At Leeds Federated, Asset Managers make sure customer homes are safe and well-maintained, and that any repairs needed are resolved quickly.
In this blog, we caught up with our Operational Delivery Asset Manager, Lucy Redfern who shares more about her key responsibilities in managing the teams involved with empty homes, outdoor areas and repairs in customer homes.
“I’ve been with Leeds Federated for a year in a half and have an incredibly varied role; my work calendar fluctuates, and each day is different. My specialisms are around the management of repairs for current customers and getting empty homes ready for new customers. I have a great team in place to support this work.
Work covered by the team
“The repairs in customer homes are carried out by contractors on behalf of Leeds Federated and part of my role is to manage those contractors in line with the contracts we have in place. Repairs that customers report can include anything from broken paving and door hinges coming off, to handrails becoming loose and problems with damp and mould – we call these ‘responsive repairs’ as we deal with them as they’re reported. Responsive repairs cover both everyday repairs, as well as emergencies.
Depending on the nature of the repair, our surveyors will carry out full inspections at the customer’s home to identify repairs and building work.
When a customer moves out, we need to make sure the empty home is in a good condition for the next customer; I oversee the contractors who carry out this work. On average, we turn around 5 empty homes a week.
I also work with our Community Spaces Team who manage outdoor areas, to make sure the right policies and procedures are in place, and I oversee actions from their team audits. I always look forward to seeing the gardening projects develop over the year too – the wildflowers at Fewston Court, for example, were lovely last year.
As you can see, my role involves a lot of collaboration, working with our internal Surveyor and Community Spaces teams, as well as in-house and external contractors.”
Despite the challenges, I love the variety my role offers, I love working at Leeds Federated, and I love handling new situations every day."
Customer satisfaction and feedback
“Customer satisfaction is a key part of my role. I regularly follow up with customers to understand their concerns and resolve any issues.
Damp and mould is a key concern for customers at the moment, so I recently hosted a Time to Talk session set up by our Customer Engagement Team. These sessions are incredibly useful as it gives customers the opportunities to raise any concerns around certain topics.
At the session, I had the opportunity to chat with customers about our process for reporting and rectifying damp and mould, as well as general repairs.
I also spoke about our commitment to Awaab’s Law and how we ensure that we inspect reports of damp and mould within a maximum of 14 days and aim to start any urgent work in 7 days. It’s important for us as an organisation that we continue to meet these deadlines and stay accountable to our customers.
We encourage all customers to get in touch if there’s a problem in their home or a damp and mould issue so we can put things right as soon as possible.”
Appointments for repairs
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“Another aspect of my role is managing the process when we can’t get into customer homes to carry out repairs – this is often because customers haven’t been able to keep their appointment with us, but they’ve not let us know.
Since the start of this year, our main contractors, Equans and Sure haven’t completed a number of appointments because they’ve not been able to get into customer homes; these are appointments that we could’ve offered to other customers so missing an appointment has a knock-on effect and creates a backlog of work.
We want your homes to be safe, warm, and healthy and there are occasions when we need access to your home to carry out repairs. We also know your plans might change so if you have an appointment with us but need to change it, please get in touch as soon as possible so we can rearrange this with you.”
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If you need to report a repair in your home or need to move an appointment, you can call us on 0113 386 1000 or email us at hello@leedsfed.com