Members of our Customer and Communities Influence Network (CCIN) and South Gloucestershire Locality Influence Network (LIN) have been giving their views on what they think the condition of homes we rent out should be.

Following 18 months of change we currently have three different standards for the condition we re-let homes in. Now we’re working to create a new lettable standard that will determine the condition a home will be in when a new customer moves in. And many of our involved customers have been giving their views.

To prepare for the discussions some of the group have been going out to visit empty properties that have recently been returned to us after a customer has moved out. They also visited homes which were ready for new customers to move into to see the work that had taken place.

Debra Nott was one of the CCIN members to visit homes to see how the current standards are being implemented.

“It’s important to have a standard for what condition a home should be in when a customer moves in for the first time. Rather than saying ‘you’ll have a nice home when you move in’ there needs to be a clear standard so that Bromford can be held to account.

“It’s important that there’s no ambiguity in the standard. However, when we were looking round the homes there was one where the previous occupant had put down some really nice flooring. The team had used their judgement to decide that this should be kept for the next customer. And that’s important I think. It should be a minimum standard that allows for some judgement so if there’s something that enhances a home and would be of benefit to the next customer that it can remain.”

Customer involvement officer Delphine Guillemoteau added: “Customers want the business to realise that it’s really important for a customer to walk into a home that they can feel they can live in. That has a big impact on the welcome they feel when they move in.

“The group had a lot of interesting ideas about the standard of decoration, bathrooms and the external appearance of a home.”

Members of the CCIN and LIN will continue to be involved in the work to create a new lettable standard which will be used across all of our 44,000 homes. Details of our new standard will be published on this website once they have been finalised next year.

The Customer & Communities Influence Network is a team of eight customers who influence customer-facing strategies and policies and is chaired by Board member Oke Eleazu. More information about the group is available on the CCIN page on this website