Scrutiny: Home & Place standard

The Home and Place scrutiny was launched in April 2024 with Lead Scrutineers Ebony Taylorson and Denise Cox.

Background

Following on from the development of the Home and Place standard, which marks SNG’s commitment to building and maintaining good quality homes and better places to live. We were keen to understand how our approach has made a difference to our in new build homes, and to test whether the standard is working as it should once the customer has moved in.

Scope

Does the lived experience of the customer live up to the Home and Place Standard?

This is broken down into the 12 sub-categories of the standard.

Home:

• Is the home useable and adaptable?
• Is the home enjoyable to live in?
• Is the home cost-effective?
• Is the home well connected digitally?

Place:

• Does the home/area have character and delight?
• Is the area well integrated?
• Is the area inclusive?
• Does your area feel safe?

Sustainable future:

• Is the home future proofed for changes in energy/climate?
• Is the fabric first approach working?
• Is there access to local gardens/allotments or other green spaces
• Does your home use green technology?

Update

The final report was completed in November 2024.

The scrutiny highlighted that the lived experience of residents in their new build homes was mostly very positive, with 76.2% of customers being happy with their new home and the area they live in.

The Scrutineers made 9 recommendations of how customer experiences could be improved even further, and these recommendations were grouped into three themes:

• Starting off well,
• Listening and acting,
• Information and communication.

These are currently being reviewed by the relevant SNG teams and we aim to publish the action plan on how these will be delivered in February 2025.

A huge thank you to all the scrutineers involved, as well as all the customers who provided feedback.