Welcome to your March Engagement Newsletter!
This month you can:
Each month, we ask a simple question about your experiences of our services through our Question of the Month feature. Your answers help guide the improvements we make.
So far, 139 people have taken the time to share their views. It only takes two minutes to complete, and you could win a £25 shopping voucher as thanks for getting involved.
In January, we asked you ‘Do you know how to contact us and who to contact?’ and 94% of respondents told us they know who to contact if they need help with anything related to their home and 98% said they know how to get in touch with us.
In February, we asked you ‘If you have used our out of hours service to report an emergency, were you satisfied with the waiting time?’ 95% of respondents told us they were satisfied with the waiting time when they contacted us.
We’ll share the results of March’s question in the next tenant newsletter along with April’s Question of the Month where you’ll get another chance to win a £25 voucher.
Newydd has worked with Acuity for several years to carry out independent tenant satisfaction surveys. This year, 565 tenants took part, giving us valuable insight into what is working well and where we need to improve.
The results showed that many of you are happy with:
• Overall quality of your home • Feeling safe and secure • Overall service provided by Newydd • Finding Newydd easy to deal with • Opportunities to get involved in decision‑making
• Trust in Newydd • Rent offering value for money
The feedback also highlighted some important areas where we need to improve, including:
• Repairs and maintenance • Handling of anti‑social behaviour
• Service charges offering value for money • Damp and mould
Thank you to everyone who took part – your feedback is helping us shape our services and focus on what matters most to you. If you would like to read the full report, please click the link below.
Click here to read the full report.
Acuity results’ follow-ups
As a result of the feedback received, Newydd made 215 follow‑up phone calls to support tenants who had outstanding issues or needed some extra help. These calls included:
The follow‑up calls have helped us resolve many of the issues raised and make sure tenants received the support they needed.
Digital Pop‑ups
Last year, we launched our Digital Community Pop‑ups to make it easier than ever to stay connected, share your views, and get support. Since then, we have reached more than 250 tenants through Digital Pop‑ups across our communities.
Instead of waiting for in‑person events, we’re contacting tenants in each scheme and estate by email or text to check in, listen to your concerns, and follow up on any issues you raise.
As part of this work, we’re also asking for your up‑to‑date equalities information and communication preferences. Keeping this information accurate helps us tailor our services and communicate with you effectively.
Face‑to‑Face Pop‑ups Coming soon
We’ll start our face‑to‑face pop‑ups soon to make it easier for tenants to meet us in person, share views, and get support in a way that suits you best.
We’ll be visiting different areas each month until October, and will send letters to let you know when we’ll be holding a community pop‑up near you.
We’re looking forward to meeting many more of you.
Working Together on Digital Support
The Tenant Scrutiny Group has met with Scott from Newydd’s Digital Inclusion service to share ideas on how we can strengthen digital support for tenants.
The group highlighted the need for clearer help when moving into a new home. Many properties now include digital systems and tenants said they would value simple guidance on how these work. This support will now form part of the Digital Health Check offered to new tenants.
Scott is also setting up a small pilot that will create a personalised Digital Home Support Notebook for tenants who choose to take part. The notebook will bring guides and manuals together in one place so tenants can find what they need more easily.
Scrutiny also raised the importance of helping tenants feel confident when using CCTV and similar systems. Scott has begun work on an internal campaign so housing and community safety teams understand what support is available. The team will explore whether new digital tools can help create clearer guides and support materials for tenants.
Work is also underway to review referrals and current activity so we can focus our time where it makes the biggest difference.
Repairs and Maintenance
As part of Cadarn’s focus on developing a Repairs and Maintenance service that provides great customer care and value for money, Newydd Maintenance Ltd and CanDo have joined together to form one Property Services Department.
The Scrutiny Team recently met with the Repairs Team to share tenant views and explore ways to make improvements.
The discussion included:
Over the next few months, Scrutiny will be working closely with the Repairs team to look at repair timescales, policies, performance and communication around appointments.
Click here to find out more about WHQS23.
There are plenty of options to get involved and help us improve the services we offer to you.
Get involved from home:
Question of the Month
Share your thoughts by answering one short question each month. Time: 2 minutes
Online Digital Pop-Up Surveys
Tell us about issues you want to report or request support from our Digital Inclusion, Employment, Financial Inclusion or Support Worker Teams. Time: 6 minutes
Reading Panel
Help us review and improve our tenant letters, leaflets and digital communications to make sure they are clear and easy to read - Feedback is sent by email. Time: 10–15 minutes
Acuity Telephone Survey
Share your experience of our services through a short telephone survey carried out by Acuity. Time: 30 minutes
Please note: Tenants can't request to be contacted by Acuity. Acuity independently selects an agreed number of tenants each quarter to ensure the survey results remain fair, balanced and representative.
Get involved in person:
Community Pop-Ups Meet us in your community for an informal chat and tell us what matters to you. Time: 10–30 minutes
Scrutiny Team Take a deeper look at how our services work and help shape recommendations for improvement. Time: Monthly 2-hour meeting (mostly online with two in-person sessions)
If you’re Interested in joining the Reading Panel or if you have an idea for getting involved that is not listed here, we would love to hear from you. We’re open to new and creative ways of engaging with our tenants. Please feel free to email me at laetitia.davies@newydd.co.uk.
