Our FREDIE 2025 priorities
As part of our Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement (FREDIE) Annual Report, we sought input from our involved customers into our 2025 action plan, to further support our work for the year ahead.
We provided customers with the seven key actions that supported our 2025 FREDIE aims and asked them which ones they felt were most important. They were also given the opportunity to tell us if any actions were missing.
These were the top three actions customers wanted us to focus on:
- Colleague training
- Data collection and refresh
- Campaigns and policies.
These have now been prioritised and we will ensure feedback on progress with each of these actions within updates to all customers, in next year’s report.
Independent Living Forum (Whitby)
In response to positive feedback for our previous Independent Living Forum events, we have established a regular, quarterly session. This involves our team visiting community centres in a variety of locations, so they can actively engage with local customers.
Our January event took place at Kirkham Close Community Centre in Whitby on Friday 31 January. We shared warm winter giveaways like cosy hoodies (funded by our Travis Perkins social fund) and some lovely handmade knitted blankets and headband warmers, donated by our generous community members.
Residents provided us with valuable feedback about our Reach & Respond service, helping us to shape our plan for the next five years.
Our next Independent Living Forum event will be in the Filey area in May.
The Green – Ugthorpe, Whitby
A customer consultation took place with local residents regarding the use of the large green space to the front of their properties, giving them the opportunity to provide ideas for improvement and enhancement.
Feedback suggestions included:
- Improving vehicle access to their homes and
- Adding fencing to protect the green space and local children
These key customer priorities are now being investigated for potential neighbourhood improvement options.
Bridlington community clean-up event
We held a community clean-up event on Thursday 20 January 2025 to support the local community at Salkeld Meadows in Bridlington.
Our colleagues were on hand to dispose of large unwanted household items and helped to clear garden spaces – ensuring the local area is a safe, clean space for the community to enjoy.
Our team and vans on-site were given great, positive feedback and were thanked by local customers for the event.
Leaseholder Forum
We proactively engaged with our leaseholder customers about the legislative changes contained within the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act. We aimed to provide our leaseholders the opportunity to talk to us if they have any questions and we also wanted feedback on their communication experiences with us. We also consulted on our new Leaseholder Handbook. We hosted three informal Leaseholder Forum drop-in sessions across Whitby, Scarborough and Redcar to seek their perspective on ways to enhance this document.
Mayors Coastal Listening Event
As part of our ongoing partnership with North Yorkshire Council, we invited customers and local partner organisations to join us for a ‘listening session’ with David Skaith, the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire. This event gave Beyond Housing customers, as well as other residents from the Scarborough and Whitby areas, an opportunity to share their feedback and concerns about their local area, directly with local leaders.
Independent Living Forum
We hosted our second independent living forum at Gatesgarth Close Community Centre in Newby on Friday 15 November. We invited our Reach & Respond customers to drop in for a cup of tea and chat with our friendly team. Our colleagues also asked for feedback from customers, so they could feed this into our next five-year strategy.
Leaseholder Forum
This month we hosted two informal drop-in sessions for our leaseholders, as we wanted to seek their views on our new draft leaseholder handbook. The session supported us in gathering thoughts about the development of a new leaseholder forum and we answered any leasehold-related queries.
TVHF Common Allocations Policy Review
Beyond Housing is part of the Tees Valley Lettings Partnership, which consulted for six weeks to seek views on the proposed changes to the Common Allocations Policy for Tees Valley Home Finder applications. The results have now been directly fed into the review of the policy, ready for implementation in 2025.
Feet On The Street
On Wednesday 6 November, our colleagues were out and about conducting their their estate walkabout. As always it was a great opportunity to directly engage with customers, and respond to any queries and questions.
Wheatfields Close Communal Decorating
Following customer feedback about the need for internal decoration of the communal areas at this block. We consulted customers on their preferred colour choices for the hallways and stairwells.
Hungate Court – Social Value Consultation
Our contractor Eon has been carrying out large-scale energy efficiency improvements at properties at Hungate Court in Hunmanby. They have a social value pledge and have consulted with customers on their preferences for how the money is invested at Hungate.
Beyond Housing Community Fund
Customers who are part of our newly established Community Fund panel were empowered to review the first round of funding applications. Our panel members were instrumental in enabling us to support projects that will positively impact our local neighbourhoods.
