High-rise building safety: resident engagement strategy

This strategy has been developed with input from high-rise residents from the 121 high-rise blocks in the city.

We will review this annually, with the involvement of residents, and in response to resident feedback, best practice and any new requirements set by the Building Safety Regulator or others.

Introduction

Buildings are at their safest when we as a landlord, residents and others all play their part in maintaining the safety, security, and cleanliness of every block. This first Housing Leeds building safety resident engagement strategy is important, as it explains our approach to ensure all residents are aware of key building safety messages and know how they can raise building safety issues with us.

Strategy aims

The aims of this strategy are to ensure all residents:

• feel safe in the buildings in which they live
• know how to easily report any problems about their home or any part of the building which may impact on their or their neighbour's safety
• know what to do in the event of an incident in the block where they live.
• have a clear understanding of our responsibilities as a landlord, and their responsibilities to ensure their homes remain safe
• are aware of the ways in which they can get involved and influence building safety and the services to high-rise buildings we give
• know what we are doing in response to their feedback
• are effectively communicated with in a way that residents themselves find accessible and easy to understand
• know how to make a complaint if feel their concerns are not being listened to

Supporting principles

In delivering this strategy we will commit to:

• being open, honest and transparent in what we do to build resident trust
• understand as far as possible the communication needs and preferences of residents
• produce communications that are clear and accessible, using appropriate channels and methods that are timely and consistent
• listening to residents, effectively responding to their concerns, acting and learning from their complaints
• undertake meaningful engagement - whether on a local individual block issue, or a more common issue for all blocks, so that residents are clear on how they can influence the safety of their building, where we are in the decision-making process and how their feedback in being used
• effective engagement with all residents, tenants and leaseholders, including those residents living in PFI managed blocks and those within high-rise Retirement Life buildings

Background

We are responsible for managing and maintaining 121 high-rise blocks of flats, containing 7,700 homes.

Eight of these blocks are 'Retirement Life' blocks - accommodation for older residents receiving additional contact from a Support Officer to help them live independently. Eight blocks are within 'PFI' areas - where a contractor delivers all aspects of building and safety management, along with other services such as cleaning on our behalf.

There are 364 leaseholders living in high-rise homes across the city. Of these, 251 are leasehold residents and 113 are rented by the leaseholders to private tenants. The blocks house a diverse range of residents, ranging from single people or couples in 1 bedroom homes to 3 bedroom flats with families with children. This changes over time, as do people's needs and circumstances.

The average age of a high-rise tenant is 52, with a broad range of ages across the city. 9% of residents are aged 30 or under, 18% aged 31 to 40, 20% aged 41 to 50, 21% aged 51 to 60, 16% 61 to 70, 10% aged 71 to 80 and 5% aged 81 or over. Residents are diverse, 17% have a disability or impairment of some kind and 37% are of non-White-British ethnicity.

The blocks are spread across a variety of communities and are of various construction types. We continue to invest in our high-rise homes and during 2023/24 have an investment programme of £20m to undertake a range of improvement works. This includes improvements to the fabric, safety and energy efficiency of the buildings to improvements within tenants homes.

What you have told us so far

During the Autumn of 2022 over 450 residents responded to a survey on how they felt about building safety, what they wanted to know more about and how they would like to be communicated with in future. We also carried out two focus groups with residents to explore the findings and what mattered most with residents in more detail.

We learnt that:

