Local affordable homes

Rent increase letters

All customers should now have received their letters about the April rent increase. These letters detail the exact amount of your individual rent changes, including any service charges where they apply. 

If you haven't yet received your letter, please contact our customer support team who will be able to send you a copy. 

If you claim the housing element of Universal Credit, you will receive a ‘Confirm your housing costs’ to-do item in your online journal at the beginning of April. You will not need to notify Universal Credit before the to-do item has appeared.

Please keep hold of your letter outlining your new rent charge so you can complete the to-do item, once it has appeared.

To find out more and read our frequently asked questions, please visit our website page on changes to our rent charges. 

Announcing our new CEO

We’re pleased to share that Mark Mayler has been appointed as the new chief executive of Selwood Housing Group. Mark will take up the role on 1 June 2026, following the announcement that our current CEO, Barry Hughes, will be stepping down.

Some customers may already know Mark from his time as Selwood Housing’s chief financial officer over the past five years. During that time he has helped strengthen our finance services and led improvements in our IT, digital and data systems to support the organisation and our customers.

Mark also brings wider experience from across the housing sector, including board roles with other housing associations, alongside a long career with commercial organisations including BT, RAC, Lloyds Banking Group and Unite Students.

Speaking about his new role, Mark said:

“I’m really looking forward to working alongside our staff, partners and involved customers to keep improving outcomes for our customers and communities. Over the next few months I’ll be taking time to meet colleagues and stakeholders and to listen to what matters most to them. As an organisation providing more than 7,200 affordable homes locally, I’m proud to be leading Selwood Housing into the future.”

Mark will work closely with Barry Hughes over the coming months to ensure a smooth handover, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank Barry for his 20 years of dedication and leadership at Selwood Housing. If you want to find out more, visit this news post. 

Grounds maintenance

As the weather improves and we spend more time outdoors, our grounds maintenance service helps keep shared green spaces looking their best. Selwood Housing cares for open spaces, communal gardens and outdoor areas across our communities, helping to keep them tidy, safe and enjoyable for everyone.

Our grounds maintenance contractor, John O'Conner, carries out seasonal work from March to November. This includes grass cutting, hedge trimming, looking after shrubs and borders, weeding, and maintaining paths and other hard surfaces. The grass cutting service is delivered as a 'cut and drop' approach rather than 'cut and collect', so you may see grass cuttings left on green spaces after the team has visited.

You can see when the team is expected in your area by checking the online schedule on the John O’Conner website. While exact dates can’t always be guaranteed due to weather and seasonal demand, it’s a helpful guide to when maintenance is planned and what you can expect from the service.

Learning from complaints

We view complaints as an important opportunity to learn and improve the services we provide to all our customers. Listening to feedback helps us understand where things may have gone wrong and what we can do better in the future.

We regularly monitor complaint trends and share learning across our teams so we can continue to improve our approach.

As a result of customer feedback, we have:

• Reviewed the tree policy communications: We’ve strengthened the advice provided to customers about our tree policy, including updates to our website and improved customer support scripting when we receive questions via the phone.

• Clarified antisocial behaviour expectations: In response to feedback from a recent customer focus group, our website was updated to provide clearer guidance on what customers can expect from our services around antisocial behaviour. These changes also clarified the definition of antisocial behaviour and the criteria for taking action, helping to set more realistic expectations and improve understanding.

• Caretaking service plan: Implementation of a caretaking service plan is underway following a scrutiny review of service standards.

Our complaints process follows the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, and we regularly review our performance to ensure we continue meeting its requirements. One customer who has recently been through our complaints process said, "This is now resolved. My neighbourhood manager was very helpful and proactive." Another customer said, "I'm happy with the outcome overall and appreciate the time and effort taken to address my complaint."

If you would like to find out more about our complaints process, please visit our website, or email complaints@selwoodhousing.com.

Home contents insurance available

Did you know we offer a home contents insurance scheme? All customers are eligible to apply, there is no excess to pay and premiums can be repaid alongside your rent.

Terms, conditions, limits and exclusions apply. Find out more!

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