Body Cameras
We prioritise the safety of our customers and colleagues. Body cameras can provide valuable evidence for addressing anti-social behaviour and ensuring fair and respectful treatment for everyone, which is why we are considering implementing them in specific circumstances. Before trialing these devices, we consulted with our Involved Customer group to gather feedback. This was to ensure customer perspectives were part of the decision-making process.
Vulnerability Policy
We are committed to understanding and supporting our customers with diverse vulnerabilities and have developed a new Vulnerability Policy to ensure everyone has equal access to our services. As part of the policy consultation, we sought feedback from our involved customers and colleagues to ensure this policy is as effective as possible.
Castle Ward Community Clean Day
We worked in partnership with the Castle Ward Tenants & Residents Association, Cllr Janet Jefferson and North Yorkshire Council to give the Castle Ward area of Scarborough a pre-Christmas clean up. The event was held on Thursday 28 November, with skips located at various sites for residents to dispose of items they no longer needed.
New Beyond Housing Strategy 2025-30
Our strategy ‘Helping our customers and communities to succeed and thrive – 2020-2025’ set out what we wanted to achieve for our services and we wanted to look to review and create future plans for the next five years. We value both customer and colleague input in shaping the future of Beyond Housing and as part of this process, we sought customer input and feedback on what priorities they would like to see for our services within the next five years.
In addition to all our digital customers receiving a survey via email, we also hosted engagement drop-in sessions for customers at Ennis Square, Redcar on Tuesday 8 October from 1-3pm and Brook House, Scarborough on Wednesday 9 October 11 am – 1pm, along with attending local community engagement opportunities within the two-week consultation period of 1st-15th October.
Property adverts
We are always looking for ways to improve the information we provide potential customers about our homes. With this in mind, we asked customers to undertake a reality-checking exercise to review how we currently advertise our homes. Customers helped by spending a few minutes visiting and reviewing a set number of adverts. This feedback helped us to improve the information and detail included in our property adverts to help potential customers find their perfect home.
Leaseholder engagement
We proactively engaged with our leaseholder customers. Considering the legislative changes contained within the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act, we consulted on the new Leaseholder Handbook and ways to enhance customer communications with the development of a Leaseholder Forum. We hosted three informal drop-in sessions across Whitby, Scarborough and Redcar.
Wreyfield Court, Scarborough
Customer consultation regarding the safety and security of the communal area and access points within the block of flats on Wreyfield Drive, Barrowcliff.
Dormanstown review
We reviewed recent Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSM) results for the Dormanstown area to help support and guide the locality plan improvement implementations.
Woodlands, Scarborough
We conducted community engagement with local Woodlands residents in order to seek views on the recent Police Environmental & Visual Audit (EVA) recommendations. This further supports the development of our improvement works and our internal action plan.
Independent Living Forum
We held our first session for customers on our Reach & Respond services which was hosted at Marton Court in Whitby on Wednesday 4 September, 10am – 12pm. This gave customers an opportunity to give their perspective on what matters most to them and what they feel are priorities for the future.
In addition to providing customers with a chance to ask questions and give suggestions, we also had a special guest partner from North Yorkshire Council who attended the event to provide people with free advice and support about the best ways to stay warm this winter.
Beyond Housing Community Fund
As part of our social value commitments, we launched our Beyond Housing Community Fund on Monday 2 September. This new funding stream provides an opportunity for community projects and activities to be strengthened with funding support from Beyond Housing. For this funding round, we have allocated a pot of £5,000 and encouraged applications that meet either one or both of these key themes: ‘Keeping communities warm and well’ or ‘Bringing people together’.
As part of this funding, we will be providing an opportunity for a group of customers to help us assess the applications and be involved in the decision-making process, by establishing the new Community Fund Panel.
Feet on the street
Beyond Housing colleagues completed estate walkabouts, engaging with customers and responding to their questions on Wednesday 4 September.
New digital support leaflet:
In June, we reached out to gather feedback from new customers who had recently signed their tenancy using our new digital sign-up process. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and customers told us they appreciated the flexibility and convenience of our digital tenancy sign-up. The new process allows customers to access documents at their own pace and refer back to information whenever needed.
