Ashling FoxI’m Ash Fox, and I’m delighted to have joined Bromford as chief customer officer. I’m passionate about putting customers and communities front and centre so Bromford felt like a great fit, and I already feel part of the Bromford family after only a few months being here.  

Listening and acting on your feedback

Over the past year we have spoken to thousands of our customers to ask what they think of our services. If you’ve taken the time to respond to this, thank you, as it provides us with really valuable information. And for me it’s great to know that 82.3% of our customers said that they would recommend us to a friend or family member which is fantastic to hear.

These surveys are also allowing us to learn more about how the cost of living crisis is affecting our customers, with most people saying that they’ve seen significant increases in their food and energy bills in recent months. I understand that our recent letter to you outlining the increase to your rent may concern you if you’ve already been having some money worries.

Firstly, I’d like to say that it’s really important that you talk to us if you have concerns about whether you can afford to pay your rent. Your neighbourhood coach is available to support you and work with you should you need it. We also have specialist income management advisors who can offer more focused support with your finances. So, if you are struggling to pay your rent or any other bills, please do get in touch with us.

The amount that we increase rent by each year is set by the Government based on the rate of inflation the previous September. A full explanation of how our rents have been calculated is explained on our website. All of the money we receive in rent goes back into providing services for our customers, such as carrying out repairs or making improvements such as making homes more energy efficient. This year we will have spent more than £40m on our existing homes and plan to spend even more in the year ahead as we continue to make our homes more energy efficient, make improvements to them and carry out repairs.

We remain committed to tackling condensation damp and mould

The winter has been a really challenging period, with severe cold snaps and high rainfall. There are now added pressures on customers with the cost-of-living crisis. For some, the issue is leading to customers not heating their homes which can increase the likelihood of damp and mould in the home. Damp and mould can be complex to resolve and it can take time but we are determined to work with our specialist contractors and customers to find permanent solutions.

Over the last 12 months we have spent more than £1m responding to customer reports of damp and mould and will be spending even more over the year ahead. Even as warmer weather approaches, our focus on condensation, damp and mould will remain one of our key priorities.

The work we have done over the past two years investigating these cases has shown us there are multiple causes of damp and mould which means we have to investigate each report we receive from customers so we can identify the best solution. To help with this we are training our colleagues who regularly visit customers’ homes to give them greater understanding on some of the most common causes, so they can identify issues and report them to our specialist team that is tackling these cases. We have also recently installed sensors in 50 homes that will report on changes to levels of heat and humidity and the effect that this has on condensation and damp. We’ll be analysing the data from these sensors over the next couple of years and hope the information we gain will help us to take a more proactive approach to avoid the build-up of damp and mould.

Find out more on our condensation, damp and mould webpage.

Changes to our gas servicing team in the Midlands

If you live in the Midlands, I wanted to share a change that will be happening over the next couple of months to how we carry out gas servicing.

Having worked with partners Tomlinsons for a number of years, we have now decided to bring this service in-house, resulting in over 20 Tomlinsons colleagues transferring to Bromford. We are delighted to be having these colleagues joining us. You won't see any significant change - it will be the same colleagues visiting your home to carry out the service, but you will see them arrive in Bromford branded clothing and vehicles. All appointments will be managed by our existing in-house team.

Find out more about what to expect from your annual gas service.