Our Performance

Average time to Answer calls into the Contact Centre: 1 minute

We’re incredibly proud of the continued success of our Customer Service Centre, where our commitment to delivering excellent service is truly paying off. This quarter, the average time to answer calls has dropped to just 1 minute, down from 1 minute 28 seconds in Quarter 1, which is a remarkable 91% improvement from 11 minutes this time last year. This progress reflects the dedication of our team and the effectiveness of our ongoing improvements. Ultimately, it means residents are getting the help they need faster and more efficiently, reinforcing our promise to provide responsive, respectful, and high-quality service every time.

% of Contact Centre calls answered: 96.67%

Our Customer Service Centre continues to go from strength to strength, with the percentage of calls answered rising to an impressive 96.67% this quarter. That’s not only an improvement from last quarter, but a 44% increase compared to this time last year, when the figure stood at 67.13%. This achievement reflects our continued focus on accessibility and responsiveness, ensuring that residents can rely on us to be there when they need us most. It’s another step forward in our mission to deliver the best possible service to our the residents of North Manchester.

Satisfaction with Contact Centre service: 91%

Resident satisfaction with our Customer Service Centre has increased from 89% in Quarter 1 to 91% in Quarter 2. This improvement highlights the positive impact of ongoing service enhancements and our continued focus on delivering a helpful, respectful, and efficient experience to our residents. We remain committed to listening to residents and making meaningful changes based on their feedback.

% of complaints responded to 'in time': 82%

We’re pleased to report a significant improvement in how quickly we respond to complaints, with on-time responses rising from 57% to 82% this quarter. While we acknowledge that this is still below the standards set by the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, it’s a clear step in the right direction. This progress reflects the hard work of our teams and our commitment to strengthening accountability and resident trust. We expect to see further improvements once our dedicated Complaints Resolution Officers are in post, helping us move closer to full compliance and ensuring residents receive timely, fair, and effective resolutions.

Number of new Stage 1 Complaints: 202
Number of new Stage 2 Complaints: 84

The number of Stage 1and Stage 2 complaints remains similar to this time last year within the same quarter. This is still signifantly high however aligns with trends across the sector. Much work is going into root cause analysis to ensure that learning from complaints remains the absolute focus alongside a Strategic Improvement Plan for the Repairs and Maintenance service.

Average number of void properties: 175

We recognise that the number of void properties has increased to 175, up from 150, and while this is not where we want to be, we’re taking decisive action to turn things around. We're actively addressing these challenges through the implementation of a full strategic Repairs Improvement Plan. This plan is designed to enhance efficiency, reduce delays, and ultimately ensure that homes are ready for new residents more quickly. We’re confident that with these improvements underway, we’ll begin to see a reduction in voids and a better experience for our residents

Average days to re-let empty homes: 70

We’re pleased to report that the average number of days to re-let an empty home has reduced from 83.7 days in Q1 to 70 days in Q2. While we recognise there is still work to do to reach our target, this progress reflects a more focused approach and the positive impact of our dedicated New Tenancy Team, who have significantly improved the speed at which new residents are signed up and supported into their homes. We remain committed to further reducing re-let times and have a robust Repairs Improvement Plan in place ensuring repairs to empty homes are carried out effectively and meeting void standards so that they are ready for new residents as quickly and safely as possible.

Number of repairs completed: 13,487

The number of repairs completed this quarter is a marginal increase of 0.02% from the previous quarter. This is in line with our expectations for the quarter.

% of repairs completed on time: 74%

There has been another minor dip in performance this quarter (reduction from 76.4% to 74.0%). We continue to monitor this performance with our repairs contractor.

Average days to complete a repair: 16.2

The positive reduction is pleasing and continues to show an overall reduction in days to complete work which was reported previously as 27.4 days in Q1 2024/25.

Resident satisfaction with repairs: 77.28%

Resident satisfaction continues to be similar to previous quarters. We continue to review this with our contractor.