To enhance the experience even further, we’ve adjusted our process to ensure customers have easy access to local and national IT support resources. We’ve created a new digital support leaflet that will be available in both digital and printed formats. We sought feedback from our involved customers on the leaflet’s readability, content and clarity, before finalising the end document which is now ready to share with new customers.
Wreyfield Drive, Scarborough
A customer consultation was completed regarding the safety and security of the communal area and access points within a block of flats on Wreyfield Drive in Barrowcliff.
Kirkham Close Community Centre, Whitby
We held a community volunteering event on Friday 13 September to spruce up the rear communal patio area of our community centre building, for local residents’ enjoyment.
Chestnut Grove, Brotton
Over the Summer we delivered improvement works to Chestnut Grove as a result of customer involvement and feedback on the proposals. We also re-engaged with customers in September as the works have been completed, to ensure we have been successful and met the needs of local customers.
Lifting Equipment Policy review
As part of the three-year review of the Lifting Equipment Policy we conducted consultations with customers living within blocks containing a lift serviced by Beyond Housing. This was to ensure customers are aware of the requirements for testing and meeting customer expectations concerning maintenance and servicing standards and to ensure all residents are aware of how to raise any safety concerns. This feedback was directly fed into the policy review process.
Community Clean up event in Dormanstown
Together with partner organisations we held a clean-up event on Tuesday 6 August with colleagues and vans available to support customers living in Wilton and Broadway West areas. This also included a resident-led litter-picking session and a fun event held at the Corus Club afterwards.
Community drop-in events
Face-to-face customer engagement opportunities were held at Wykeham Court Community Centre and Hildas Church, Redcar. These drop-in style events provided a range of services available to support customers with employability, housing, repairs, health and safety and customer feedback.
Resilience Hubs
Working with Cleveland Resilience Forum and the British Red Cross to create and deliver community hubs within the Greater Eston area. This project will run until October 2024.
Tees Valley Womens Centre, South Bank:
As part of a community volunteer support project we worked with the centre to help with re-painting the main hall and entrance area with members of our painting team taking up the challenge which included supporting the repainting of the nursery. Welcome support came in from PPG Johnstone’s Paints, who supplied the paint, and PB Joinery who kindly provided new radiator covers for the nursery area.
Chestnut Grove, Brotton
We delivered improvement works to Chestnut Grove over the summer as a result of customer involvement and feedback on the proposals. We will then re-engage with customers at the end of the work to ensure we have been successful.
Beech Walk, Eastfield
We sought feedback from all local residents who live and use the open space in Eastfield so we can gather input on potential future uses for the area.
Kirkleatham Community Day
We supported the Kirkleatham Community Fun Day and Litter Pick on Wednesday 28 August with with partners such as Cleveland Fire Brigade, South Gare Litter Pickers, Redcar Police and RCBC. Everyone involved made the day a success.
Dormanstown Locality Plan
Customers told us they wanted to live in a property that is warm, where they can afford their bills, and is located in an area that felt cared for. As part of our approach to provide support to our customers, our Assets Team undertook stock surveys to collate more detailed information to help us understand the needs of our customers better and develop a plan for the next steps.
Regent House, Darlington
As an organisation we have a duty of care and responsibility to keep customers safe, this includes assessing ongoing fire risks in multiple occupancy blocks. During a recent fire risk assessment at Regent House, it was found that the current location of the bin store, in the car park, was a potential fire risk and we acted swiftly to reduce this risk to customers and the building. After the removal of the bin store, we consulted with customers on two options for a new bin store area.
Empty Homes Policy
As part of the three-year review of our Empty Homes Policy, consultations with customers were conducted to identify any support needs or service improvement suggestions within the pre-termination process.
Roseberry Road, Redcar
Customers highlighted the lack of storage within the block for bikes causing issues with multiple properties storing bikes in communal hallways. Consultation was undertaken with customers to understand storage needs.
Church Lane North
Groundworks have started their liaison programme with residents on the Church Lane North Estate and invited them to give their input on the future use of the Community hub via a flyer campaign. Additionally, conducting weekly estate walks and chatting with the community about the future development of the communal green space.
Feet on the street
Our colleagues completed estate walkabouts, engaging with customers and responding to their questions on Wednesday 3 July.
Burnside, Eastfield
Obtained local feedback from customers on improvements to communal areas including fencing.
