Tenant Satisfaction Measures – Annual Performance

Our rental customers are asked how satisfied they are with the overall repairs service and the time taken to complete their most recent repair. Repairs satisfaction overall has improved by 5.4% since last year as 74.9% of our customers are satisfied with the repairs service we provide. This reflects improvements in communication, appointment management and follow-up, alongside clearer expectations set through the updated Repairs Policy.

There has also been an increase in the number of customers who are satisfied with the time taken to complete their most recent repair with 69.1% stating that they are satisfied, resulting in an 8.0% increase since last year. This reflects better repair categorisation, improved scheduling, earlier intervention on overdue work and clearer communication with customers, particularly for more complex repairs.

74.9% of customers reported satisfaction that their home is well maintained, improving by 4.1 percentage points compared to the previous year.

We’ve made improvements in this area in the following ways:

• During 2025/26, we continued to manage high demand for repairs across our rental homes
• For emergency repairs we have focused on prioritisation, effective triage and rapid response to urgent issues to ensure they are dealt with within the 24-hour target timescale.

Example comments:

“Some repairs have been slow, and communication has not been great.”

“The service has been good. However, sometimes the repairs can take long.”

• We implemented a Service Improvement Plan which built on existing strengths, enhancing our knowledge of where demand tends to come from and how teams and contractors are performing, earlier intervention, clearer prioritisation of repairs and stronger performance management across teams and contractors
• We strengthened how repairs are monitored so overdue jobs, repeated problems and emerging backlogs can be identified sooner, allowing teams to intervene earlier and reduce delays
• We strengthened contract and supply chain management, with clearer expectations around quality and completion, closer working between bpha and its external partners, and improved performance monitoring
• Our new Repairs Policy and supporting procedures were introduced during the year, setting out clearer repair responsibilities, priority timescales and specialist repair categories, including non‑routine repairs
• Working in partnership with the Customer Service Improvement Panel, we maintained a strong focus during 2025/26 on addressing ‘no access’ issues and they helped write the new Repairs Policy.

“I always receive the help if I ask for it and they always come out if anything needs fixing.”

“They’ve been excellent. We’ve had new kitchens fitted and the repairs are done efficiently, and the staff are very helpful with good customer service.”

bpha customers were asked:

“Thinking about the condition of the property or building you live in, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you that bpha provides a home that is safe?”

In our latest TSMs, 79.0% of rental customers reported being satisfied with the safety of their home, an improvement of 2.1% since 2024/25. Among homeowners, satisfaction stood at 68.6%, representing a decrease of 3.9% compared with last year.

We are committed to continuous improvement in building safety.

Recent initiatives include:

• We have introduced a new requirement for our gas contractor to inform bpha whenever a gas emergency case is passed to Cadent. This ensures we can follow up promptly and arrange any necessary works
• In line with new legislation, our main contractors report damp and mould cases directly to bpha at the first point of concern: Some of our contractors and our Asset Compliance Team have put in place a new escalation process to make sure all reports reach us immediately so that early action can be taken
• Our gas contractor continues to use technology that enables earlier identification of boiler faults, sometimes before customers are aware of an issue, reducing risk and improving reliability and customer service
• Our gas contractor is continuing to improve its communication processes so customers understand why a visit is taking place and can feel confident that their home is safe
• We are installing new technology in some of our buildings to help make them more sustainable and energy efficient. We have also been installing devices like environmental sensors that give early warning signs of damp and mould to help us manage these issues more proactively
• More of our blocks now have digital notice boards installed
• We continue to work closely with our grounds maintenance contractor through an improvement plan and have recently gathered further customer feedback. This has been analysed and we are working with them on the opportunities for improvements that have been identified.

