The council's communication and accessibility group carried out a review of the letter that is sent to tenants if are in arrears with their rent.
Who are the communication and accessibility group?
The communication and accessibility group was created to provide an opportunity for tenants, leaseholders and the housing service to work together to:
- inform and influence decision making
- promote learning
- share best practice
The group is responsible for areas including:
- developing communication and accessibility standards for the housing service
- reviewing information produced for tenants to ensure that it is easy to understand and accessible in different formats
- contributing to the ongoing review of the housing section of the website to ensure it is easy to understand and contains the information needed by tenants
- identifying barriers which prevent tenants accessing housing services and making recommendations for improvements
Why did the communication and accessibility group choose to look at this letter?
Historically a number of rent arrears letters have been developed, and the rents manager approached the group as they felt the letters would benefit from being reviewed by the group.
Some group members shared their experience of receiving this letter previously and talked about the impact it had on them:
"The original rent arrears letter made you feel like ‘give us your money or you are out'. It sent me straight into panic mode and affected my mental health and left me in floods of tears".
During the first meeting group members expressed ‘shock’ at an old rent arrears letter which had been used previously. Group members felt the visuals used and the tone of the language contained within the letter would benefit from being updated.
A member of the group explained:
"I saw this letter and thought this is horrible. I tried to put myself in someone else’s shoes who received this letter and I would have been distraught. If I had to contact someone on the back of receiving this letter, I would have felt judged".
How did the group change the content and structure of the letter and why?
Part of the ethos of the communication and accessibility group is to create materials for tenants which include:
- easy to understand language
- use of images and icons
- use of boxes to break up the information, making it clearer
- build in where people can go for support and advice on matters which may be affecting them
- information about My Chesterfield
How does the group feel about the work they have done to improve the rent arrears letter?
As a group they are very proud of the work they have done with the revised letter and pleased with how the final version looks. One of the best things about it is the focus on help and support for people who may find it difficult to ask for help and feel frightened that they may lose their home’.
In addition to changing the letter there have been changes to the rent escalation policies and again the information which has been written for the website follows the tenant communication standards.
Statement from Lindsey (Rents and Revenues Manager):
"The Communication and Accessibility Group carried out a full review of our rent arrears letters, improving both the wording and overall presentation. The revised letters are now clearer, more dynamic, and up to date, ensuring information is easy to understand and accessible to all tenants. The new format also enables tenants to clearly see which stage of the recovery process they are at, while prominently highlighting where they can access support and advice. This will strengthened transparency, improve engagement, and made it easier for tenants to take informed action. I would like to thank the group for all their help and support with this project. I look forward to working with you all on future projects as well’.
Councillor Jean Innes, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for housing, said:
“It’s important for us that tenants are part of any improvements we look to make, and that they help shape our services to make sure that they are meeting tenants needs. The work they have done on the rent arrears letter is a great example of this.
“We hope that the new letters will reassure tenants that the council is here to support them when they need help.”
What’s next?
We would like to see how the new revised rent arrears letter impacts on people contacting the rents team for help and look to gather feedback on the content and design so we can review further based on tenant feedback.
Find out more about the changes to our rent escalation policies.