Bell Close, Seamer
We supported the local resident group which requested support to help spruce up a local communal space which included sanding and painting patio furniture, planting of raised beds and general weeding.
Dormanstown
Engagement event at Dormanstown Primary School held on Tuesday 16 July with Sid the Shark to raise awareness of Loan sharks alongside local partners.
Board chair candidates – stakeholder engagement
We’re committed to ensuring customer voices are heard throughout our organisation, including the important process of selecting our new chair of the board. A virtual meeting was held with customers to learn about the shortlisted potential candidates and provide valuable feedback to the selection committee.
Barrowcliff Community Clean Up
This community event took place on Friday 7 June and was a collaboration between resident volunteers, partner organisations and local charities such as Barrowcliff Big Local, North Yorkshire Council, Sanctuary Housing, Barrowcliff Residents’ Association, Gallows Close Centre and Sparks Project.
We supported the initiative to reduce fly-tipping in the area by;
- Funding one of the community skips
- Supporting our colleagues to take part in a community litter pick
- Providing a van to pick up pre-ordered items.
It was a great team effort and there was lots of community spirit. It was the largest event yet with an estimated 40 tonnes of waste removed from the area! This was achieved by organising free community skips across the estate, tipper vans taking fridge/freezer loads as well as two bin wagons taking additional loads.
It showcased the fantastic efforts of everyone involved and has resulted in a much cleaner and safer environment for the local community to enjoy. Well done to everyone involved!
New digital sign-up process
We contacted customers who recently experienced our new digital sign-up process to collate feedback and suggestions on ways we can further support the customer experience. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and as a result, we will be adjusting our process to ensure customers are signposted to local support when necessary.
Tpas Diverse Voices focus groups
Beyond Housing is a member of the independent tenant support organisation Tpas. They asked us to promote the opportunity for customers to be part of virtual focus groups designed to understand the barriers faced by people from ethnic minority backgrounds, when it comes to engagement.
Staithes
A free skip provision for the local community in Staithes was held on Tuesday 18 June. We’d listened to customer feedback highlighting the difficulties customers were having removing their rubbish, due to lack of a nearby Household Waste Recycling Centre.
Hungate Court Drop-in event in partnership with Eon
This was an opportunity for local customers to see details of the works planned and ask any questions they had. They were also invited to partake in the project film and discuss what the work means to them and how it will benefit them and their homes.
Barrowcliff Residents Association, Scarborough
As part of our ongoing commitment to support the association via our historic stock transfer agreement, this year’s annual health check process was conducted with the group to strengthen the work of the group and ensure sustainability.
Eastfield Big Clean
Local residents and partner organisations took part in the Eastfield Big Clean event on Monday 20 May. The effort included over 40 people volunteering their time to help with litter picking and waste clearance. Three community skips were provided free of charge for local residents funded via a partnership between Beyond Housing, Eastfield Pact, North Yorkshire Council and McCain. This resulted in a much cleaner environment for the local community.
Dormanstown – ASB digital survey
Customers in Dormanstown tested a new digital survey that will be available for customers in the wider community when anti-social behaviour occurs to gather relevant useful information for support when investigating open cases. The digital survey allows customers to access through text much quicker then paper methods. This is now being used regularly as a more efficient method to obtain information from our customers.
Dormanstown locality plan – Improving spaces & communities
As part of the Dormanstown locality plan customers expressed a need for support with waste removal from gardens and homes. In collaboration with partners, we organised a community spring clean where 10-12 tonnes of waste and over 150 bags of rubbish were collected and removed.
Church Lane North, Grangetown – Residents drop-in
We hosted another opportunity for customers in the Church Lane North area to engage to discuss the ongoing regeneration work in the area. The drop-in provided an opportunity to discuss any issues with their specific homes and wider feedback on the regeneration of the area.
Customer summit
This year’s customer summit brought together customers and colleagues to discuss opportunities for digital services.
Feet on the street
Beyond Housing colleagues completed estate walkabouts, engaging with customers and responding to their questions.
Feet on the street
Beyond Housing colleagues completed estate walkabouts, engaging with customers and responding to their questions.
Tenant satisfaction measures
Following on from the first round of TSM collection data in October 2023, the second round of data collection commenced.
