do, we will offer a service tailored to meet the diverse requirements of our current and future residents
1.5. We will use customer insight and feedback to inform the development of customer focussed services enabling new and existing residents to have the flexibility to access our services when and how they want. . We will, periodically, conduct a resident census to better understand the needs and expectations of our residents.
1.6. The Government has a Digital by Default agenda whereby access to their services will be online only, this along with the benefits provided by online access make it vitally important that we encourage and support our residents in accessing digital services. To support this, we will ensure that we empower residents to communicate and transact with us in a wide range of ways, with a focus on providing high quality digital communication channels, enabling those who can, to self-serve, and allowing us to support those who are incapable of doing so.
2.1. We will support residents and communities so that together we can work to meet their needs now and in the future.
2.2. We operate in areas of deprivation where there are poorer life chances, including poor education and health outcomes. We will therefore offer a range of diverse and flexible services as we recognise that many of the issues facing our residents cannot solely be solved through meeting a housing need. Examples include:
2.3. We will work in partnership with others to help to support people in the right way and at the right time:
2.4. We work with a number of different communities, each with its own needs and unique characteristics. We will ensure that we consider all relevant groups in the delivery of our services. We will actively engage residents groups in the design and delivery of our services and we will ensure that we carry our equality impact assessments where appropriate.
2.5. We support diverse, vibrant and successful communities by delivering services that focus on the real needs and aspirations of our residents. We recognise that in order for this to be possible, services need to be accessible to meet the diverse needs of our residents.
2.6. Our approach sets out how we will:
2.7. We will work towards the following outcomes to make services accessible:
Residents:
Employees will:
Details on what our Residents can expect from us are contained within our Customer Service Commitments publication, which is reviewed annually in partnership with members of the Residents Forum.
2.8. Highlights of our performance against the customer service commitment targets will be published to residents and monitored by the Residents Forum or a sub-group of it.
2.9. We will obtain and act upon customer feedback through a range of methods to enable residents to have a voice in shaping future services and are capable of effectively holding us to account.
2.10. We will report on this customer feedback to the Board and to the Regulator of Social Housing to ensure that residents are given the opportunity to give their opinion on the quality and accessibility of several areas of our service.
3.1. The Head of Customer Support will hold the responsibility for the implementation of this policy.
3.2. Customer Service Commitments will be used, regularly reviewed and reported upon to ensure residents are fully aware of what they can expect.
4.1. The level of service detailed in this policy will be measured through the agreed Customer Service Commitments across all service areas, along with the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) published and periodically reviewed by the Regulator of Social Housing.
4.2. The Customer Service Commitments and our adherence with the TSMs will be measured quarterly and monitored by the Residents Forum. All feedback will be used to drive continuous improvement and highlights will be published in our Residents Newsletter.
4.3. To ensure our standards remain high and in line with the needs of our residents, our overall performance in the delivery of customer service will be annually assessed by ‘Customer Service Excellence’, and if our standards are high enough, accreditation will be awarded.
5.1. This policy will be reviewed in line with our policy framework, usually every three years.
Resident/Staff Implications - This policy has been developed with residents through the Residents Forum where they continually have the opportunity to influence how we provide our services and hold us to account where our performance is not as it should be.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion - We are committed to promoting social inclusion by applying the principles of equality and diversity to everything we do.
We will ensure equality of opportunity across the full range of our activities, including both employment and service provision.
We adhere to the provisions set out in the Equality Act 2010.
Value for Money - Real efficiencies will be made by getting things right first time and by providing services in a way that is accessible to all who wish to make use of them.
Data Protection - n/a
Accountability - The policy was co-designed with the Residents Forum.
Quality - The policy puts customers at the heart of all we do and ensures that service design and delivery is led by the needs of our tenants.
When things go wrong - Yes, our complaints policy is regularly reviewed and available to residents.
