Councillor gets low down on housing performance

Councillor Khevyn Limbajee, Waltham Forest Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, has visited Osborne Property Services to understand how they are managing to keep customers in Waltham Forest so happy. Cllr Limbajee visited to get a better understanding of the work of service providers and see how they deliver services.
Earlier this month, the company that looks after building repairs and maintenance for the Council’s 12,500 homes reported some of the lowest complaints levels in the housing sector.
While other housing associations and local authorities saw a rise in complaints during 2015-16, complaints from Waltham Forest customers are down by a third this year compared to the previous year.
Cllr Limbajee was keen to see how the company’s ‘right first time’ service commitment is played out in their day-to-day dealings with customers.

He spent the morning meeting with the staff and observing the work of the contact centre team, including the way they respond and deal with sensitive customer information.
Customer Solutions Supervisor, Mubina Mohmed explained how the company had invested in staff training and designed the service around what customers want.
“Each and every member of the team takes pride in the relationships they have built with our customers and providing them with the very best service,” she said. “And that is evident in our high satisfaction rates.”
The Councillor was then taken to meet site manager, Lonut Loanca, at Bisterne Avenue where the planned maintenance team were carrying out external improvements to flats.
Loanca told the Councillor that, for Osborne, reduced budgets didn’t mean reduced service.  “We’re always looking at how we can do things better, more efficiently,” he said, “but without compromising the quality of work.”
The tour provided Councillor Limbajee with a great insight on how Osborne proactively goes about their work and building relationships with customers.  He said: “I was very pleased to be able to spend some time with the Osborne team to learn more about the repairs, maintenance and planned works service they provide for our local community.
“We know how important it is to our residents to have repairs carried out on their homes quickly and efficiently when they need them, and we want to ensure that we keep improving and providing the best possible service.”