'No access' focus group - April 2025

On Friday 11 April 2025, we welcomed a group of 13 tenants to the Council chamber for a focus group surrounding the issue of ‘no access’. The aim of the session was to raise awareness of the impact tenants denying entry into their homes has on the housing service, and to gather feedback on the approach the service will take to ensure access to homes in the future.

Invitations had been sent to tenants who are members of our Estates and Communities Panel, Repairs and Investment Panel, and Landlord Panel, as well as to tenants registered on the Our North Tyneside Voice website.


Overview

The session started with an introductory presentation explaining what no access is, and the issues it can cause. It highlighted the impact refusing to answer the door has on the service including the cost, time and resource implications. During 2024-25:

  • There were 11,233 'no access' visits
  • This wasted 603 litres of fuel and cost the service £277,000


Why might a tenant refuse access?

The tenants were then asked to discuss the reasons why a tenant may not allow staff into their home. These included:

  • If they have something to hide such as drugs, alcohol, the condition of their home, subletting
  • Due to past experiences and a lack of trust
  • Disabilities or additional needs
  • Mental health issues
  • May not hear the door
  • May not see the repair as severe, especially if time has passed, they may have fixed it themselves
  • Not receiving texts/ appt reminders
  • Deliberately ‘winding the council up’

The tenants were shown the current process carried out by the housing service when they are unable to access a property and asked for their views on this.

Some said that this was a robust approach, that they assumed would work with most tenants. Others said that they don’t believe it to be as consistent, and that it needs to take a more individual approach, considering a tenant’s specific needs.


What is being done well

In terms of what is currently being done well, the tenants agreed that sessions such as this one, where staff are actively seeking their views on how to improve, is a huge positive.

As well as this, the tenants appreciated that their safety is being prioritised by the service and acknowledged the new online system being introduced later this year, Unified, will be a great step forward in ensuring better data collection and updates for tenants.

They also really valued the introduction of the video diagnostic tool to support with repairs where access may be difficult. This is where a tenant can give us permission to use their phone's camera to show us the problem, which helps us bring exactly the equipment we need to fix the issue when we visit.


What can improve

When it comes to what the housing service can do to improve the issue of no access, tenants agreed that a lot of this comes down to better communication and more transparency.

It is important that the housing service have up to date information and contact details for tenants, as well as potentially gathering next of kin information for each household in case a tenant can’t be contacted. As well as this, encouraging both tenants and staff to update contact details if circumstances change, even after an appointment has been made, could help.

Furthermore, the tenants discussed how the attitudes of trade staff can encourage granting access. Showing ID badges, attending appointments aware of what the job is and with the right equipment and tools to complete it, is important.

It would also be preferable if the housing service could work closer with other services to paint a clear picture of the tenants and share knowledge on their individual needs when it comes to entering their home.

Another improvement that could be made would be for tenants to be able to reply to the reminder text they get, as well as for rebooking to be made quicker and easier.

It may be necessary for the council to remind tenants of their responsibility to let staff in and perhaps publicise some of the consequences associated with not having essential works done. This may need to be shocking, showing the statistics of how many are injured, or even die, as a result of safety checks not being carried out.

The tenants also suggested publishing the figures about the cost of no access, and how this impacts the cost of rent, to the wider tenant audience.

Finally, the tenants discussed raising awareness of the video diagnostic tool as an alternative way to assess a repair in instances where access may otherwise be denied, as well as using already involved tenants such as themselves to spread the message and highlight the importance of gaining access.


Feedback

Feedback at the end of the session was extremely positive with tenants impressed with the figures and information provided, saying that it was very insightful and good to gain a better understanding of the impact of denying entry.

A communications plan is now in development and tenants will be kept up to date with progress.

On Friday 11 April 2025, we welcomed a group of 13 tenants to the Council chamber for a focus group surrounding the issue of ‘no access’. The aim of the session was to raise awareness of the impact tenants denying entry into their homes has on the housing service, and to gather feedback on the approach the service will take to ensure access to homes in the future.

Invitations had been sent to tenants who are members of our Estates and Communities Panel, Repairs and Investment Panel, and Landlord Panel, as well as to tenants registered on the Our North Tyneside Voice website.


Overview

The session started with an introductory presentation explaining what no access is, and the issues it can cause. It highlighted the impact refusing to answer the door has on the service including the cost, time and resource implications. During 2024-25:

  • There were 11,233 'no access' visits
  • This wasted 603 litres of fuel and cost the service £277,000


Why might a tenant refuse access?

The tenants were then asked to discuss the reasons why a tenant may not allow staff into their home. These included:

  • If they have something to hide such as drugs, alcohol, the condition of their home, subletting
  • Due to past experiences and a lack of trust
  • Disabilities or additional needs
  • Mental health issues
  • May not hear the door
  • May not see the repair as severe, especially if time has passed, they may have fixed it themselves
  • Not receiving texts/ appt reminders
  • Deliberately ‘winding the council up’

The tenants were shown the current process carried out by the housing service when they are unable to access a property and asked for their views on this.

Some said that this was a robust approach, that they assumed would work with most tenants. Others said that they don’t believe it to be as consistent, and that it needs to take a more individual approach, considering a tenant’s specific needs.


What is being done well

In terms of what is currently being done well, the tenants agreed that sessions such as this one, where staff are actively seeking their views on how to improve, is a huge positive.

As well as this, the tenants appreciated that their safety is being prioritised by the service and acknowledged the new online system being introduced later this year, Unified, will be a great step forward in ensuring better data collection and updates for tenants.

They also really valued the introduction of the video diagnostic tool to support with repairs where access may be difficult. This is where a tenant can give us permission to use their phone's camera to show us the problem, which helps us bring exactly the equipment we need to fix the issue when we visit.


What can improve

When it comes to what the housing service can do to improve the issue of no access, tenants agreed that a lot of this comes down to better communication and more transparency.

It is important that the housing service have up to date information and contact details for tenants, as well as potentially gathering next of kin information for each household in case a tenant can’t be contacted. As well as this, encouraging both tenants and staff to update contact details if circumstances change, even after an appointment has been made, could help.

Furthermore, the tenants discussed how the attitudes of trade staff can encourage granting access. Showing ID badges, attending appointments aware of what the job is and with the right equipment and tools to complete it, is important.

It would also be preferable if the housing service could work closer with other services to paint a clear picture of the tenants and share knowledge on their individual needs when it comes to entering their home.

Another improvement that could be made would be for tenants to be able to reply to the reminder text they get, as well as for rebooking to be made quicker and easier.

It may be necessary for the council to remind tenants of their responsibility to let staff in and perhaps publicise some of the consequences associated with not having essential works done. This may need to be shocking, showing the statistics of how many are injured, or even die, as a result of safety checks not being carried out.

The tenants also suggested publishing the figures about the cost of no access, and how this impacts the cost of rent, to the wider tenant audience.

Finally, the tenants discussed raising awareness of the video diagnostic tool as an alternative way to assess a repair in instances where access may otherwise be denied, as well as using already involved tenants such as themselves to spread the message and highlight the importance of gaining access.


Feedback

Feedback at the end of the session was extremely positive with tenants impressed with the figures and information provided, saying that it was very insightful and good to gain a better understanding of the impact of denying entry.

A communications plan is now in development and tenants will be kept up to date with progress.