Step by step - getting back to business

With the lockdown conditions easing across the country we’re increasing the level of service we can provide in some areas. It will take a little while to get levels up to where they were before the virus hit, so please bear with us.

Our priorities for getting back to business are:

• Safety first – We’ll prioritise the safety of our customers, colleagues and contractors. We’ll take our time to get it right, but make sure we cover the basics fast. We will support colleagues and teams as they work in new and different ways.
• Understanding – we’ll take time understand and follow the government guidelines. We’ll be adjusting the way we provide services to ensure we are complying with the safety guidelines – taking a step-by-step approach.
• Listening and communicating – we will consult with residents and colleagues about the longer-term shape of our services. We recognise that we must completely understand what our residents expect, need and want in the covid world. We are working with our colleagues to make sure they have everything they need to be safe.
• Flexible – We will be flexible and agile about the way we work as we’ll need to respond to a fast-changing environment. We’ll organise our strategies around the government’s covid-19 alert levels to ensure we have a clear idea of what our service will look like at each of those levels.

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You can now book non-emergency repairs as normal

There is a back-log of non-emergency repair work which was booked in before the lockdown and we are aiming to complete all these jobs by December 2020.

Initially we won’t be able to offer the same timescales as before, so many non-emergency repairs will fall outside our previous 10-day response time.

Please bear with us as our team adjusts to a new way of working.

Contractors: Safety means some activities are paused

Non-essential planned maintenance has been paused to ensure both residents and staff are protected. If there is planned maintenance works for your building or estate, we will let you know as soon as we have an update. Some external work, where this does not require entry into a home may be able to continue.  

For now, gas servicing will continue as normal and again, if this is planned for your home over the next few weeks a pre-appointment check should be made with you before anyone enters your home. 

Customer Call Centre

Our customer call centre remains open and we are taking your calls. Along with our other office-based staff, they are now working remotely and are currently keeping to the core hours of 10-4pm.  We will keep this service under review and let you know of any changes.

Complaints during the COVID-19 lockdown:

If you’re unhappy with our service we want to hear from you so we can work together to put this right. You can contact us at service.centre@shgroup.org.uk or on 01403 220440. 

Due to the current situation we have had to change the way we manage customer complaints. If your complaint is about the reduction of services during Covid-19, it is unlikely that we will be able to log this as a formal complaint, unless your complaint relates to staff conduct, or exceptional circumstances you think we should be aware of. Although we’re temporarily changing our complaints process, we still want to hear from you and will do our best to deliver services during this challenging time.

Estate Care service

Click here to view Estate Care's Coronavirus status update poster

Southern Housing Group’s Estate Care Service will continue to provide essential services to our estates.  This includes cleaning of touch points and services around refuse collection which are vital to keeping our estates clean. 

We will see some impact on other services such as gardening while we adjust and simply ask for your understanding at this challenging time for everyone.

Being a good neighbour

The current situation with Coronavirus (COVID-19) means that many of us will be at home more than usual. As you might expect, with more people at home you may hear more day to day living noise, such as children playing, voices, DIY or music, than you would ordinarily expect to hear. We ask that you are both tolerant during this period but also mindful of how you might impact your neighbours who will likely be at home more often too.

These are unprecedented times and we will need to work together as best we can to get through this period. We ask you to pay particular attention to:

• Keeping the noise from radios, stereos and televisions at a reasonable level, avoiding putting speakers on or close to party walls, ceilings or floors
• Trying to carry out noisy activities in the middle of the day, for example mowing the lawn
• Taking care when closing doors, particularly if you live in a flat with a shared entrance
• Being a responsible pet owner
• Wherever possible, warning your neighbours if you’re going to do something particularly noisy
• Putting your household rubbish in the bins provided. Unwanted items or refuse should not be left in communal areas
• Parking your vehicle responsibly and not blocking access for emergency services.
  
  We know that when you see neighbours leaving their home or people gathering, it can be a cause for concern. Although we have taken some steps, where we can, to reduce socialising in public spaces, such as closing play spaces, we’re unable to enforce the government’s advice about social distancing or staying at home.  But we strongly encourage all our customers and staff to follow these principles.  If you are concerned about a group of people congregating in public or in communal spaces, you can report your concerns to the local police service or your local authority Neighbourhood/ASB teams who we will continue to work in partnership with during this difficult time.  

We will be posting any updates about our services to our website, Twitter and Facebook accounts first so please follow or subscribe to make sure you’re up to date.