Although I knew we had tenancy services I don't think I'd considered what this actually meant. I don't really go to meetings where discussion about what we do comes down to individual cases but this meeting opened my eyes to what these services actually mean for our customers and why what we do really matters.
Being at Bolton at Home for less than a year I sometimes think I'll never get used to the slower pace of change, the endless bureaucracy or ex-local authority culture. However I don't think there are many private sector landlords who would consider so carefully whether a tenancy was suitable for someone or not, make regular visits to ensure problems were addressed early on or create relationships with families to allow us to understand them and provide the right support.
In the context of cuts and staff shortages there were extra meetings arranged to allow tenants to feel happy with services, time taken to arrange cleaning and food parcels and clean bedding left on the doorsteps of vulnerable people. Caseloads discussed seemed to me to be more than enough to do let alone allowing staff much time to be going the extra mile.
From a communications point of view (which is of course why I was there in the first place) it was so important to hear how we are going the extra mile and also to get an insight into why so many people tell me they are too busy to spend time on social media when they attend the training.
But before anyone in housing services think they're let off the hook I'm now keener than ever that they tell people about what they're doing. It's far more positive and more interesting than I thought it would be and although many people working in housing might think this is run of the mill there will be many more people out there to whom this would be news.
And for me it was a useful reminder of why the bright lights of the private sector might not be all they're cracked up to be.
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