Gas Servicing Compliance: 99.96%

Performance continues to remain strong, at specific points during the period 100% compliance was achieved. This in part has been achieved by the utilisation of our Compliance Liaison Officer working closely with residents and stakeholders. This approach ensures our customers can remain safe in their homes. The Health and Safety of all customers is paramount.

Electrical Testing Compliance: 99.86%

Performance with Electrical Testing continues to improve as it did through 2024-25, with further improvements in Q2 of this year owing to utilisation of our robust access procedures and proactive approach.  We ended the quarter with just 0.14% of our domestic properties not having a vaild EICR. 

Fire Risk Assessment Compliance: 99.79%

Fire Risk Assessments remain of paramount impotantances to Manchester City Council. We currently have 1 property overdue out of 479 properties that required an FRA.  Increasing resources are a key factor in access for inspection works resulting in the vast majority of FRA inspections being undertaken within timescales. 

Average value of Rent Arrears: £2,885,343

The rent team have made tremendous inroads into supporting residents and overall collection remains strong, consistently exceeding 100%. However, the ongoing migration to Universal Credit, particularly affecting more vulnerable residents transitioning from legacy disability benefits has placed additional demands on the team, requiring increased support with claims .

Household incomes continue to be strained by the rising cost of living. Despite these challenges, targeted support from our Money Advice service and the Community Living Fund has helped mitigate the impact and provide essential assistance to those most affected.

Money Advice 'Gains' achieved for Residents this quarter: 227,470

The Money Advice team continues to provide vital support and guidance to residents. Despite a reduction in available funding from the support fund they have continued with their approach of maximising income for residents and have effectively targeted resources towards those most in need, particularly individuals struggling with the ongoing cost of living pressures.

To date, the team has secured financial gains of over £361466, helping to alleviate hardship and improve financial resilience for vulnerable households.

Community Living Fund grants paid: 27K

Although there has been a reduction in funding available for this financial year, the Money Advice team has continued to deliver impactful support. Of the £150,000 allocated circa £92K has been specifically directed towards helping residents manage cost of living pressures.

This funding has been successfully managed and delivered by the team, ensuring that support reaches those most in need during a challenging financial climate.

Number of Current Tenant Visits completed: 1,114 attempted & 81 no access (1,033 completed)

Over the summer months our Housing Officers have worked really hard on getting these home visits booked in and completed.  After filling most of our vacancies regrettfully we have lost a coupe of our officers to other roles within Housing Services.  We are undertaking further recruitment to fill these roles again.  We hope to maintain this momentum as we continue to work towards a fully staff Housing Officer team

Number of Estate Walkabouts completed: 155 this also includes 6 surgeries 

Over the summer months our Housing Officers have worked hard and spent considerable time on our estates, working with partners, elected members and residents to deal with environmental challeges.  We continue to post in advance dates/times of our public walkabouts and as part of our service improvement plan we will undertake a review to see how we can better engage our residents.  We are continuing to review how we provide timely feedback to residents on walkabout activities.  

Number of ASB cases resolved: 95

Our commitment to finding early resolution to ASB cases remains. The team work with complainants to gather evidence and raise issues with perpetrators to find ways to resolve the issues quickly and appropriately.

Number of Housing Support cases resolved: 24

We continue to work with our most vulnerable residents, working in partnership with statutory services and the voluntary sector to provide support. Cases do not follow a set pattern as each person's needs is different. The Housing Safeguarding Manager continues to review the cases and escalates where necessary to partners. We have strong partnership links in place, with regular catch ups in place with both Adult Services and the Community Mental Health Team.

Average time to Answer calls into the Contact Centre - 1m 26s

We’re proud to share the significant improvements in our Customer Service Centre, where the average call wait time has dropped from 13 minutes to just 1 minute and 28 seconds. This represents a reduction of over 90% compared to the same period last year, reflecting our commitment to delivering faster, more responsive service to our residents. It’s a real step forward in building trust and confidence in the support we offer every day.

