Frequently asked questions

How do I apply for a Livin home or bungalow?

We advertise all of our available homes on our Find A Home page, simply visit this page for more information.

Before you can place a bid on one of our homes, you must first have an active account with the relevant Choice Based Lettings Scheme. Almost all our homes are located in County Durham and therefore are allocated through the Durham Key Options scheme. Durham Key Options (DKO) is a partnership between Durham County Council and landlords across County Durham.

We have a small number of homes which are located outside Durham, these are all advertised through Tees Valley HomeFinder, Hartlepool HomeSearch and Darlington HomeSearch; They are similar to Durham Key Options but we do not process applications registered for these schemes. If you wish to register an application for homes advertised in this area, please apply directly.

Once your application is approved, you will then be able to bid on homes that meet your needs. You can access the application form directly by visiting the relevant Choice Based Lettings system.

How long will it take for my application to be processed?

We aim to start processing your application within 10 working days. If we require any further information after this point, we will contact you to ask for this. Once we have received all the required information we will notify you of our decision within 20 days, and if accepted we will activate your account. You can also check your application status online by logging into the DKO portal.

How can I get involved with Livin and help to shape services?

To find out more about the different ways you can get involved, please visit our getting involved section.

Can I apply to buy my home under Right to Buy?

Tenants who have been with Livin since before the transfer from Sedgefield Council in 2009 may have the “Preserved Right to Buy” their property. Full details of the scheme are available on the Government Right to Buy website. If you are thinking of applying, please contact us.

Can I apply to buy my home under Right to Acquire?

If you have been a tenant for 3 or more years you may have the right to buy your property under the Right to Acquire scheme. Full details of the scheme are available on the Government Right to Acquire website. If you are thinking of applying, please contact us.

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Complaints and Feedback in 2023/24

We know sometimes things go wrong and when they do, we aim to put them right as quickly as possible and learn from our mistakes so we can do better in the future.

Here’s how we are doing…

Performance

93.94% Queries Dealt With At First Point Of Contact

100% Overall Satisfaction With Customer Experience

Tenant Satisfaction Measure

48.09%

Satisfaction with the landlord’s approach to handling of complaints (TP09)

8.7

Stage 1 complaints received per 1,000 units (CH01)

0.9

Stage 2 complaints received per 1,000 units (CH01)

100%

Stage 1 complaints responded to in target time (CH02)

100%

Stage 2 complaints responded to in target time (CH02)

Key stats

218 Compliments Received And 26 Service Improvements

The year in review…

Putting our customers at the heart of what we do, we have invested in improving processes so we continue to deliver reliable, convenient, and easy-to-access services that you can influence and trust us to deliver to your satisfaction.

In July 2023, over 1,100 of you took part in our first TSM perception survey via an independent research company. The survey covered six main themes, including repairs, building safety, effective complaint-handling, respectful and helpful tenant engagement, and responsible neighbourhood management. The results were overwhelmingly positive and mirrored the aspirations we had hoped for when developing our business strategy. An encouraging 89.69% of you said you were satisfied with our services as a landlord. Full details of the survey are published on our website and are available in a non-digital format on request. This annual report also includes all TSM results by theme.

The Housing Ombudsman published a new Complaint Handling Code during the year, to support tenants to have their complaint resolved fairly and promptly. In response to this we have updated our complaints policy and procedures and invested in the resources of the complaints team, to ensure tenants receive a full and prompt response to their complaint. We also published our first annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report.

We have widely shared our complaints process on social media, on our website and via a leaflet drop to our customers without access to the internet. If you would like to know more about how to make a complaint or any of the documents mentioned on this page, click on the link below or call us on 0800 587 4538 for more information.

Customer Feedback and Complaints | www.livin.co.uk

Housing Ombudsman Service

You can contact the Housing Ombudsman at any stage of the complaints process for advice and guidance. You can contact them in the following ways:

Email: info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 111 3000
Write: Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 152, Liverpool, L33 7WQ

We listened (Complaints)

You were unhappy with the lack of information given during the planned works programme about what you can expect during the process and our satisfaction levels were lower than expected.

We acted

We developed a Frequently Asked Questions sheet which is provided to you at the start of the work, which includes what you can expect and gives information for the teams you need to contact. Shortly afterwards we have seen a significant rise of 11% in satisfaction from 84% to 95% and this has been maintained for the rest of the financial year.

We listened (Complaints)

You told us that you were unhappy that it was difficult to get accurate updates and information about repairs and defects reported on new build homes.

We acted

We improved our customer contact system and process to ensure that all information regarding repairs to a new build home can be seen by our call centre and we can now give you accurate updates and progress on your repairs at first point of contact.

We have not received any complaints regarding this issue since this system improvement.

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