Estate Management – policy consultation

We believe it is important to involve customers in the development of our policies. Doing so helps ensure they are clear, fair, and shaped by real customer experiences.

Through customer feedback, we gain a better understanding of how our policies are interpreted and where improvements can be made to make them easier to understand and use.

The feedback received during this consultation has helped us strengthen the Estate Management Policy. The revised policy provides greater clarity around our decisions and processes, while continuing to maintain consistency and fairness.

Customers shared their views and experiences through focus groups and surveys, and this insight is helping to influence the way we design, build, and sell homes in the future.

Your voice

  • You highlighted areas of the policy which could be clearer.
  • You want the policy to be easier to understand.
  • You’d like us to be more considerate of language used.
  • You want access to further information.

Your impact

What we’ve done

  • We have made it clearer in the Scope section that this policy applies to all customers who hold a tenancy with us. We have also now made a clearer reference to the tenancy agreement, which sets out the specific terms for your home.
  • We recognise that parts of the document felt overly formal. We have reviewed and softened the language in areas to make the policy more approachable and customer friendly.
  • A separate Trees and High Hedges Policy was recently approved and published. This document outlines our approach to managing trees and high hedges in both communal areas and residential gardens on land we own.
  • Customers asked for more detailed information about certain things, such as;
    • grounds maintenance
    • graffiti
    • fly tipping
    • vehicles
    • communal cleaning
    • fire safety.

More information is available on our websites. We currently use two different websites, which makes including links in the policy impractical. Later this year we plan to move to one website. We will then update the policy to include the direct links.

What we're doing

  • Feedback highlighted that certain terms were not explained, such as “cut and drop.” We will make sure we explain all key words.
  • Some customers requested named contacts in the policy. We cannot list colleague names because they change. Instead, we will change this section to include a central contact number. We will the direct customers to the right team for their enquiry.

Accessibility Improvements

  • We appreciate the feedback about accessibility, particularly for customers with reading difficulties, visual impairments, or for whom English is not a first language. We are making an Easy Read version of this policy. This will include larger text, simpler language, shorter sentences, and supportive graphics.

What’s next

We are grateful for your input and remain committed to continually improving our policies to better meet the needs of our customers.