Customer scrutiny
Building on the collaboration with Tpas in developing Beyond Housing’s new approach to customer engagement, we launched our new scrutiny approach. The new scrutiny approach will focus on two key service areas: Neighbourhood management and asset/property management.
Feet on the street
Beyond Housing colleagues completed estate walkabouts, engaging with customers and responding to their questions.
Locality partnership event
A locality partnership event took place at Ennis Square in Dormanstown, involving various statutory, charitable and local organisations to discuss partnership working and customer feedback to move forward a deliverable plan.
Westfield Farm drop in event
A drop in event was held at Westfield Farm, offering customers access to services such as housing, repairs, damp and mould, income, benefits and employability.
Digital survey
A survey was sent to the residents of Dormanstown to understand their needs and expectations in shaping a safe and thriving community. This feedback will be used to develop a deliverable plan with partners.
Damp & Mould Policy review
We asked customers to provide feedback on the content of the new Damp & Mould Policy to help shape revisions to the policy.
Church Lane North customer liaison
Home visits and estate walk conducted by the project team to chat with customers who had raised issues on the Church Lane North community group on Facebook. Works identified have been raised, with some being resolved the day after customer engagement.
Digital service offer engagement
Customers provided feedback on what they want and expect from Beyond Housing’s digital service. Insight from this engagement is to be shared at an upcoming customer summit to validate the findings and to inform the digital service offer requirements.
Rent setting consultation
We consulted with customers on the expected rent increase in April. The consultation took place via a survey, with feedback collected via a digital and postal survey. Alongside the survey, customers were directed to the Beyond Housing website where they could find additional information on how the rent is set and options for additional support.
Digital services customer consultation
We engaged with customers to learn about their satisfaction with our digital services and to understand their needs and expectations for an online portal. We will conduct several digital research campaigns over the next couple of months to achieve this.
Dormanstown, Redcar – Neighbourhood investment consultation
To support the development of the locality plan for the Dormanstown area, we consulted with customers to identify investment opportunities and prioritise them.
Feet on the street
Beyond Housing colleagues completed estate walkabouts, engaging with customers and responding to their questions.
Neighbourhood investment consultation
A neighbourhood investment consultation took place in Dormanstown to understand customers’ needs. This was followed up by a drop in event, offering customers direct access to services.
Dovedale heating consultation
A heating consultation took place with Dovedale residents to understand their needs with regards to communal heating within a multi-occupancy flat.
Concerns, Complaints and Compliments Policy
We consulted with 400 customers to gather feedback on the policy content and adherence to commitments. The feedback will inform policy revisions.
Church Lane North, Grangetown – Estate walkabout
We held an estate walkabout in partnership with the East Cleveland Police and local residents to identify opportunities to reduce anti-social behaviour on the estate.
Feet on the street
Ward councillors and senior leaders, joined housing colleagues on estate walkabouts, where they engaged with customers and responded to their questions.
Dormanstown and Redcar area – Neighbourhood walkaround
Members of Beyond Housing’s Executive team, the director of property and commercial operations, and colleagues from the Housing team met with the local ward councillor on the estates to review opportunities to address reoccurring maintenance issues. Opportunities identified will feed into the creation of the localised action plan.
Communal space painting options
We surveyed customers to understand their preferred colour palette before starting the redecoration of their communal areas. We selected the colour palette with the highest number of votes.
Consumer Standards consultation
Beyond Housing customers were invited to provide their views on the Regulator for Social Housing’s proposed new standards.
Chestnut Grove, Brotton – Open space consultation
Based on customer and community feedback about increased anti-social behaviour, we collaborated with customers and partners to review and revise the proposed plans for improving open and garden spaces to reduce anti-social behaviour.
Beech Walk, Eastfields – Green space consultation
A large area of green space was highlighted by residents via their local councillor regarding ground maintenance and improvements for community use. A number of options have been proposed and a wider customer consultation will take place.
Seaton Close, Whitby – Parking consultation
Housing officers visited local residents to discuss parking concerns and opportunities for improvement.
Greengates mural project
Customers in the Kirkleatham area engaged in a project designed to deter graffiti by providing a mural in the area. Initial feedback has been positive and the project has moved into the planning phase.
