Michael often receives complaints from local residents regarding their social housing provider and the problems they are experiencing with their homes.
Michael firmly believes that social housing tenants deserve to have their voices heard and their complaints listened to and taken seriously.
He has been working to ensure Housing Associations meet their commitments to provide decent homes and respond promptly to complaints, and he has been joining local Conservative councillors to press for improvements for social housing tenants in Surrey Heath.
In his ministerial role, Michael has also introduced new rules to provide stronger safeguards for social housing tenants, and you can read more about this here.
Michael regularly raises individual cases with Housing Associations on behalf of his Surrey Heath constituents, and below is a summary of the more broader actions he has been taking locally:
5 January 2024 – Michael and local County Councillor, Trefor Hogg, met Accent Housing’s Director of Assets and Compliance, together with Surrey Heath Borough Council’s Strategic Director for Environment and Community, at St Martin’s Church in Camberley to discuss the issue of pest control in local social housing.
Problems with pests, such as rats and bedbugs, can cause a huge amount of suffering and misery for tenants, and it is often incredibly difficult for a tenant to tackle an infestation alone, especially if it has spread to more than one property in the building.
Michael is anxious to see them get the help they need, so that these issues are resolved as quickly as possible, and Accent Housing has promised to provide an infestation action plan in the very near future.
8 December 2023 - Michael joined one of Accent’s teams in Old Dean for their ‘The Big Conversation’ with tenants to hear how satisfied they are with the service they receive.
Michael felt it was helpful to see this door-knocking exercise, hearing directly from tenants about their experiences and concerns.
It was clear that there are issues to overcome, but Michael was pleased that Accent is making a significant effort to improve its service and communication with tenants.
17 March 2023 – Michael met several representatives from Accent Housing, together with local Councillors Shaun Garrett and Trefor Hogg, at St Martin’s Church in Camberley today.
Michael, Shaun and Trefor made clear that Accent need to do more to improve services for tenants in the Old Dean and across Surrey Heath.
Michael was encouraged that Accent recognised that they have been getting it wrong and are making big changes to rectify the situation.