Service standards

Everyone at Octavia Housing aims to provide residents with excellent standards of customer service.
What you can expect from us:

When you visit our offices:

we will clearly display our opening hours
receptions will be welcoming, comfortable and accessible to all
our staff will be wearing name badges
you will have access to leaflets about our services
if you ask us, we will provide information in other languages, in large print, Braille or on audio tape
we can provide a telephone interpretation service or a hearing loop if required.
we can provide private meeting rooms
a duty officer will try to meet you within 10 minutes of your arrival

When you phone us:

we aim to answer calls to our mainline number 020 8354 5500 within 30 seconds
if the member of staff you are contacting is not available, we will try to make sure that another member of staff is available to deal with your enquiry
if you leave a message, we aim to return your call within one working day
if you leave a message for the Customer Services Team or duty officer, we aim to return it in two hours
our voicemail messages will be clear and up to date
if our offices are closed, we will provide and emergency repairs service.

When you write to us

we aim to reply to letters within 10 working days
we aim to respond to emails within 3 working days and give a full reply within 10 working days.
direct contact details including names, job titles and email addresses of individual members of staff will be included on our letters

When we visit you at home

all residents can request a home visit. We aim to make an appointment with you within five working days, at a time that is convenient for you and us.
If for some reason we cannot keep an appointment that we have made with you, we will let you know as soon as possible
we will always carry identification, which we will clearly display
if we make a visit without an appointment first, we will clearly explain the nature of the visit and check that it is convenient with you
we will take notes at the meeting and provide you with a copy
if we visit and you are not at home, we will leave a card with details of who called and how to contact them.

Confidentiality

we will keep the details of interviews, letters, emails and personal information about you and members of your household private, as set out in our policies and ways of working.

Information

all our written information will be clear and easy to read
if you ask us we will provide information in large print, Braille, audio tape or we can arrange for it to be explained to you in a different language
we will keep you informed about our policies, services and performance
we will send out newsletters at least three times a year
we will send our rent statements at least four time s a year
we will provide a transfer newsletter twice a year to tenants on the waiting list.

If we get something wrong