• building safety for residents is not just about fire safety, it's about our whole approach to managing the building, people's homes, the communal areas and the quality of the building as a whole as a place to live
• how we maintain community safety in and around the blocks, and block security is important for residents
• residents generally have a good level of understanding about what do in the event of a fire in their own flat, but this falls to 1 in 5 residents not feeling confident about what to do if a fire occurs in someone else's flat
• the 'Stay Put Policy' - view from residents that this needs more explaining. For example, explaining more about the high standard of fire doors on people's flats and how these help prevent the spread of fire
• not all residents are clear on how to use the chutes and effectively get rid of waste
• we can do more to inform residents about electrical safety
• for those residents living in blocks with a sprinkler installed, more can be done to inform residents how this works and how to stop false activations
• more awareness is needed on where residents can and can't park to ensure access for emergency and other services
• just over a third of residents felt we had not given them information on building safety and what the responsibilities of residents were to help keep the block safe
• a high proportion of residents know how to test their smoke alarm and contact us for any help or support they may need. Fewer residents are aware of how to report rubbish or any items left in any communal area or report repairs such as a broken communal light
• we need to use different ways to communicate and engage. Not everyone is online, and those that are may not always open emails or look at website content. They also supported more information in pictorial form and in Plain English to help those with lower literacy. Residents welcomed the trial of electronic noticeboards
• building safety needs to be understood and respected by our contractors and partners who work on our behalf
• there is lots of interest amongst residents to be involved to help shape how we deliver this strategy

We describe our approach to engagement on building safety by explaining:

• How we will share information
• Advice and support for residents
• How we listen, learn and improve
• How will we measure success
• How will we review this strategy
• What if things go wrong and how you can influence what we do

How we will share information

We will continue to share information in a variety of ways, including:

• direct hard copy communication (leaflets and newsletters),
• via text messages and email, including an email bulletin for all residents at least four times a year.
• on our website and on social media (Facebook and Twitter)
• communal noticeboards

We will also continue to:

• co-produce and co-brand information about building safety and fire prevention advice with support from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, as a trusted source of information
• provide information in different formats or in other community languages on request
• make use of QR codes for residents to quickly access online content, and to signpost where more information can be accessed
• share information with any tenants, residents or community group active in communities with high-rise buildings
• share information with our colleagues in teams across our service, and those teams in the contact centre and in community hubs who deal with resident enquiries
• hold pop up drop ins, surgeries or other meetings with residents, making use of communal rooms or the mobile office
• share information with, and invite the help and participation of block champions or other interested residents to cascade key messages
• support and encourage group activity in our Retirement Life blocks, helping bring residents together and enabling us to communicate with many residents where they enjoy meeting
• include a summary of activity linked to building safety within our annual report for all residents

Our commitments for the next year

In the year ahead, we will commit to:

• improving the information residents receive about the management of high-rise buildings in line with feedback from the survey of residents
• using more 'easy-read' communication, combining short, jargon-free sentences with simple, clear images to help explain the content
• trialling the use of digital noticeboards at our two largest blocks, and if successful, roll out to more blocks
• an annual building safety newsletter
• further engagement with residents including leaseholders to better understand their communication requirements and preferences
• exploring how residents can access information about building safety and their block digitally
• giving more feedback to residents to demonstrate how we've listened and responded to complaints or comments from high-rise residents
• sharing more positive news and updates about our investment, improvements to blocks and the care and support we give to residents
• exploring how we can communicate better using local connections, are residents in regular contact with schools or community groups, and can they help us share key messages
• exploring the use of 'webinars', inviting residents to a webinar on building safety and sharing this more widely

Advice and support for residents

We will give practical advice and support to raise awareness of building safety, by continuing to:

• provide residents with a fire safety booklet at the start of their tenancy
• carry out tenancy visits on a priority basis. All tenants are visited at least every three years, some residents are visited annually based on individual circumstances.
• prepare Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) to all high-rise residents that request them.
• display Fire Action Notices throughout all buildings
• communicate with residents in a variety of ways to ensure support (and access) for flat entrance door inspections.
• promote key messages about safety, waste removal, repairs, and who to contact, in block noticeboards
• make sure that when undertaking any major works all relevant health and safety aspects are prioritised and that residents are aware of any safety issues that relate to the work concerned
• provide fire safety advice on our website
• make referrals for vulnerable tenants to West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service for home safety checks

Our commitments for the next year

In the year ahead, we will commit to:

• promoting the 'stay put' if feel safe to do so message
• sharing the Building Safety Case for your block, sharing key messages and where can find more information on building safety information about your block
• sharing more messages on the key themes of waste and repairs - so that all residents know how to access these services
• further promotion of everyone's roles and responsibilities in maintaining building safety, including our teams and staff, partners, residents and contractors who work on our behalf

