By Simon Bernstein, Coach & Trainer in Customer Experience & Leadership for Social Housing

The Social Housing Ombudsman recently reported a +474% increase in repair complaints. That’s not just a statistic—it’s a clear signal that something is broken. And it’s not the plumbing. 

Housing Associations are under increasing pressure from the regulator to reduce these complaints, and understandably so. Repairs and maintenance form the backbone of the landlord-resident relationship. When they go wrong, trust erodes fast. 

Most repairs are technically straightforward. What makes them go wrong is when teams don’t share the right information at the right time. And too often, that’s exactly what happens. 

We see it regularly: 

  • Repairs job descriptions which are inaccurate with missing or vague details. 
  • A disconnect between what surveyors say to customers and the job raised 
  • Photographs of the issue taken but not shared with operatives. 
  • Information about customer vulnerabilities – like a resident who is hearing impaired or neurological-diverse – not being factored into how the repair is prioitised or when, how, or by whom the repair is done. 

This isn’t just a process issue. It’s a mindset. Many Housing Associations still operate in silos, with each department focused only on its own stage of the process. That’s where trust breaks down – because customers experience the whole journey, not the isolated parts. 

If we want to reduce complaints and rebuild trust, we need to move away from siloed working and toward a seamless, customer-centred repair journey. That means: 

  • Viewing repairs as a seamless end-to-end process, where every department shares responsibility, collaborates and focuses on facilitating a first-time fix. 
  • Designing systems that support first-time fix wherever possible. 
  • Creating repair reporting processes that are robust, complete, and consistently shared. 
  • Removing contradictory KPI’s, which reinforce silo working, for example time limits on calls to customer service teams. 
  • Training staff to think beyond their task, and ask: What does this customer need to feel heard, respected, and supported?
  • Empowering your operatives to ask the right questions and find solutions

This doesn’t have to be costly or complicated. It requires leadership, culture change, and a commitment to making communication everyone’s job – not just customer services or operatives; where teams talk to each other, take shared ownership of the customer experience, and feel safe to raise issues or flag needs that may fall outside their usual role. 

Communication excellence isn’t a luxury; it’s the bridge between good intentions and great service. 

 If you’re ready to build a repair experience your customers can trust – one that reduces complaints, not just reacts to them – let’s talk. 

Email simon@empathy-transformation.co.uk for tailored coaching and leadership support. Explore more insights in https://empathy-transformation.co.uk/latest-news/ 

About the author:

Simon Bernstein is a Housing Association Coach & Trainer specialising in customer experience and leadership. He has over 20 years’ experience helping Housing Associations to develop, create and embed a culture which is built around delivering excellence of customer experience at its core. Get In Touch – Empathy Transformation