% of Contact Centre calls answered - 95.03%

We’re really pleased to see a strong improvement in our call answer rate, which has increased from 81% in Quarter 4 to now 95%. This means we’re now connecting with significantly more residents, ensuring their queries are heard and responded to more quickly. It’s a great milestone in our journey of continuous improvement, and we remain committed to building on this progress to deliver even better service.

Satisfaction with Contact Centre service - 89%

Resident satisfaction has risen by 7% since Quater 4, this remains our priority and we will continue to work on our improvement plans for the Customer Service Centre and Reception Services, engaging with our residents to keep understanding what they want and how we can work together to continue to shape our services.

Number of new Stage 1 Complaints: 157
Number of new Stage 2 Complaints: 92

We’ve seen a clear reduction in complaints, which signals that we’re moving in the right direction. While this progress is encouraging, our commitment to learning from every complaint is so important. We continue to focus on delivering meaningful remediation actions and not just identifying solutions, but ensuring they’re implemented and sustained. This approach helps us build a stronger, more responsive service for our residents

% of complaints responded to 'in time' - 57%

The % of complaints responded to on time is an area where significant improvement is required. Whilst this performance is partially attributed to the volume of complaints received, it is still not an acceptable level of service to residents. We are in the process of introducing a new way of working with more dedicated resources assigned to our Complaints Handling model. More details to follow soon.

Average number of void properties: 150

The number of empty (void) properties remains higher than we would like. To address this, a dedicated project team has been established to focus on reducing the backlog and improving the way we manage empty homes. The priority is to turn properties around efficiently, rehouse residents promptly, and ensure they are offered a place they can truly call home. In turn, this means we are making best use of housing stock, minimising rental loss and ultimately ensuring the best outcomes for our residents.

Average days to re-let empty homes - 83.7

The average number of days to relet empty homes has reduced by 20% since Quarter 4 which is a positive move forward. This continues to remain a clear focus for the dedicated project team as does effective contract management to ensure that empty homes are turned around efficiently, without losing site of quality.

Number of repairs completed - 13,146

Whilst there has been a drop in the number of repairs completed in Q1, the total number of repairs completed exceeds the previously reported quarter average of 3,975 repairs completed per month (11,925 for the quarter). In this quarter there continues to be a drop in the WIP.

% of repairs completed on time: 0.764
Whilst there has been a minor dip in performance, this quarter’s performance is in line with the previous quarters record high of 77.2% and exceeds Q1 2024/25 by 11% (76.4% compared to 65.4% achieved in Q1 2024/25).

Average days to complete a repair - 18.5

The average repair time has stabilised and is similar to the previous quarter of 17 days and is an improvement on 2024/25 where the following average wait times where recorded, 27.4 days (Q1), 25.6 days (Q2) and 22.5 days (Q3).

Resident satisfaction with repairs : 0.776
Following the recently introduced service improvements, repairs service standard and WIP recovery plan, it is pleasing to report that whilst performance has stablished, this is yet again an increase from the previous quarter.

Gas Servicing Compliance - 99.98%

Performance continues to remain strong, with  0.2% of stock overdue a gas safety check. Embedding the use of the Councils ‘Section 54’ powers have contributed to affording access to carry out the Annual Gas Safety Check. This approach ensures our customers can remain safe in their home. The Health and Safety of all customers is paramount.

Electrical Testing Compliance - 99.57%

Performance with Electrical Testing continues to improve as it did through 2024-25, with further improvements in Q1 of this year owing to utilisation of Section 54 powers and increased resources. We ended the quarter with 0.43% of our properties not having a vaild EICR. 

Fire Risk Assessment Compliance - 99%

Fire Risk Assessments remain a paramount impotantances to manchester City Council.Reporting 99% compliance.  Increasing resources are a key factor in access for inspection works resulting in the vast majority of FRA inspections being undertaken within timescales. 