Equality and Diversity Policy
Customer Service Commitments
Value for Money Strategy
Data Protection Policy
Customer Care Framework
| Author | Heledd Williams |
|---|---|
| Job title | Assistant Director of Housing |
| Date approved | September 2023 |
| Review due date | September 2026 |
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Part of Fairhive's Tenancy Management Framework Level 2 policy approval
1.1. The purpose of this Policy is to outline the principles for managing and addressing Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB). It provides a framework which will enable staff to work positively with customers and external agencies to effectively address ASB.
1.2. Fairhive Homes Ltd are committed to tackling ASB. We believe that everyone has a right to live in a safe environment that allows them to enjoy their home and community. We recognise the impact that ASB, including harassment, hate crime and other hate incidents, may have on our resident’s lives.
1.3. Our service aims to provide an inclusive, supportive, victim-centred and non-judgemental approach, demonstrating sensitivity at all times.
1.4. This Policy sets out what we expect from our residents and what they can expect from us in terms of protecting their right to peaceful enjoyment of their homes and their community.
2.1. We will adopt the definition of ASB provided by the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014, as follows:
2.2. However, we recognise that this is a very wide definition and there are certain acts or omissions that will not be considered as ASB under this Policy. These are generally issues where it would be unreasonable for us in our capacity as Landlord, to be expected to address, including, but not limited to:
3.1. We will:
4.1. Regular monitoring of ASB service performance will be conducted by the Housing Services Manager. Our ASB Customer Commitments will be reported to the Executive Leadership Team and our Board.
4.2. We will, on a monthly and annual basis, gather and submit the following information to Housemark:
4.3. We will, on a monthly basis at random, undertake satisfaction surveys, seeking the views of customers who have used the service. Our surveys will be carried out by an independent body. Feedback received by way of these surveys will be used to shape future ASB services.
4.4. In addition, on an annual basis, the Housing Services Manager will provide a report for the Directorate Management Team. A wide range of indicators will be collected and reported on, most notably:
5.1. We will review this policy when a business need arises and in line with the relevant Policy Framework. Our review programme is driven by service improvement initiatives, changes in legislation, regulation, practice or as a result of feedback from key stakeholders. Typically we review policies on a three year cycle.
Resident/Staff Implications -
Any major changes to this Policy will be reviewed with the Resident’s Forum.
The Housing Services Manager is responsible for the implementation and monitoring of this Policy.
Regular training of staff, case reviews, performance monitoring and reporting will be carried out by the Housing Services Manager, Neighbourhood Team Leader and Lead Anti-Social Behaviour Case Manager.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion -
We will ensure that in delivering our services we continue to be inclusive and representative. We will ensure that this is achieved through the delivery of our Equality and Diversity Policy.
We will ensure that the Policy is widely available at our office and on our website. The Policy can be made available in large print, braille, on audio tape on request. Translations into other languages will be available.
Value for Money -
Addressing ASB through efficient administration and partnership working will ensure cases are dealt with efficiently and effectively and the service delivers value for money.
One of the Policy’s key aims is to act swiftly and decisively when ASB is reported. This swift action ensures that victims receive a consistent service.
Data Protection -
All due care is taken to protect data held by us and in particular, we ensure we keep all resident data secure and meet with data protection requirements.
Accountability -
A group from the Resident’s Forum was involved in the creation of this Policy, however they have not been involved in the most recent changes to this policy due to the lack of substantial changes.
Quality -
We look to ensure that our residents are safe in their homes by supporting the provision of well-maintained homes which are in line with legislative and regulatory requirements.
When things go wrong -
Residents can communicate concerns through our formal channels.
Housing Act 1988
Crime and Disorder Act 1998
Human Rights Act 1998
Data Protection Act 2018
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Eqaulity Act 2010
ASB Crime and Policing Act 2014
The Charter for social housing residents: Social Housing White Paper 2020
Domestic Abuse Policy
Hate Crime and Harassment Policy
Equality and Diversity Policy
Safeguarding Policy
| Author | Mark Frayne Johnson |
|---|---|
| Job title | Housing Services Manager |
| Date approved | April 2023 |
| Review Due Date | April 2026 |
