Blog by RWP Managing Director Les Warren

"Do we have vulnerable tenants? On the face of it the question asked was uncontroversial. One of our contractors asked a colleague and I whether we had a list of vulnerable customers. Even though RWP works exclusively with tenants who have support needs, we didn’t have such a list and importantly we won’t be compiling one any time soon. 

There are problems with the term ‘vulnerable’. Firstly, it creates a sense of ‘otherness’. It also has the effect of bunching everyone with a vulnerability into a single population, regardless of the nature of what they need help with.

Any organisation like RWP that aims to personalise services needs to be wary of that. For me, the most significant issue is that it assumes that vulnerability is a static state. In reality situations or even life events can create circumstances of risk for individuals. We should be trying to unpick the situation and its impact on the tenant – the result is that it will drive a much better understanding of what service is required, and how it should be delivered.

The Housing Ombudsman has announced that his agency’s next Spotlight investigation will focus on what it means to be a vulnerable tenant in social housing. I’ll be interested in how he approaches the topic.

Occasionally, I’ve heard people in the housing sector comment that getting responsive repairs right isn’t rocket science. Defining success might not be rocket science, but getting it right consistently can be elusive. Some of the basics of good repairs delivery – responsiveness, right first time, customer service and communication – are universal irrespective of the customer profile.

When we probed the repairs contractor on why he was asking for the list, we discovered that the motivation for the list was more practical than it sounded. He was mainly interested in access arrangements, preferred appointment times, who to confirm the appointment with and whether work could be completed when tenants were at their home. None of those questions would be resolved by a list, but by us continuing to work together to understand the individual needs and circumstances of our tenants. And that’s why we won’t be developing one."