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The consultation
This Spring, we announced that we are planning to form a partnership with another housing association called Lifestone Homes. Lifestone provide services to more than 24,000 residents in over 10,000 homes in neighbourhoods across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and South Cambridgeshire. Joining with another organisation in this way is often called a merger. We believe this would allow us to provide better services to residents and invest more in our communities.
The proposed merger means:
As part of a six-week consultation, residents were asked to let us know their views about this proposal and what they think the priorities should be for the new organisation, if it goes ahead. More than 800 Former Lifestone residents responded to the consultation survey with 68 attending an online webinar or in-person event. A summary of the feedback is shared below.
How do you feel about the proposed partnership with Lifestone?
Residents were asked “After reading the information provided, how do you feel about the proposed partnership with Lifestone?” Half of the residents who responded felt neutral towards the proposal. Almost a third of customers felt positively and 18% said that they felt negative.
As part of the consultation, we shared a recent survey completed by 826 Former Lifestone residents, where they were asked what they thought our priorities for improvement should be. Most residents who took part in the consultation agreed that these were correct and additional responses have been added. These priorities are broadly similar to current Former Lifestone resident priorities. As we look ahead to what the potential new organisation will deliver for residents, we will take into account these priorities for service improvements.
For residents who rent their home, the top priorities for improvement are:
For residents who are shared owners, the top priorities for improvement are:
Resident comments help to understand how you are feeling about the proposal.
Some residents have looked at the Lifestone website and read some reviews which caused some concern, especially about repairs timescales and performance. Lifestone have just published their 2024-25 Tenant Satisfaction Measures which you can view here. These provide an overview of recent performance and highlights improvements that they have made over the last year.
These are the key themes from your feedback where you are seeking reassurance, and the recommendations that will be made to the Lifestone Board as they consider whether to go ahead with the merger later in the summer.
Residents wanted reassurances that: | Recommendation to Board: |
There would be no increase in costs to you as a result of the merger | As a reminder, the rent and service charges you pay would stay the same, aside from the annual increase made in line with the guidance set by the Government A commitment that the way we spend the money we get from you will be closely monitored by Board to make sure that the new organisation continues to prioritise spending on health and safety, and that remaining money is spent fairly. |
Service standards won’t decline, in particular repairs standards | A commitment that our repairs timelines and quality of work will remain the same or get better in the future. A commitment that the essential elements of our Customer Care Standards will remain in place or improve. In particular, that we will maintain or improve the targets we set for answering and responding to you when you contact us by any method (phone, email, etc) A commitment that we will take the best of both organisations and bring them together. |
We won’t stop working on service improvements for current residents | A commitment to investing time and money into delivering improvements that residents have told us matter most to them. These include: Communal areas: improving the standard of your communal areas including delivering the cleaning service improvement plan Anti-social behaviour: taking earlier and more direct action, and making it easier for you to report issues to us A commitment that we will start a resident consultation within the first three months of the merger, to shape a new repairs standard and delivery plan for the new organisation. A commitment to publish an overview of planned improvement works for the coming year to reassure residents that we are continuing to invest in their homes. A commitment to continue having a dedicated officer to support residents requiring aids and adaptations, and identifying improvements needed to this service. |
A larger organisation won’t feel too stretched or impersonal | A commitment to not reduce our ambitious targets set for delivering excellent services, as measured in the Tenant Satisfaction Measures, and that Board will carefully monitor performance, addressing any issues quickly. A commitment that Board will closely monitor service performance, addressing any issues quickly, for example, how quickly and how well we deal with repairs or how quickly we answer a call. A commitment to design the organisation with larger and local focus in mind – both presence and visibility of staff, and investment into communal areas and ASB prevention. |
They will continue to have access to helpful, caring and knowledgeable staff | A commitment to ensure that there are careful plans with existing staff, to maintain standards while the two organisations come together. A commitment to ensure that the new organisation, will be made up largely with staff from both Lifestone and Lifestone, building on existing strengths and bringing together best of both organisations. |
These are the key themes from your feedback which are more around the process and communication.
Residents said that we needed to: | Recommendation to Board: |
Make sure that there would be benefits to current Former Lifestone residents, and communicate them | A commitment to sharing specific benefits for Former Lifestone residents that will either be available on day 1 of the new organisation, or within the first 6 months. |
Be transparent throughout the process, sharing more information for those who want it | A commitment to setting up a customer scrutiny and steering group with a remit to monitor how plans for day 1 and year 1 of the new organisation will impact customers. A commitment to publishing key information on our website as the merger progresses. This includes a clear plan to ensure residents without digital access receive updates, as well as continuing to support those who wish to use digital channels but who are unable to at the moment. |
Make sure that resident voice is at the heart of shaping the potential new organisation | A commitment to developing a wide range of customer involvement opportunities to help shape the plans for the new joint organisation, when the operations come together. |
Be clear on the practical aspects of the potential change, in particular changes in who to contact for what | A commitment to ensure that residents are involved in approving the communications around the integration to ensure that they are clear, accessible and comprehensive. |
Make sure that staff are treated fairly throughout the process | A commitment to ensure that the new organisation has high employee satisfaction. A commitment that when bringing together both organisations all staff will be fully supported. |
Next steps
The results of this consultation, and the consultation with the Former Lifestone residents, will be shared with the Lifestone and Lifestone Boards for them to consider before any final decision is made.
The Boards will decide later in the summer whether to go ahead. The outcome and any potential next steps will be announced over the coming months.
Should the decision be made to go ahead with the merger, the feedback that you have provided both in the recent priorities survey and through this resident consultation, will be used to help shape the new organisation.