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Looking After Your Home and Estate Service St

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Moving Home Service Standard

Leaseholder Information Service Standards

Modernising Your Home Service Standard

Repairs - Maintaining Your Home Service Stand

Modernising Your Home Service Standard

These are the standards you can expect when your home is modernised by Ascham Homes. More detailed advice about modernising your home is available in the ‘Residents Information Pack’.

We maintain your home with our major repairs partners, and the three main partners are: Apollo London Limited, Mulalley, and Breyer Group PLC.

Be professional, accessible and open to your views

We will:

modernise homes and estates in a planned, professional manner and achieve value for money
prioritise the modernisation programme - known as the Decent Homes programme - in an open and accountable manner
note residents’ concerns about homes and estates and take these into account in setting the programme. See also ‘Allocating the Major Repairs Allowance’
publish the Decent Homes programme on our website
make the programme available at our reception area, and
send you the programme through the post on request.

Our repairs partner will:

carry an identity card with a photograph, which they will show you
wait outside while you check with Ascham Direct if you are not sure of their identity
wear clothing suitable to their trade and arrive in a clearly marked vehicles
be polite
behave in a proper and professional way at all times
cause as little disruption and mess in your home as possible
take care of your belongings and protect them from dust, and so on
clear any building material that we created from inside your home at the end of each working day
remove any building material left in the garden or outside the property, and
keep to all booked appointment times.

Keep you informed

We will:

report progress in achieving decent homes to the tenant-led Contract Panels. (For information about where and when your Contract Panel meets please call Ascham Direct on 020 8496 4197), and
provide regular publicity on Decent Homes to residents.

Work in partnership with you

We will:

improve lighting and security where funding is available
identify which design features will work best in your home or estate, such as flooring in the communal areas of a block
consult Contract Panels and tenants’ and residents’ associations and leaseholders before work starts
• consult residents individually where a location does not have a recognised tenant and resident association, and
involve residents in site inspections and site meetings (to check the quality of work) with the contractor.

Learn and improve

We will:

ask all residents whether they are satisfied with the work when it is completed
obtain feedback from 80% of residents, and
speak directly to any residents who have stated that they are dissatisfied, and resolve the problem where possible to their satisfaction.

Performance targets

Our aims include:

to reduce the proportion of dwellings which are non-decent at the start of the financial year 2005/06 to 74.4%, to 68.3% in 2006/07, and to 46.6% in 2007/08
to make 650 homes achieve the decent homes standard in 2005/06, 2300 in 2006/07, and 2500 in 2007/08, subject to successful inspection and funding
to achieve 100% of capital spend against planned
to achieve an SAP rating of 71 on dwellings in 2005/06, 73 in 2006/07, and 75 in 2007/08
to satisfy 91% of residents with housing major works in 2005/06, 92% in 2006/07, and 93% in 2007/08, and
to achieve an 8.2% change in the proportion of non-decent dwelling between the start and the end of the financial year 2005/06, 31.8% in 2006/07, and 51.1% in 2007/08.

Customer care

We will provide good customer care to all our customers, our staff will be friendly, polite and keen to help you, dealing with your enquiry with sensitivity and discretion.

We will:

wear a visible identity badge
promote and provide equality and fair treatment for everyone
reply to all correspondence within seven working days
provide a contact name, office and e-mail addresses, and a direct dial number in all our letters
deal with all complaints within 28 days and learn from them
write in plain English
answer your phone call within five rings, telling you who we are and asking how we may help you
forward our phone to colleagues when we are out of the office
call you back on the same day if you call before 1pm or call you back by 1pm the following day if you call after 1pm
make sure all our publications are available in the most common community languages, and other formats such as audio tape, Braille and large print
communicate through interpreters and British Sign Language (BSL) signers for residents who have specific needs, and
do our best to give you information and advice about other local services that we do not provide, including services provided by the council and by other agencies.

Further, we agree to:

provide your personal details when we pass your enquiry to a specialist, together with the details of your enquiry so, that you do not have to repeat it to another person
keep the appointment that you have made and tell you beforehand if we have to cancel it
carry out customer satisfaction surveys of at least 10% of our customers, and
keep you informed of how well we are doing in delivering the service.

You can help us by:

treating your home and surroundings and our staff with respect
telling us about any changes in your circumstances so that we can provide you with the best possible service, and
telling us what you think of us.

We will use customer feedback to improve our service. Please tell us if you feel that we have not met any of the service standards.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can make a formal complaint. The leaflet ‘Ascham Homes Complaints Procedure’ gives you information about making a complaint and is available through all of our outlets. Our staff will help you make a complaint if you are not able to do so.

How to contact us

You can access our services in a number of ways.

Telephone Ascham Direct on 020 8496 4197

The lines are open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday for a full service.

If you live in Billericay or Wickford, you can phone Ascham Direct on 0845 3000 363 (charged at the local rate).

You can write to us at:
Ascham Homes
1 Wood Street
Walthamstow
London E17 3JU.

You can e-mail us at:
direct@aschamhomes.org.uk

Please note that although we check this site regularly during the day, you should not use it to report urgent repairs.

You can visit us at:
Ascham Homes
1 Wood Street
Walthamstow
London E17 3JU.
Open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday

Ascham Homes (Billericay office)
16 Morris Avenue
Billericay
Essex CM11 2LB.
Open 9am to 11am, Tuesdays and Thursdays

In an emergency outside the normal hours, as mentioned above, contact the joint Ascham Homes and London Borough of Waltham Forest emergency service on:

020 8496 3000

Other useful contacts:

Waltham Forest Direct, 772-776 High Road, Leyton, London E10 6AE

Waltham Forest Direct is the London Borough of Waltham Forest Council’s contact centre.

For all council services, call them on:
020 8496 3000

Leytonstone Citizens Advice Bureau
Greater London House
547 – 551 High Road
Leytonstone
London E11 4PB
Phone: 020 8988 9620
Fax: 020 8558 7911

Walthamstow Citizens Advice Bureau
167 Hoe Street
Walthamstow
London E17 3AL
Phone: 0870 1264 026
Website: www.walthamforestcab.org.uk/wcab

Ascham Homes's publications

You can get copies of our service standards, information leaflets, Decent Homes programme, Tenants Compact and Residents Information Pack from:

Ascham Homes reception at 1 Wood Street
Waltham Forest Direct Shops, and
Social services public reception areas

If you would like us to post a publication to you, please call Ascham Direct on 020 8496 4197.