Ask Raven’s Chief Executive
In the last issue of Raven Times, we asked you to share your questions for Jonathan Higgs, our Chief Executive.
Thank you to everyone who submitted a question. Each person who asked a question has been sent a direct reply from Jonathan.
Here are some of the questions you raised.
Q - How often are Raven properties fully inspected internally and externally over the years to cut down on maintenance and cost? I feel if this was done on a regular basis, I won’t say half the problems would be sorted out, but at least it would be a starting point.
A - Currently our teams carry out what’s called a stock condition survey every five years. This is when we inspect the property internally and externally. Thank you for raising this, this is an excellent suggestion. It's actually something we’ve recently started to look into. We’re currently looking at our service processes to see if there’s areas we can improve, and the frequency of our inspections is one of the things we’ve highlighted to look at further, as you say to see if it could make our residents’ lives easier, but also save us time and money on repairs and maintenance. We will definitely keep you posted on this.
Q - Could we please have a lift installed at Swale House? Some of your tenants are now becoming housebound.
A – For people reading this who aren’t familiar with Swale House, Swale House is one of our properties dedicated to people aged 55 or over. It contains 9 individual flats.
I'm sorry to hear that some people are finding it difficult to move around so easily and while I’d like nothing more than to be able to say we could install a lift, unfortunately it’s not possible for us to do this in this building. There is not a lift shaft within Swale House, and the amount of work required to create a suitable location and install a lift in a building of this structure and size isn’t practical I’m afraid. I will make sure this is picked up by the housing manager though, although we’re not able to add a lift to this building, we can speak with individuals and help them look at whether there’s alternative accommodation that’s better suited to people’s changing needs.
We always want to hear from you if you have questions to ask, concerns or issues to raise or ideas to share. #WeHearYou
Ways to contact us:
- MyRaven: raise an enquiry
- Telephone: 0300 123 3399
- Facebook Messenger: www.facebook.com/ RavenHousingTrust
- Email: raven@ravenht.org.uk