Housing Repairs Pilot

Completion vs Resolution: Systems Change in Social Housing

One council. One pilot.

A new way to measure what genuinely changes for residents.

A repair can be marked as completed on a system while the resident is still living with the problem.

The appointment happened.

The operative attended.

The job was closed.

The performance figure improved.

But perhaps the water returned.

The damp reappeared.

The repair created another problem.

The resident had to make further calls, wait for more appointments or miss another day of work.

The family may still not feel safe in their home.

Completion is an operational measure. Resolution is a human outcome.

Moving Forward Against the Odds CIC is seeking one forward-thinking UK council or social housing provider to help us develop and test a human-centred social housing repairs pilot.

The gap between completion and resolution

Operational measures are essential. Housing providers need to understand demand, response times, costs, workloads and whether repairs are being completed within agreed timescales.

But a completed job does not always tell us whether the resident’s problem was genuinely resolved.

A repair journey can appear successful on a performance dashboard while leaving the resident with:

A recurring or unresolved problem
A home that is still unsafe or cannot be used normally
Multiple appointments and repeat visits
Lost working hours or caring time
Unclear or contradictory communication
Additional stress, inconvenience and financial pressure
Reduced confidence in their landlord
The feeling that nobody has understood the full impact

If we only measure repairs completed, we will become better at completing repairs.

If we also measure resolution, we have a better chance of improving people’s lives.

What would human-centred resolution measure?

Our proposed approach would complement existing repairs data and Tenant Satisfaction Measures by exploring the lived outcome of an individual repair journey.

We want to examine:

Genuine resolution: Was the underlying problem fixed, and did it remain resolved after the job was closed?
Safety and normal use: Was the resident’s ability to live safely and normally in their home restored?
Time and disruption: How many calls, appointments, repeat visits and working or caring hours did the resident experience?
Communication: Did the resident receive clear, accurate and timely information?
Respect and involvement: Did the resident feel listened to, believed and included in decisions affecting their home?
Trust and dignity: What happened to the resident’s confidence in their landlord and sense of dignity throughout the process?
Wellbeing: What effect did the repair journey have on the resident and their household?

This is not about replacing operational performance measures or creating unnecessary bureaucracy.

It is about joining operational information with human experience so that housing providers can see more clearly what is working, what is creating repeat demand and where apparently completed repairs are not producing lasting outcomes.

The proposed social housing repairs pilot

Moving Forward Against the Odds CIC would work collaboratively with one council or social housing provider to co-design a practical and proportionate pilot.

The pilot could include:

Selecting a defined repair type, geographical area or sample of repair journeys.
Mapping what currently happens from the first report through to closure and follow-up.
Listening to residents, frontline staff, repairs teams, surveyors and contractors.
Developing a small set of measurable resolution and resident-impact indicators.
Following up after closure to establish whether repairs remained resolved.
Comparing operational completion data with residents’ lived outcomes.
Identifying opportunities to reduce repeat visits, avoidable complaints and unnecessary disruption.
Producing practical learning and recommendations for future service development.

The final scope, timescale and evaluation approach would be developed with the participating organisation.

Why take on the challenge?

This pilot offers one housing provider the opportunity to lead a constructive conversation about what excellent social housing repairs should achieve.

It could help the participating organisation:

Gain deeper insight into the causes of repeat repairs and complaints
Understand the cumulative cost of appointments, delays and unsuccessful interventions
Identify where communication and information systems break down
Strengthen relationships between residents, staff and contractors
Improve the quality of resident-experience evidence
Develop more meaningful measures of repair success
Demonstrate visible leadership in human-centred service improvement

The purpose is not to assign blame. It is to learn, test and improve together.

The wider housing challenge

The Regulator of Social Housing already measures important areas including satisfaction with repairs, completion times, safety, communication and respectful treatment.

The Housing Ombudsman’s Repairing Trust report has also called for social housing repairs to be approached with greater respect, empathy, transparency and understanding of residents’ needs.

We believe the next opportunity is to bring these elements together at the level of the individual repair journey and ask a simple but important question:

What genuinely changed for the person living in the home?

Who will take on the challenge?

We are looking for one forward-thinking council or social housing provider in the UK willing to explore this pilot with us.

We would particularly welcome conversations with:

Council and housing-association leaders
Directors and heads of repairs, assets and housing services
Repairs and performance professionals
Resident-experience and engagement teams
Data, insight and service-improvement teams
Housing scrutiny panels and councillors
Contractors and strategic housing partners
Researchers, evaluators and potential funders

You do not need to have all the answers. We are looking for a partner with curiosity, openness and the willingness to examine what happens beyond the point at which a repair is marked complete.

One council. One pilot. A chance to redefine what good looks like.

Every repair request concerns a home and the human being living behind the front door.

Together, we can explore a system in which success is measured not only by the number of jobs closed, but by whether safety, normality, trust and dignity were restored.

Could your organisation be the one to take on the challenge?

About Moving Forward Against the Odds CIC

Moving Forward Against the Odds CIC is a community interest company committed to human dignity, preventative wellbeing and developing human-centred approaches that help people feel heard, supported and able to move forward.

We believe public services should be measured not only by the processes they complete, but by what genuinely changes for the people they serve.

Frequently asked questions

Is this intended to replace existing housing performance measures?

No. The proposed framework would complement existing operational and regulatory measures by connecting them with the lived outcome of individual repair journeys.

Who can become the pilot partner?

We are seeking one UK local authority, council housing service or social housing provider with the leadership support and operational access needed to explore the approach properly.

What would the pilot measure?

The final measures would be co-designed with the partner. They are likely to include lasting resolution, safety, repeat visits, resident time and disruption, communication, trust, dignity and wellbeing.

How do we express an interest?

Please contact Moving Forward Against the Odds CIC through our website and include your name, organisation, role and why you are interested in exploring the pilot.

Talk to us about the pilot