Home » Insights » Why resident experience is the foundation of successful housing maintenance
By Steven Shippey, Divisional Customer Service Manager at WPS
Maintenance projects take place in people’s homes, not just on assets. Behind every programme is a resident managing disruption, adjusting routines and placing trust in those delivering the work. Therefore, successful housing maintenance is underpinned by a robust understanding of how work is experienced by the people living through it. Treating residents as passive recipients of information is simply not enough.
At WPS, we support one in seven social homes nationally and see resident experience as fundamental to success. By embedding resident liaison into delivery from the outset, we ensure projects reflect lived reality, not just programme assumptions. This is equally important for housing providers as poor access leads to reprogrammed works, higher delivery costs and increased resident dissatisfaction.
Our structured, effective resident engagement framework helps maximise the impact of investment at a time when maintenance programmes are becoming more complex and financial and compliance pressures continue to grow. Developed in partnership with our clients, the framework reinforces the importance of empathy, clarity and follow-through in every interaction. It places particular emphasis on recognising that how issues are handled is just as important as how quickly they are resolved.
Putting people first
Proactive resident liaison is woven into every touchpoint of our services, to ensure we’re considering tenants’ needs at every step. Our approach is shaped through close working with TPAS, and our teams are TPAS‑accredited across the business, reinforcing a shared commitment to transparency, accountability and meaningful engagement.
At the outset of projects, our teams partner simultaneously with clients and residents – to help best understand the places we serve and build an accurate picture of each household. This often highlights differences between recorded information and lived reality, allowing delivery to be adapted accordingly. This understanding shapes how works are planned, from adjusting sequencing around school holidays or working patterns to providing practical support where needed, helping to minimise disruption throughout delivery.
On a recent programme with Stevenage Borough Council, early engagement identified that many residents were only available during non-standard hours. As a result, our teams adjusted their working patterns, with consistent liaison officers acting as a single point of contact and responding quickly to queries and concerns. As a result, missed appointments reduced and resident satisfaction scores improved over the life of the project. Visible, accessible liaison is key. Residents need to know who to speak to, what will happen and when. Clear expectations from the outset, followed by consistent delivery, build confidence and reduce complaints.
Resident experience also extends beyond individual households. In retrofit delivery, neighbouring properties often receive different measures, which can create confusion if not managed carefully. On one recent project, WPS extended engagement to the wider street, not just participating homes. Residents were informed about what work was happening locally and why, through a mix of formats tailored to different needs.
This included drop‑in sessions that allowed residents – particularly older tenants or those less digitally connected – to ask questions and receive information in a social, accessible setting, alongside regular broadcast updates such as text messages and local WhatsApp groups about deliveries or scaffold access. This tailored approach reduced speculation, improved understanding and created a more predictable experience, helping residents feel reassured, informed and confident to provide access.
Embedding resident voice into delivery
Beyond day‑to‑day communication, resident experience also shapes how programmes are delivered over time. When resident voice is embedded into decision-making, it directly improves the quality and sustainability of outcomes. We capture feedback through structured surveys at key stages of delivery, alongside ongoing, informal engagement through resident liaison teams. This provides both quantitative and qualitative insight into resident experience, covering communication, reliability, quality and overall service.
This data is actively used. Resident satisfaction is tracked at project and programme level, with regular reporting enabling teams to identify trends, respond quickly to emerging issues and continuously improve delivery. Importantly, this extends beyond WPS teams to include the supply chain, with resident feedback used to inform performance across all delivery partners.
Alongside formal measurement, more innovative engagement approaches are also being adopted across programmes. On long‑running schemes, particularly in dense urban environments, WPS has used a range of engagement methods, including WhatsApp broadcast messaging and evening sessions, adapting these as delivery progresses. As programmes evolve, teams continually refine their approach to ensure engagement remains meaningful, proportionate and manageable for residents.
A more focused resident champion model was introduced, with two champions representing different blocks and meeting regularly with the project team. This created a reliable, trusted route for sharing clear and consistent updates alongside formal communications, strengthening understanding and helping residents stay informed throughout delivery.
The lesson is clear – effective engagement must be proportionate, targeted and responsive to context. What matters most is not the label attached to an approach, but how well it reflects residents’ lived experience and capacity to engage.
Ensuring a positive resident journey
A key area where we have made significant progress is reducing the burden placed on residents throughout the delivery process. In retrofit programmes particularly, residents can be required to accommodate multiple surveys and appointments before works even begin. Recognising this, we work to streamline this journey by reducing the number of visits through combined assessments and improved coordination across teams.
This has significantly reduced the number of touchpoints required, minimising disruption and making the process more manageable for residents.
Understanding vulnerability and safeguarding
Through regular, trusted contact, resident liaison teams act as an ear to the ground, identifying where additional support may be needed. This is particularly important in more complex environments, such as schemes with a high proportion of vulnerable residents, where engagement approaches must be adapted.
In these contexts, communication may need to be routed through carers or support workers, access carefully managed, and delivery timelines adjusted to reflect individual circumstances. The ability to recognise issues early and respond quickly is essential to ensuring residents are supported appropriately.
Successful housing maintenance will increasingly be defined by how well resident experience is integrated throughout the project lifecycle. Programmes designed around lived experience deliver better outcomes, today and for the future. This includes better planning, fewer unnecessary touchpoints and a more intelligent use of data to understand not just what has been delivered, but how it has been experienced. At WPS, this is not a future ambition – it is how we are continuing to evolve. When residents are treated as partners, everyone benefits.
