Working with Richmond Housing Partnership to improve their rent collection policy

Richmond Housing Partnership (RHP) is the housing association with the largest stock of social housing in the borough. In 2017 we assembled evidence of problems with RHP’s treatment of vulnerable tenants who had fallen behind with their rent and met RHP senior management to discuss closer co-operation to improve its procedure for recovering rent arrears from our most vulnerable clients. Changes were agreed to allow our advisers more time to help vulnerable clients deal with their rent arrears and to improve co-operation between our advisers and RHP staff. This initiative has resulted in RHP staff showing greater flexibility in dealing with vulnerable clients who are struggling to pay off rent arrears. This joint working is open to review at regular intervals and  following delays in RHP’s contractors repairing boilers that broke down in March 2018 can be extended to review of RHP’s repairs service as well as its rent collection.