Church Lane North community clean up
A community clean up providing an opportunity for customers to dispose of their unwanted items and waste with 61 bags of rubbish being collected, together with areas of fly tipping being cleared.
Church Lane North residents drop in
A regular drop in for customers in the Church Lane North area to discuss the ongoing regeneration project, works on their homes and to provide community feedback.
Tenant satisfaction measures
To measure Beyond Housing’s performance in delivering high-quality homes and services to customers, we started the first round (of two for the financial year 22/23) to gather data for the Regulator of Social Housing’s TSMs.
Thrushwood, Redcar – Open space project
Beyond Housing hosted a community forum with residents and partners to explore tree planting options for Thrushwood open space.
Birkdale Community Centre, Eston
We gathered residents’ opinions on the future use of the building and the types of support that could be provided to customers at the location.
Redcar and Eastfield areas – Community ‘clean-up’ day
Beyond Housing, in partnership with local councillors, hosted a successful community clean-up day. Colleagues from across the business joined volunteers to support the day and provided skips and cleaning equipment.
High Street flats, Eastfield – Safety improvements
We collected residents’ feedback on how to improve safety in the area, based on the recommendations of the local police’s report and our partnership work with the police and North Yorkshire Council. This feedback will help form the locality plan for the area.
Church Lane North, Grangetown – Residents’ group meeting
We held an open session for customers to discuss and give feedback about the current regeneration taking place on the estate.
Service hours consultation
Customers provided feedback via an online and postal survey on how they want to contact Beyond Housing, how they want to be contacted by Beyond Housing and when they want Beyond Housing’s presence in their homes. The feedback collected will be used to tailor and inform future service offers for customers.
Hungate Court, Scarborough – Liaison event
In partnership with Eon, we held a session to discuss proposed energy efficiency improvements for Hungate Court residents, allowing them to ask questions about the changes coming to their homes.
Feet on the street
Board members, directors, and senior leaders joined housing colleagues on estate walkabouts in Whitby, where they engaged with customers and responded to their questions.
Information Governance Policy
We gathered customer views on our privacy notice and the booklet that explains how we handle their data to verify the readability and understanding from a customer perspective. We learned from the feedback how our customers perceive our data practices. Based on the feedback, we revised the policy, the privacy statement and the accompanying booklet.
Equality, diversity and inclusion policy
As part of the review of our equality, diversity, and inclusion policy, we gathered customer feedback to assess customers’ understanding of our statements and commitments. The feedback will help shape the policy and improve the experience for customers.
Loftus town area – Drop-in session
Beyond Housing and the police held a joint drop-in session for local councillors and customers to report anti-social behaviour, share feedback and get help with managing their tenancies.
Danes Dyke, Scarborough – Residents’ meeting
Beyond Housing, Joseph Rowntree Housing Association and local residents discussed opportunities to offer support based on the needs of customers.
Mould and damp prevention leaflet
We gathered customer views on our mould and damp leaflet to verify the readability and understanding from a customer perspective. The feedback helped us make changes to the leaflet which now carries the customer stamp of approval.
Whitby – Feet on the street
Board members, directors, and senior leaders joined housing colleagues on estate walkabouts, where they engaged with customers and responded to their questions.
Robin Hood Close, Castleton – Communal planter consultation
Following discussions with the local residents’ group, we engaged with customers to understand their preferences for existing planters within the communal area. The discussions will inform options to create additional space in the communal area and the future of the communal planters.
Helredale area, Whitby – Grass cutting
Housing officers visited customers in their homes to discuss grass-cutting concerns and opportunities in their neighbourhood.
Church Lane North, Grangetown – Community walk around
We held a neighbourhood walkaround with customers and partners to identify areas of green space, opportunities for partnership working, funding and future community engagement.
Church Lane North, Grangetown – Open space project
We sought local customer views on the options for open spaces an architect had created and held a drop-in session with residents given the opportunity to discuss updates on the regeneration.
Bankfields, Middlesborough – Pulse check
Customers and former customers were engaged with to gather feedback about living in the area, which included anti-social behaviours, crime, and support within the local community. The feedback will be used to inform neighbourhood improvements.
Loftus town area – Drop-in session
Beyond Housing and the Police held a joint drop-in session for local councillors and customers to report anti-social behaviour, share feedback and get help with managing their tenancies.
