In July 2025, we celebrated five years since the creation of our in-house repairs service. The early years were challenging, post Covid
due to difficulties resourcing, the rising costs of materials and a backlog of repairs – all of which impacted our residents’ experience of the service. However, five years later we remain working hard to implement improvements and make Barnet Homes’ Repairs a service that our residents can rely on.
Making improvements to your repairs service
In 2024/25, the Barnet Homes Resident Board approved a Repairs Improvement Plan, developed by senior managers to address the recurring issues for residents that had been identified from surveys and complaints (e.g. delays with follow-on works and appointment reschedule issues). Recent improvements include:
- Recruiting more operatives to ensure we are resourced to deliver repairs in time.
- Introducing a dedicated team to deliver emergency repairs to ensure that repairs of the most urgent nature would be prioritised.
- To support a ‘right first time’ resident experience: the follow-on works process was re-designed, new practices were set for appointment reschedules and operative diary management practices were introduced to reduce unnecessary or wasted visits.
- Introducing a new framework to improve the management of subcontractors who complete specialist repairs.
- A refresh of the Responsive Repairs Policy, including revising target timeframes for non-emergency repairs with residents so that repairs of a more urgent nature are prioritised e.g. a containable leak is now prioritised over a dripping tap.
- Delivering customer care training to operatives tailored to focus on what we know residents like and dislike about the way that operatives work in their homes e.g. the need to wear shoe covers and provide next steps if a repair is not completed.