We are pleased that a number of the changes introduced have had a positive impact on our results. While this improvement is encouraging, we acknowledge that there remains more work to do to strengthen our overall performance. We have made improvements in the following areas:

• bpha's Independent Living Teams have improved customer dignity, stability, and wellbeing through personalised, needs-led engagement. This has led to sustained tenancies, successful move-ins for customers with complex needs, better access to benefits and care, and less isolation through targeted community activity. Overall, these approaches have prevented escalation and enhanced customers' quality of life
• As part of our continued review of customer experience, we are currently analysing comments received through surveys alongside other customer feedback to understand the reasons behind shifts in perception identified, such as why customers may be giving lower ratings for a particular service we provide
• Engagement initiatives have also been trialled to increase customers’ use of bpha’s online customer engagement platform, the Place, helping to strengthen ongoing dialogue and access to information. In addition, a customer shared ownership working group is in place, focusing on the issues that homeowners have identified as most important. The Customer Service Improvement Panel is monitoring the progress of the changes being implemented to ensure they are delivering the intended improvements
• We are continuing to roll out the mandatory empathy training programme for all colleagues, reinforcing our commitment to respectful, customer‑focused interactions
• These activities build on last year’s progress in improving communication, accessibility of information and service responsiveness, and reflect our ongoing commitment to using customer insight to drive meaningful change across bpha’s services
• We are disappointed to see that the number of customers who agree we are treating them fairly and with respect has decreased. We will be looking more deeply into this issue to identify the areas where customers feel this is an issue.

We’ve reviewed our latest customer satisfaction results for how we handle complaints. Satisfaction has decreased since last year, with rental customers down by 1.8% to 38.90%, and homeowners down by 6.1% to 20.70%.

We have made the following improvements:

• We compared our TSM data with our internal complaints data and found that many customers who said they had made a complaint had not actually logged a formal complaint with us. To support customers in understanding the difference, we published guidance in Talk magazine explaining what is and what is not considered a formal complaint
• Our Resolve customer complaints panel spoke to customers who took part in the TSM’s to gather feedback on the complaints service. The findings confirmed that dissatisfaction was often linked to the original issue that prompted the complaint rather than how the complaint was dealt with, and confirmed that some customers who responded to the TSM question had not experienced the complaint handling service as they had not made a formal complaint.

One of the key recommendations from Resolve’s report was to improve the consistency of stage one complaint responses to help avoid unnecessary escalations. To do this we have coached our Complaints Resolution Officers to provide greater detail in their stage one responses, encouraged them to challenge department managers where more complaint information is needed, and introduced monthly quality assurance checks. In addition, all complaint response letters continue to be reviewed before being sent out to ensure that they are clear and empathetic.

Twice yearly audit checks are conducted by our Risk and Assurance Team to ensure policy and process is followed, as well reviewing our compliance to the Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code. Resolve also undertakes independent quality checks on our letter content at both stage one and stage two to provide feedback from a customer’s perspective.

Our Service Improvement Project Officer reviews all the learning outcomes from complaints and identifies actionable service improvements. They then work with Managers and Heads of Services to ensure improvements are implemented fully. Some of the changes made include the way some rent accounts are displayed to make it easier for customers to understand their charges, training for logging repairs to ensure the correct type of job is raised, leading to a reduction in repair jobs running over, and reviewing our triage system for logging ASB with us to make it easier for customers to get the correct advice quickly.

For more information about improvements from complaints, you can go to the service improvement page on the website or read the annual Complaints and Service Improvement Report.

Our score for handling antisocial behaviour (ASB) has improved for rental customers and decreased for homeowners. We hope it will improve next year as we have made changes to the service, including an updated policy with clearer information about what customers should expect.

Scores around how well we maintain communal areas have improved since last year for both rental customers and homeowners. The score for our positive contribution to neighbourhoods has stayed the same for rental customers and has decreased for our homeowners.

In relation to satisfaction with the maintenance of communal areas, feedback from TSM surveys and a dedicated grounds maintenance survey continues to highlight concerns about the standard of service customers feel they are receiving. More than 1,500 customers shared feedback about grounds maintenance, and extensive analysis shows that there is clear room for improvement.

This feedback is directly informing the actions we are taking. We have strengthened arrangements with our contractor to address performance issues at the most affected sites, supported by a clear and targeted programme of works to bring all locations up to contractual standards. Monitoring is ongoing through joint estate inspections and increased post inspections by bpha staff, to ensure improvements are delivered and sustained over time.

