One year of estate walkabouts: Your feedback makes a difference

The monthly walkabouts were launched with a simple goal: to hear directly from residents and make sure local issues are identified and acted on.

Nearly a year on, the results show just how important those conversations have been.

Listening to residents where they live

Over 11 months, our teams completed 11 estate walkabouts, spending more than 340 hours on estates and speaking with 140 residents. During each visit, we knocked on doors, inspected communal areas and talked with residents about their experiences of living in their neighbourhoods.

What we’ve heard has been both encouraging and challenging.

You told us you value the things that make where you live feel like home: friendly neighbours, strong community spirit, clean and well-maintained surroundings, good security and the sense of belonging that comes from living in a place they care about.

But you’ve also been clear about what you want us to do better. Concerns raised during walkabouts included repairs, antisocial behaviour, parking, lighting, estate maintenance and the condition of communal areas.

Turning conversations into action

Issues identified during estate walkabouts have resulted in repairs being raised, environmental improvements being completed and neighbourhood priorities being reviewed. Across the year, 74 issues requiring repairs were identified, leading to 99 repair orders being raised.

You also highlighted concerns about antisocial behaviour and parking, helping us build a clearer picture of the issues affecting different neighbourhoods. In total, 41 antisocial behaviour concerns and 30 parking concerns were raised and fed into local action planning and follow-up work.

The walkabouts have also helped identify residents who may need additional support. During the year, safeguarding concerns relating to vulnerability, domestic abuse, drug misuse and child welfare were identified and referred to appropriate services.

Alongside this, our team identified a range of estate improvements, including better signage, communal repairs, decoration, lighting upgrades, security improvements and work to improve environmental cleanliness.

Listening to you

One of the main drivers for introducing the estate walkabouts was because you told us you wanted to see more visible leadership where you live and have a better understanding of who is responsible for resolving local issues.

We have in turn gained valuable insights to help us better understand what matters most to you.

These conversations complement the feedback we receive from you elsewhere, including your annual Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) survey, Estate Boards and Gathering Groups.

Visit our Get Involved page to find out more about the different ways you can have your say and help us make a positive difference in your community.