How we listen, learn and improve

We will continue to:

• have a range of staff residents can speak to - building safety is everyone's responsibility. All staff have a role to play to ensure we act on what residents are telling us
• analyse monthly fire reports and use the information to be proactive in reducing and eliminating further incidents
• engage with residents locally by inviting residents to quarterly block inspections
• use the community room (if your block has one) for housing surgeries or other resident engagement activities when required
• carry out an annual survey with residents to assess how effectively we are communicating key messages and residents understanding of these
• include high-rise residents within the quarterly satisfaction programme for Housing Leeds, comparing satisfaction with a range of services received by high-rise residents with all other residents
• build local relationships by attending any local tenants or residents groups, committee or public meetings, sharing key messages and responding to any feedback
• connect with local ward members and partners on community safety, environmental and other issues

Our commitments for the next year

In the year ahead we will:

• ensure high-rise residents are represented on the over-arching Tenant Voice Panel, a consultative body for operational and strategic high-rise and building safety issues
• seek a high-rise resident to take a place on the Leeds Housing Board - so that high-rise residents have representation within the governance of Housing Leeds
• improve our learning from complaints, with more analysis of complaints from high-rise residents to identify any issues or trends
• publish results related to satisfaction of all residents, including high-rise residents, that includes 'satisfaction that the landlord provides a home that is safe'
• engage with the new Leeds Housing Board on issues relating to building safety so that they have assurance we undertake our responsibilities effectively and listen and respond to tenant feedback
• review the role of 'block champions' with input from residents and block champions themselves
  
• consider targeted engagement with residents where issues arise, in response to resident feedback or from our own insight - for example, undertaking visits to blocks using the mobile office or holding 'pop ups' to share key information
• evaluate and publish the outcomes of resident involvement in building safety - reporting this to residents, within the service and to the Leeds Housing Board as our governing body

How will we measure success

We will evaluate the success of our ongoing action, and commitments for the year ahead by monitoring:

We will also:

• report progress to the Leeds Housing Board external link twice a year
• feed back to residents in an annual building safety newsletter

How will we review this strategy

During the year we will share this strategy with residents so that it can be improved further with resident input, along with helping define and prioritise actions in the supporting action plan.

The Leeds Housing Board will be consulted on our approach to make sure we are fully compliant with the statutory requirements of the Building Safety Regulator and Regulator of Social Housing, and can evidence that we have adopted a strong organisational culture of effectively responding to residents' feedback.

What if things go wrong and how you can influence what we do

If there is anything not right about your home or block, we want you to tell us.

We take building safety seriously and have created a dedicated Building Safety Team. In addition to this team an Accountable Person has overall responsibility to manage building safety risks to keep residents safe.

There is no 'wrong door' for issues about building safety, you can report an issue to any member of staff.

Support for residents

We support residents who wish to engage with us individually or collectively on building safety or any other issues about how we manage the block. Our support includes:

• giving residents groups (existing or those wanting to become a group) practical help and support
• supporting the Tenant Voice Panel - a group of residents, including many from high-rise homes, who are happy to be consulted on issues about their building and the services we give
• being members of TPAS - for us (and residents) to access advice and good practice about how we listen and respond to your feedback and create a culture of joint working and mutual respect
• making available a mobile office, giving residents and officers space to meet when no communal area within or nearby a block exists
• more information on the ways you can give feedback and influence what we do is available on our 'get involved in your community' page

Our commitments for the next year

In the year ahead we will:

• analyse complaints we receive from all high-rise residents to better identify trends and service improvements
• raise awareness of the Building Safety Regulator, who you can also approach for independent advice and support
• review with residents on the Tenant Voice Panel, how we meet the Regulator for Social Housing 'consumer standards'
• seek to involve residents in any consultation relating to new 'consumer' standards being considered by the Regular for Social Housing, especially those related to building safety
• seek to recruit a tenant volunteer who lives in a high-rise home to the Leeds Housing Board for representation of high-rise residents at the highest level