Tenants' Talk

What is Awaab’s Law?
Awaab’s Law is a new rule starting on 27 October 2025. It makes sure landlords fix damp and mould problems quickly. More rules will be added in 2026 and 2027.

What landlords must do

• fix emergency problems in 24 hours. If not, they must find another place for the tenant to stay
• check serious problems with damp and mould within 10 working days
• send a written update to the tenant within three days after checking
• start repairs within five days for tenants who need extra help

What tenants said

• repairs are sometimes done more than once and still not fixed
• tenants want honest updates and better communication
• tenants said there have been occasions where they felt some colleagues attributed issues with damp and mould to tenant behaviour. But that has changed
• tenants want to choose how they get updates (text, email, phone, letter)

Problems with reporting repairs

• long phone waits
• no way to upload photos online
• trouble logging into the tenant portal
• hard to move furniture for repairs
• not everyone uses digital tools easily

Ideas to help

• bring back photo uploads on the website
• make passwords easier to use
• give tablets to tenants who need help
• keep phone and letter options for those who don’t use digital tools

Home improvements

• some insulation causes damp. It should be replaced
• windows should let air in but still be safe
• tenants get confusing letters from outside companies. Landlords should explain these

Follow-up tasks

• check if tenants can see repair updates online
• look into flooding problems at Charleston Court
• ask IT if photo uploads can return to the website
• fix login problems with the online tenant account
• review letters from outside companies and guide tenants

These meeting notes were produced using Microsoft Copilot and checked by the Customer Voice Team.

Tenants’ Talk Topic: Procurement

What did we talk about:

Communications Team led the discussion telling tenants about:
•    the Group’s Reasonable Adjustments Project and the link to providing communication in a format which meets tenants’ needs
•    using the NHS template with 6 standards - tenants agreed to this approach
•    looking at sample documents to find what worked.

Tenants liked various formats - suggestions for changes included:
no use of blocks of colour
- use of photos to show examples
- use images relating to text
- include images on Clear Print version
- use noticeboards and communication to promote what information is available
- move downloads to top of web pages

•    tenants chose:
- font sizes 12 for body and 16 for headings
- blue and yellow work for headers 
- grey and green do not work for headers

Next steps:
•    request to make Arial 12 font a default setting on documents and emails for colleagues
•    investigate accessible signage 
•    personalise our Dates for your Diary
•    include question about access to website by Customer Contact Centre colleagues

Tenants’ Talk Topic: Procurement

What did we talk about:

Procurement is the process of buying goods and services from suppliers and contractors. We looked at:
•    what is included in the Procurement Act 2023
•    the challenges we face
•    tenders due over the next 12 months
•    how tenants want to be involved
•    how to get the best out of the tender process
•    providing feedback to tenants about the outcome of tenders, who won and why
•    value for money - cheapest is not always best
•    how to get around artificial intelligence (AI) being used to write tenders

Next steps:
•    find out the outcome of analogue to digital procurement
•    identify tenders for services to tenants over the next 12 months
•    improve feedback of outcomes to tenants
•    use the Tenants’ Forum to feed back the results

Tenants’ Talk Topic: Social Value

What we talked about:

•    social value at Progress Housing Group means ‘financial and non-financial, local, emotional, psychological and physical impact that the Group’s activities have on their stakeholders, either directly or indirectly’
•    lots of the core activities at Progress Housing Group are considered social value as they bring added benefits to tenants and communities
•    we will continue to provide an annual summary report through an infographic report, and publish an in-depth 3-year report
•    tenants liked the detail in reports and the video stories that bring it to life
•    we are trying to improve the way we include social value in all our contracts with external contractors and suppliers

Next steps:

•    include colleague satisfaction, retention and the number of tenants employed by Progress Housing Group in the next report
•    continue to promote social value through stories
•    we will continue to develop our procurement process with contractors and suppliers to include more social value

Tenants’ Talk Topic: Customer Voice Shaping Services

What we talked about:

•    the Customer Voice Shaping Services Strategy sets out the Group’s approach to listening to what our customers are telling us, and how we put that into action to make changes and improvements.
•    suggestions or other ways to engage with tenants:
- through activities
- with other agencies
- we want to engage more with young families
•    tenants thought everything was included in the strategy and felt engagement is working, as they can see changes being made

•    what we could do better:
- share stories of success better
- use real people - tenants and colleagues

Next steps:
•    the strategy is still in draft and will be completed over the next few weeks
•    we will send a copy of the draft strategy and action plan to tenants

Tenants’ Talk Topic: Accessible communication

What we talked about:

•    what makes good and bad written communication
•    examples of communication from other organisations to identify what tenants liked and disliked
•    the proposed rent statement letter for Progress Housing Group and RWP 
•    suggestions to improve the layout for both versions of rent statement letter. This letter template will be used to develop all standard letter templates used by the Group and RWP
•    this will be a big project, but this is a very positive first step

Next steps:

•    rent statement letter templates will be amended and shared with tenants for further comment
•    template will be used as format for all Group and RWP letter templates