Average value of Rent Arrears: £2,585,856

Whilst overall collection remains high at over 100% The continued migration of Universal Credit amongst more vulnerable residents transferring from legacy disability benefits to Universal Credit has had an extra impact with more support required from the team. Household incomes continued to be impacted by the cost of living but support from money advice coupled with the community living fund support.    

Money Advice 'Gains' achieved for Residents this quarter: £107,022

The money advice team continue to offer advice and support to our residents and despite a decrease in the amount of funding available they have targeted the funding towards those most in need who are struggling with cost of living increases. Gains to date stand at over £107K

Community Living Fund grants paid: £65k

There is a decrease in the funding available for this financial year. Nevertheless of the £150K allocated 65K has been allocated to support residents through cost of living issues and has been successfully managed and delivered by the money advice team.   

Number of Current Tenant Visits completed: 254 completed & 23 No Access

We are now actively working on these visits and I expect the to see the number completed increasing.  Resident communication has gone out to homes explaining the purpose of these visits.  We have now filled the majority of our vacancies across our Housing Officer time which has increased our capacity to undertake more of these visits.

Number of Estate Walkabouts completed: 97

We have now filled the majority of our vacant Housing Officer roles and we are going through inductions for our newer colleagues.  Out schedule of public walkabouts is available online and we share the dates in advance via our social media channels.  We are also developing 'you said - we did to provide timely feedback to residents on walkabout activities  We continue to complete non published walkabouts to support the managment of our estates. 

Number of ASB cases resolved: 86

We continue to try to resolve cases as soon as possible to provide relief to complainants. The team manager reviews cases regularly and highlights actions to be taken on cases older than 12 weeks, to try to bring about a resolution.

Number of Housing Support cases resolved: 47

The 12 week framework is monitored by the team manager and he liaises with partners when there are delays or blockages in cases to try to ensure that the needs of our most vulnerable tenants are met as quickly as possible with the right support enabled.

Average time to Answer calls into the Contact Centre - 7 mins

Since the launch of our new approach to call handling back in January, we have seen significant improvements in our performance.

This is demonstrated in Q4 with a clear reduction in the average time residents are waiting for their call to be answered. We are extremely pleased that our residents are positively impacted by this which is indicated in the feedback received.

This is a journey of continuous improvement, and we are confident that performance will enhance further as we progress into the new financial year. 

Percentage of Contact Centre calls answered - 81%

The % of calls answered has improved by close to 20% in Q4 which is again attributed to the launch of our pilot and new approach to call handling.

This significant rise means that we are communicating with more of our residents on a daily basis and therefore able to effectively support them with their enquiries. 

Satisfaction with Contact Centre service (%) - 81.77

We are pleased to see the improvement in resident satisfaction and will continue to work on our transformation plan for the Customer Service and Reception Service with a resident first approach. 

Number of new Stage 1 Complaints - 260
Number of new Stage 2 Complaints - 122

There has been a continuous rise in the number of complaints in the year 2024-25, much of this is aligned to similar trends seen throughout the housing sector.

The significant increase in Q4 is also reflective of this with over 90% of complaints being repairs related. In order to address the areas of improvement within the repairs service, we are working collaboratively with our partnering contractor, Equans, introducing a Work In Progress (WIP) Recovery Plan and now have a dedicated Service Improvement Team 

Percentage of complaints responded to 'in time' - 52%

The % of complaints responded to on time is an area where significant improvement is required. Whilst this performance is partially attributed to the volume of complaints received, it is still not an acceptable level of service to residents.

We have therefore reviewed our Complaint Handling model and will soon be introducing a new way of working with dedicated resources assigned to complaints responses. Watch this space for more information. 

Average number of void properties - 145
Average days to re-let empty homes - 105

There has been some improvements with a clear reduction in the average number of void properties and slight downwards trend in the average number of days to re-let empty homes.

There is now a dedicated Empty Homes Action Plan which focusses on collaborative working and improved processes to ensure we making best use of housing stock, re-letting empty homes in a timely manner and maximising rental income, all with a resident first approach.

