MHA are thrilled to have won the Excellence in Customer Services Award at the annual Chartered Institute of Housing Awards in Cardiff.
The Welsh Housing Awards celebrate the creativity, passion and innovation of housing organisations and individuals across the sector. The need to deliver excellent service is more important than ever and the ‘Excellence in Customer Services’’ award category recognises housing teams who go above and beyond to deliver outstanding customer service.
MHA were awarded the accolade in recognition of their management of Monmouthshire Homesearch, the one-stop affordable housing service operated in Monmouthshire on behalf of 5 housing associations (Monmouthshire County Council, Monmouthshire Housing, Melin Homes, Pobl and United Welsh) and in partnership with Monmouthshire County Council.
Monmouthshire Homesearch is the single point of access for affordable housing in Monmouthshire, meaning all social housing is allocated using the same criteria irrespective of landlord, ensuring a fair and consistent approach.
Since it’s launch in 2013, the small team of 4 have validated over 25,000 applications and allocated 3,800 high quality homes to applicants in housing need.
A comprehensive review of the service was recently undertaken, to gather insight into applicants’ individual needs and over 59 recommendations have subsequently been implemented: further improving the customer journey and digital experience of prospective tenants and streamlining the applications process.
Monmouthshire Homesearch’s multi-channel approach and assisted bidding and application support, ensures individuals receive a personalised service, where they can receive transparent and accurate information about their housing options, realistic expectations that they understand and importantly feel supported every step of the way.
Michele Morgan, our Director of Housing & Communities was thrilled to receive the award…
“The Homesearch team are committed to providing exceptional customer service, and I am extremely proud that they have received this well-deserved recognition.
Experienced housing professionals; they have a deep understanding of the challenges individuals are facing, particularly in the current economic climate and go above and beyond to deliver an innovative and intuitive service.
It has been an exceptionally busy year for the team, and to have their achievements recognised by the Chartered Institute of Housing really is the icing on the cake.
Some of the recommendations implemented include the creation of a new bi-lingual website, where individuals can self-serve including registering their interest and updating their details and circumstances, the creation of more visually appealing adverts and a simplified application process that combines both rent and buy applications into one form.
We were also shortlisted for two other categories, including Best Housing Team for Neighbourhoods and Supporting Communities for their Cost of Living Working Group / Trellis financial support fund, so well done to these teams too!
