Housing officers out from behind the desks and onto the streets in South Gloucestershire

A new year, a new way of working - Merlin Housing Society has launched its new housing service to provide a more convenient and efficient service to residents.

Starting in the past few days, the service sees a dedicated customer service team, anti-social behaviour officer and community investment manager in each area office.

But the biggest change is that frontline housing staff will now be visiting residents in their own homes, rather than asking them to visit an office.

Housing officers have spent the past two weeks knocking on doors and ringing doorbells in their areas to introduce themselves and get to know residents in their area.

Director of Housing and Support, Christopher Smith, said: “We have listened to the views of our residents and believe this new way of working will be much more convenient for them. Most of our residents contact us by telephone and we will be aiming to deal with at least 80% of their enquiries during that first call. And for those who need to see their housing officer, we will arrange to visit them in their home, rather than ask them to travel to see us.

“These changes are all about providing a better service to residents and giving them improved access to our services, by having our staff out visiting people in their homes, managing our estates and working with the local community to resolve any issues.”