You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
L&Q hires 180 neighbourhood leads in staffing restructure
L&Q residents have been allocated a main point of contact under a staffing restructure carried out by the landlord.
The G15 association has announced it will introduce 180 neighbourhood housing leads, who will have patch sizes of about 550 tenants each.
L&Q said these roles have been introduced as part of a move towards a more localised staffing structure to improve service to residents.
Previously, tenants did not have one person they could turn to with a problem. Instead, they would ring the contact centre and, depending on what the issue was, would be put through to the tenancy management team or a property manager.
The move is potentially the first time in the housing association’s history that a main contact has been introduced, although L&Q could not say this “categorically”.
The change is among a series of changes the 107,000-home association has implemented since June.
The restructure was first announced last year after ITV News highlighted the poor conditions an L&Q tenant was living in as part of its long-running investigation into the state of social housing in England.
Junior Jimoh, who has breathing problems and a neuromuscular condition that means he needs round-the-clock care, was living in a flat in Clapham, south-west London, with mould and damp all over the walls. He had been reporting the issue to L&Q since 2019.
Speaking at the Social Housing Annual Conference in November 2021, Gerri Scott, group director of customer service at L&Q, said there were plans to localise the housing association’s “opaque and confusing” staff structure.
READ MORE
A year later, Sharon Burns, director of housing management at L&Q, spoke to Inside Housing about the progress so far.
Ms Burns was hired in December 2021 to lead on the restructure.
The new approach is modelled on Trafford Housing Trust’s approach, where she was executive director of customer operations before moving to L&Q.
After joining in the newly created role, Ms Burns said: “What struck me was that residents were having to work too hard to get things from us, to get good and timely responses from us, and our structure was really quite complex and confusing for residents.
“And the question I held was who is holding that relationship with the residents then?
“Because it appeared that that was what was missing to me.”
Nearly 180 neighbourhood leads have been hired to act as the go-to person for residents.
The leads, who are a mix of new hires – 144 out of 176 – and L&Q staff, were recruited based on attitude and values, rather than housing experience.
Of the 114 new appointments, 17 (15%) had little housing sector experience, 18 (16%) had extensive housing sector experience, and 74 (65%) had no sector experience – five (4%) have since left the social landlord.
As a result of the hiring approach, L&Q had to provide extensive training for new recruits.
The neighbourhood leads will spend three days per week out on their patches, with the aim of making them more accessible and visible to residents.
They will also be supported by 44 housing assistants, who can take their place if they are on leave or sick.
“The housing assistant should be able to do the majority of their job while they’re away and help to provide that stability and consistency for our residents,” Ms Burns explained.
L&Q also launched a separate housing specialism team to provide a dedicated focus on complex issues such as anti-social behaviour, support for vulnerable residents, domestic abuse, safeguarding and vulnerability, tenancy fraud, and mental health.
Before the ITV News investigation, L&Q came under fire in an article in The Observer in 2018 for its maintenance record at Portway House in Southwark, south London. One resident said she had “been to hell and back with L&Q”.
The housing association launched an inquiry, the main conclusion of which was that “despite evidence of serious and continuing problems at the scheme, residents suffered poor service and inadequate responses over a sustained period”.
When the report was published in January 2019, then-chief executive David Montague said L&Q had “worked hard to put things right”.
“And we’re determined to learn lessons, however painful that is,” he added.
However, it was later year when Mr Jimoh first started reporting problems.
Asked why tenants should trust L&Q now, Ms Burns said it is around “sticking to your promises to do what you say you’re going to do”.
She added: “There’s something about not walking by things. [This means] being really attuned to risk, to spotting things, being proactive, being caring, being empathetic.”
“Being present, responsive and local will definitely move us towards that building of trust.”
Sign up for our asset management newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