We are confident that the reduction in empty homes and time taken to re-let will continue to reduce as we progress into the new financial year.

Number of repairs completed - 15,664    

In response to legacy service challenges, a Work In Progress (WIP) recovery plan was launched in Q2. Repair completions are slightly ahead of what has been projected which is positive and there will continue to be a focus to increase output and productivity to reduce WIP.

% of repairs completed on time - 77.2%

In response to the recently introduced service improvements as outlined in earlier updates, performance continues to show improvement with the percentage of repairs completed in time improving from 72% in Q3 to 77.2% in Q4.

Average days to complete a repair - 17

Following the recently introduced service improvements and repairs service standard, performance has evidenced improvement with the average time to complete a repair improving from 22.57 days in Q3 to 17 days in Q4.

Resident satisfaction with repairs - 76.63%

Following the recently introduced service improvements, repairs service standard and WIP recovery plan, performance has evidenced improvement with transactional resident satisfaction having improving from 61.51% in Q3 to 76.63% in Q4.

Gas Servicing Compliance (%) - 99.78%

Performance continues to remain strong, with less than 0.22% of stock overdue a gas safety check.  Embedding the use of the Councils ‘Section 54’ powers have contributed to affording access to carry out the Annual Gas Safety Check. This approach ensures our residents can remain safe in their home. The Health and Safety of all residents is paramount.

Electrical Testing Compliance (%) - 96.41%

Performance with Electrical Testing continued to improve through Qtr.4 with further improvements expected during Qtr.1. 2025. 0.31% increase from Jan to March, owing to utilisation of Section 54 powers and increased resource, ending Qtr4 at 96.41%.

Fire Risk Assessment Compliance (%) - 100%

Fire Risk Assessments remain consistent reporting 100% compliance.  Increasing resources were a key factor in access for inspection works resulting in all FRA inspections being undertaken within timescales.

Average value of Rent Arrears (£) - £2,717,253.88

Whilst the average value of rent arrears increased over the year the team successfully managed to pull things back from a real spike in arrears at the Christmas period due to the seasonal challenges of residents struggling more intensively at this time of year and despite the challenges of continued UC migration and cost of living challenges for our residents.

As rents increase there is also the challenge of collecting additional rent from already squeezed households. However despite all these challenges rent collection ended at over 100 %.

Money Advice 'Gains' achieved for residents this quarter - £165,385

The Money Matters team has continued to successfully deliver results for residents in securing benefits and supporting with debt advice and overall gains running alongside allocation of community living fund stand at over £450k.

Community Living Fund grants paid - £154,865

A total of £300K in Community living was allocated to MCC Housing Services residents to support with the cost of living crisis. The full amount of funding was allocated this financial year owing to the successful campaigns and work carried out by the Money Matters team.

Number of Current Resident Visits completed - 24

We have softly launched our bi-annual visits and plan to do some resident communication around them in Summer 2025.  

Number of Estate Walkabouts completed - 131

We have now completed our recruitment to fill our vacant housing officer roles, with new colleagues expected to join us late spring/early summer. 

Our schedule of published walkabouts is available on our website, and we continue to complete non published walkabouts alongside these to support our management of our estates.  As part of our Service Development Plan we will be undertaken a review of these walkabouts.

Number of ASB cases resolved - 45

The team are managing large caseloads and continue to attempt to successfully resolve cases within 12 week timeframes where possible. This provides a focus and encourages staff to look at all options to resolve a case and continue to look for solutions.  

Number of Housing Support cases resolved - 48

The team are working to a 12 week turnaround on all cases. Although some cases can't be resolved within this period it provides a framework for staff and for HSO cases helps clients to focus and aim for resolutions within a set period. For the HMCs this helps them to engage with support services and provide timescales in an attempt to facilitate the correct support for the tenants. 

Repairs completed on time - 67%

Although there has been an improvement in performance between Q3 and Q4, the results are below target. This is due to the volume of emergency and urgent repairs.  

