Rethinking Tenant Satisfaction in Housing: From Long Wait Times to Faster, Safer Service

When tenants pick up the phone to speak to their housing association to report a leak, mould, or heating issue, speed isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. In housing, delays don’t just frustrate, they can carry real risks to people’s health and safety. And yet, across the sector, the experience is too often defined by slow responses, limited visibility, and technology that feels like it belongs to another era.

Customer expectations have changed dramatically. Today, 74% of customer journeys span multiple channels, from phone and email to social and webchat. But according to Gartner, fewer than 20% of organizations feel they deliver a truly seamless experience. In housing, where interactions can be urgent and deeply personal, this gap matters more than ever.

The tipping point for change.link to this section

For many housing associations, change is driven when tenant dissatisfaction becomes impossible to ignore. Long wait times, rising abandonment rates, and the inefficiency of sending out the wrong resources to fix repairs are more than operational headaches—they directly erode trust.

In a recent webinar with Celia Warrender, Head of Digital, and Rob Clews, Customer Services Operations Manager at Walsall Housing Group, Clews shares how the association was able to reduce average wait times from an average of 9 minutes to just one minute by changing technology. In addition, this change has enabled the organization to increase first-time fixes in an industry where as many as one in four visits are reported to result in follow-up because the wrong skills or equipment were dispatched.

The pressure to act is mounting, and digital transformation is no longer a “nice to have.” It is the foundation of delivering resilient, responsive services.

Moving beyond legacy systems.link to this section

For years, housing associations have relied on a patchwork of systems that served their purpose in the moment but quickly fell behind the pace of change.

Forward-thinking housing associations, like Walsall Housing Group, are rethinking everything: not just the platform, but the way teams work, the way tenants connect, and the way data informs decision-making.

A shift to cloud-based systems is opening the door to adaptability, configurability, and visibility. Leaders want more than stability—they need tools to show where bottlenecks are forming and to expand from limited multi-channel offerings to deliver a genuinely seamless omnichannel journey. And, they want to do it in a way that won’t overwhelm their colleagues or tenants.

Why iteration beats “Big Bang”.link to this section

Too often, transformation projects falter because they try to do too much, too fast. In practice, that means moving away from a “big bang” deployment and instead starting small, building confidence, and learning with each step.

For housing providers, this might begin with telephony—the highest-demand channel and the biggest pain point for tenants. Once stabilised, the natural extension is to include email queues, social media integration, and video calls. Each stage builds momentum. Each success creates champions among colleagues who become advocates for change rather than barriers to it.

The results can be dramatic. “Our email inbox wasn’t very data driven. We were looking at an average response time of 5.5-6 days” said Clews. “By being able to put the emails into a queue-based system, we’ve been able to bring response times down to just over a day. And where the organisation's SLA is 5 working days, we’re comfortable within that.”

Innovation in practice.link to this section

Transformation doesn’t stop at faster call handling and email responses. Housing associations are increasingly adopting video elevation in the contact centre. When a tenant is trying to explain a leaking pipe, video enables frontline teams to see the problem instantly, escalate appropriately, and dispatch the right repair team the first time. This improves safety, reduces wasted visits, and minimises tenant frustration.

The benefits extend beyond repairs. In multicultural communities, where language barriers can create misunderstandings, being able to show an issue on screen breaks down communication gaps. A tenant describing a broken “door” may in fact mean a garden gate. Video turns this potential confusion into clarity, ensuring the right support arrives equipped with the right tools.

And innovation doesn’t stop at video. Integrations with platforms like Microsoft Teams and mobile applications are helping frontline teams make and receive calls through central numbers when using their personal mobiles. This improves compliance, reduces lost callbacks, and increases visibility across the organisation.

AI, Data, and the future of tenant engagement.link to this section

The conversation inevitably turns to AI. According to Gartner, 80% of organizations plan to use chatbots, yet only 20% meet customer expectations. For housing providers, this has real implications. A poorly designed bot doesn’t just fail to solve a problem—it risks creating more frustration, especially if tenants are forced to repeat themselves when they escalate to a live agent.

The real power of AI lies in the data it reveals. When you can see not just how many queries your chatbot handles, but what tenants are actually asking, it becomes possible to identify gaps, update information on websites or portals, and improve the entire omnichannel experience. In an environment where technology shifts rapidly, this agility—start small, learn fast, and build—is what keeps housing associations ahead of tenants' needs.

Proof in practice.link to this section

Walsall Housing Group’s journey proves what’s possible when housing leaders put tenant experience at the heart of transformation. Their success is a clear signal: CX transformation doesn’t require a giant leap. It starts with one smart step, executed well, and the momentum to keep going.

For housing leaders, the challenge is urgent. In a sector where service means safety, trust, and community wellbeing, the time to act isn’t tomorrow—it’s today.

👉 Learn how WHG made it happen. Watch the full webinar: Simplified CX in Action: How WHG Boosted Productivity and Delivered Faster Service.