Shape Our Customer Charter - Your Input Matters

Thanks to your valuable input, our Customer Charter is nearly ready – and we couldn't have done it without you! As soon as it's been signed off we'll be sharing it with you.

What is Customer Charter?

A social housing customer charter is a set of guidelines that outline what social housing tenants can expect from their landlord. The charter aims to ensure that tenants are safe, treated with respect, and have their concerns addressed.

Our promises will sit underneath each theme as part of the Customer Charter and the commitment that we will make to you – our customers.

The Customer Charter is based on seven key themes inspired by the government’s social housing guidelines:

Themes for the Customer Charter are detailed below:

  • to be safe in your home
  • to know how your landlord is performing
  • to have your complaints dealt with promptly and fairly
  • to be treated with respect
  • to have your voice heard by your landlord
  • to have a good quality home and neighbourhood to live in
  • to be supported to take your first steps to ownership

Take a look at the government’s social housing guidelines for the customer charter to find out more.

Your focus group involvement:

  • We usually meet every few months, depending on when there’s something important to share or discuss.
  • We will contact you at least 1 week before each meeting, so you have plenty of time to get ready and plan ahead.
  • All meetings are held online using Microsoft Teams.
  • Each meeting lasts around 1 hour, giving everyone time to share their views.
  • Sometimes meetings are shorter, depending on how much there is to talk about.
  • Current stage: The draft version of the Customer Charter is now being reviewed internally - ready to be signed off. Once signed off we will share it with all of you - we're currently aiming for this to be September.

What we've done so far:

We held an online focus group on Tuesday, 28 January, to explain the Customer Charter and how customers could help shape it. During this session, you shared valuable feedback, which was then shared with colleagues across the relevant business areas. This helped guide us as we began developing the first draft of the Customer Charter.

Building on this ongoing involvement, we held another focus group on 4 June 2025. In this meeting, customers were shown a draft of how Citizen will measure and monitor the promises within the Charter. This important session gave customers the opportunity to see how we plan to ensure we are sticking to our commitments and maintaining accountability.

We shared the Customer Charter draft with you in July because we wanted to make sure you felt it reflected the conversations we'd had. The Charter is now being circulated and getting ready to be signed off by our Senior Leaders. Once it's been signed off, we'll be sharing it with you.

You can take a look at the feedback from both Focus Groups on the documents section.

We appreciate your continued involvement, and if you'd like to share any further feedback, please feel free to send us an email.

By joining the Customer Charter Group, you’ll be able to:

💬 Join focus groups (online or in person)
📋 Fill in short online surveys
📞 Share your thoughts in one-to-one phone calls
💷 Get vouchers as a thank you for your time

Together, we’ll build a Customer Charter that truly reflects what matters to you.

Thanks to your valuable input, our Customer Charter is nearly ready – and we couldn't have done it without you! As soon as it's been signed off we'll be sharing it with you.

What is Customer Charter?

A social housing customer charter is a set of guidelines that outline what social housing tenants can expect from their landlord. The charter aims to ensure that tenants are safe, treated with respect, and have their concerns addressed.

Our promises will sit underneath each theme as part of the Customer Charter and the commitment that we will make to you – our customers.

The Customer Charter is based on seven key themes inspired by the government’s social housing guidelines:

Themes for the Customer Charter are detailed below:

  • to be safe in your home
  • to know how your landlord is performing
  • to have your complaints dealt with promptly and fairly
  • to be treated with respect
  • to have your voice heard by your landlord
  • to have a good quality home and neighbourhood to live in
  • to be supported to take your first steps to ownership

Take a look at the government’s social housing guidelines for the customer charter to find out more.

Your focus group involvement:

  • We usually meet every few months, depending on when there’s something important to share or discuss.
  • We will contact you at least 1 week before each meeting, so you have plenty of time to get ready and plan ahead.
  • All meetings are held online using Microsoft Teams.
  • Each meeting lasts around 1 hour, giving everyone time to share their views.
  • Sometimes meetings are shorter, depending on how much there is to talk about.
  • Current stage: The draft version of the Customer Charter is now being reviewed internally - ready to be signed off. Once signed off we will share it with all of you - we're currently aiming for this to be September.

What we've done so far:

We held an online focus group on Tuesday, 28 January, to explain the Customer Charter and how customers could help shape it. During this session, you shared valuable feedback, which was then shared with colleagues across the relevant business areas. This helped guide us as we began developing the first draft of the Customer Charter.

Building on this ongoing involvement, we held another focus group on 4 June 2025. In this meeting, customers were shown a draft of how Citizen will measure and monitor the promises within the Charter. This important session gave customers the opportunity to see how we plan to ensure we are sticking to our commitments and maintaining accountability.

We shared the Customer Charter draft with you in July because we wanted to make sure you felt it reflected the conversations we'd had. The Charter is now being circulated and getting ready to be signed off by our Senior Leaders. Once it's been signed off, we'll be sharing it with you.

You can take a look at the feedback from both Focus Groups on the documents section.

We appreciate your continued involvement, and if you'd like to share any further feedback, please feel free to send us an email.

By joining the Customer Charter Group, you’ll be able to:

💬 Join focus groups (online or in person)
📋 Fill in short online surveys
📞 Share your thoughts in one-to-one phone calls
💷 Get vouchers as a thank you for your time

Together, we’ll build a Customer Charter that truly reflects what matters to you.

  • Quick Poll Results for the Customer Charter

    🗳️ Quick Poll Results: What Matters Most to You?

    Thank you to everyone who took part in our recent poll about the Social Housing White Paper and the Customer Charter. Here’s what you told us 👇

    ❓ Have you heard of the Social Housing White Paper?

    • ✔️ Around half of you had heard of it

    • ❌ The rest weren’t sure or hadn’t heard of it at all

    🔍 What this tells us:
    It’s like being in a room where some people understand what’s happening, and others are left guessing. We want to make sure everyone knows what the White Paper is and how it affects you.

    📚 Do you know what the Customer Charter includes?

    • ✅ Only a few people said they did

    • ❌ Most people didn’t recognise the themes or what they meant

    🧭 What this tells us:
    The Charter has important promises, but we need to do more to help you understand them clearly.

    🏡 Which part of the Charter matters most to you?

    We gave you a few options — here’s what stood out:

    • 🔒 Most people chose “Feeling safe in your home”

    • 🏘️ A couple of people chose “Having a good quality home in a good neighbourhood”

    • 📞 And a small number chose “Making sure complaints are handled fairly and quickly”

    ❤️ What this tells us:
    Feeling safe is the top priority for most of you — and we completely understand. It’s the first step to feeling happy and secure in your home. We’ll keep this at the heart of the work we do.