Local affordable homes

Grounds maintenance news

Our grounds maintenance service is the management of the grass, trees, hedges and shrubs within our communities. It operates from March through to November.

We appointed our new contractor, John O’Conner, in autumn 2022. They have been busy getting to know the area while contending with unusual summer weather and staff shortages. With above-average seasonal rainfall, grass has flourished and slowed down the speed of services. Earlier this year, they carried out a monthly cut in most areas but couldn't reach every location.

However, we're confident grass cutting is now back on track, and we are working with John O'Conner to ensure a more consistent service. In July, 95% of the work was completed on target. In future, we’re aiming to provide two cuts every month, weather permitting.

Did you know?

Customers regularly ask why the grass cuttings aren't collected. Keeping footpaths clear is our priority and we always clear clippings after strimming. In other locations, leaving the clippings is much better - they’re a natural fertiliser and protect against weeds.

We also often receive customer calls pointing out we’ve ‘missed’ a particular area. What isn’t always clear to the customer is that the work is still underway! It can take 2-3 days for a job to be completed on large estates, so please keep that in mind.

A staggering 334,817 sqm (approx. 83 acres) of grass is cut by John O’Conner for our customers each month. That's the equivalent of around 42 football pitches! As you can imagine, this is a huge task to coordinate and a little different to the logistics of mowing a typical garden lawn.

When will they visit?

John O'Conner has a dedicated website where you can check when they're due in your area. Due to busy periods and weather conditions, we cannot give exact dates when work will be carried out, but you can use the schedule as a guide.

Visit our website to find out more about our grounds maintenance service and find tips on caring for your garden.

Customer satisfaction with our services

Listening to our customers is an essential part of improving and delivering our services. As well as our Rant & Rave SMS tool, we run quarterly customer ‘perception’ surveys by phone to understand what customers think of our homes and services. The results help us see how we’re doing and where we need to make improvements.

What you said

Our June perception survey results found that 87% of customers were satisfied with the overall service we provide. The same number were satisfied that their homes were safe, and 84% said their homes were well-maintained.

Feedback on our repairs service was also very positive and has improved since the previous survey. Where customers had received a repair in the last 12 months, 82% were satisfied with the service and 85% said they were happy with the time taken to carry out a repair.

Customers also said that we were easy to deal with (92%), treated them fairly & with respect (86%), and made a positive contribution to their neighbourhood.

There were two areas where customers were less satisfied - how we deal with anti-social behaviour (65%) and our handling of complaints (41%). While both are issues that are often difficult to resolve to everyone's satisfaction, the feedback in this survey will help us identify where improvements are needed.

Our market research company, Acuity, will conduct the next survey in early September. The details below will help you identify a call from them.

What number to look out for?

If you receive a call from Acuity, the number displayed will be 01273 093939, it's a Brighton area code.

When might I be called? 

Acuity will make calls between 9am and 8pm, Monday to Friday, and between 10am and 6pm on Saturday.

If you are one of the customers contacted, we hope you’ll be happy to take part – your feedback is vital. The survey results will be reported to the Regulator of Social Housing in 2024, and you will be able to see how we've done.

To let us know about a good or bad experience with us, or to suggest an improvement, click the button below to go to our feedback form.

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