To address decline in satisfaction with bpha’s positive contribution to neighbourhoods, we are continuing our close oversight of neighbourhood‑related services. The Community Engagement Team manage community hubs in Kingsbrook (Bedford), Queens Park (Bedford) and two community hubs in Cambridge (Trumpington). We are looking to developing hubs/drop ins in Brickhill (Bedford) and Greyfriars (Bedford) to encourage engagement with our regeneration projects. The hubs already running were set up to respond to customer and community needs, and each hub is shaped as a result of ongoing consultation with our communities. We support the communities with health and wellbeing, employment support and support to reduce social isolation. We work closely with partner agencies to support with the community needs and continue to grow these links. The team has also been successful in gaining funding to further support its community work.

Over the past year, we’ve focused on turning your feedback into real changes. This has already made a difference in several key areas.

Improving the repairs service

Repairs are one of the most important services we provide, and your feedback has driven major improvements. We have:

• Introduced a new Repairs Policy, making responsibilities and timelines clearer
• Strengthened appointment scheduling and communication
• Improved how we prioritise and track repairs, reducing delays
• Used our repairs data to identify overdue jobs and recurring issues earlier
• Enhanced performance management of contractors and teams.

We also continued to strengthen our In-House Maintenance Service, supported by improved systems and tools, helping reduce missed appointments and improve your experience.

Acting on your feedback and engagement

This year we:

• Carried out targeted engagement with younger customers, including focus groups
• Set up and expanded opportunities to engage through The Place (our online feedback platform)
• Strengthened customer groups, including a shared owners working group
• Continued the work of the Customer Service Improvement Panel (SIP) to shape key policies

Making complaints handling more effective

Although satisfaction with complaints remains low, we’ve taken important steps to improve how complaints are handled. We have:

• Improved response quality and consistency through coaching and quality checks
• Introduced monthly monitoring and independent reviews
• Published clearer guidance to explain what is and isn’t a formal complaint
• Used complaint insights to deliver practical service changes, including clearer rent account information, improved repairs logging and better prioritising and categorising reports of Anti-social behaviour (ASB).

Strengthening neighbourhood services

We’ve continued to invest in neighbourhoods and local services. This includes:

• Expanding community hubs to support wellbeing, employment and social connection
• Launching a Priority Neighbourhood Project to focus on areas with higher needs
• Improving ASB processes, including clearer communication and action plans
• Introducing risk-based contact approaches to keep customers updated.

Maintaining safe homes

Safety remains a top priority. We introduced:

• Better escalation processes for damp and mould cases
• New monitoring technology to identify issues earlier
• Improved communication around safety visits.

Based on your feedback, we are focusing on the areas that matter most to you.

1. Improving complaints experience

   We will continue improving response quality and clarity and strengthen learning from complaints to prevent repeat issues

2. Supporting homeowners better

   We are strengthening our homeownership improvement plan; we are working directly with customers to understand key frustrations

3. Strengthening communication and fairness

   We are reviewing customer feedback in more detail, we are identifying where expectations are not being met, we are also continuing empathy training and service improvements

4. Improving neighbourhoods and communal areas

   We are continuing targeted improvement plans with ground maintenance contractors, increasing inspections and accountability and expanding community engagement and local support

5. Understanding different customer experiences

   We are carrying out deeper analysis of different customer groups. We will continue speaking directly to customers to understand your experiences

6. Continuing to listen and act

   Your feedback has already led to real improvements over the past year — particularly in repairs, engagement and how we respond to issues. We remain committed to listening to your views, acting on what you tell us, being open about where we need to improve, and delivering better services for all our customers.

If you’d like to help shape what we do next, you can get involved through The Place, where you can share your views, ideas and feedback.

Acuity carries out the survey on our behalf – if you receive a call or email from them, we’d be grateful if you would take part. The more customers we can hear from, the more insight we’ll have into what’s important to you, so that we can make informed decisions and changes.