During the year nearly 60% of repairs raised were treated as emergency or urgent, with a target to complete within 24 hours or three days. This high demand means many of the operative’s diaries cannot be ‘appointed’ to general repairs, as their schedules need to be kept open at least 60% of the time to react to emergency and urgent repairs.  

In the long term, this has a negative impact for residents who have non-emergency repairs, as they cannot get an appointment easily.  

For that reason, our resident-chaired Your Voice Group for ‘Home’ has been reviewing current repairs performance and co-creating a new service standard for us to work to. This will focus on providing a realistic and achievable model, which meets the needs of residents better. 

Days to relet empty homes - 80

The number of re-let days has increased in Q4, due to a range of operational factors affecting performance.  

The Senior Leadership Team reviews void performance weekly and continues to identify barriers to re-letting homes, taking proactive action wherever possible. 

Contact Centre calls answered - 61%

During Q4 performance improved and the service started to stabilise. Several new staff were employed to fill vacant positions, and a robust induction process was followed to get them ready to handle calls effectively.  

Although wait times and abandon rates continue to be a challenge we are working hard to overcome, the volume of compliments received in Q4 was great.  

Many customers took the time to compliment the advisor who helped them.  

Complaints responded to in 10 days - 87%

Further performance improvement was made in Q4. Overall, this performance measure is above target, and we will continue to aim for as close to 100% as possible.  

Income Collection - 100%

Performance this quarter was above target for the first time this year. This is due to the team receiving more training on how to use the data and insight provided by the ‘Rent Sense’ system, and indicative data for Q1 24/25 is that this trend will continue.   

Residents satisfied with repairs - 79%

Performance increased by 1% but remains well below target. Several key trends and issues have been identified by the feedback team and these have been shared with Equans.  

Work is underway to tackle some of these key issues and this work will be included on the agenda of our Your Voice ‘Home’, resident’s group, which will look at opportunities to increase Resident Satisfaction with Repairs.   

Gas Servicing - 99%

Performance continues to remain strong, whilst management continually looks to evolve the service to keep residents safe in their homes 

Electrical Testing - 96%

Following a recent service review additional resources were deployed to increase the rate of electrical safety testing. As a result, service delivery has improved. 

Fire Risk Assessment - 100%

The current approach to fire safety performs well. Despite this, we continue to look for opportunities to deliver a safer, more efficient service. 

Repairs completed on time

This stands at 93%, the trend of improving performance against target continues.

EQUANS and MCC IT teams will be focussing on improving reporting reliability.  This will be further enhanced through the impending appointment of the Asset Data Analyst.

Resident satisfaction with repairs

This stands at 78% and there is evidence of a gradual trend of increasing resident satisfaction.

Surveys are carried out the day after the repair and details of dissatisfaction are shared with EQUANS on a daily basis to resolve.

Dissatisfaction is analysed to identify trends and target areas for service improvement. A new role has been created to focus on resident feedback and learning.

Complaints responded to within 10 days

This stands at 47%. We came into Q4 with continuing staffing issues which has affected our response times.

We move out of Q4 fully staffed in this area with a much improved performance on complaints.

The customer experience team have stepped in to support which has reduced the number outstanding significantly.

Time to relet empty homes

This stands at 105 days.

At the end of March 2023 there were 126 empty properties. This is a decrease of over 100 since August 2022 and a further improvement of 39 on the end of Q3.

Calls answered by contact centre

This stands at 63%, calls answered has continued to decrease in Q4 as we have struggled with staffing levels.

In March we recruited 9 new advisors who will finish their training in May.

This will greatly improve our call answering power and significantly reduce our wait time.

Income collection

This stands at 99%, which is below target but remains static.

Rent collection has been a challenge over the past year and the impact of austerity and the cost of living crisis is having a detrimental affect. The level of outstanding debt on disrepair cases that we are working to resolve is also having an impact.

Money advice capacity has been increased within the team and there has been an increase in the support fund for struggling tenants to mitigate the impact of the rise in the cost of living.