Customer Voice

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Customer voice is at the heart of what we do and your views and opinions are crucial to shaping the services we deliver both now and in the future.

We want to make sure we represent the views of customers and our Customer Voice team will make sure you can be part of that involvement, share your thoughts and opinions easily and at a time that suits you.

Our involved customer groups also scrutinise and review the way we work to make positive changes to our services everyday.

If you would like to find out more about our engagement or get involved, please fill out the enquiry form below and we’ll get in touch.

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Customer Voice Commitments More on our Commitments Customer Voice Policy
Lastest updates from our Customer Voice team

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Customer Voice Activity

Customers play a valuable role in shaping, influencing and improving our services. To give our Customers the opportunity to share their experiences, we will carry out various pieces of work with customers including “research” and “consultation” activities.

Consultation – We strive to meaningfully consult with our customers when there is a genuine opportunity for feedback to influence decisions and make changes to the way we work and deliver our services. At the end of each piece of consultation work, we let customers know how we have listened and acted on their feedback.

Research – To understand our customers’ needs in more detail, we will carry out various research activities including transactional and perception surveys. We constantly review the way we deliver our services to ensure our customers receive a good experience and research is vital for us to understand what we are doing well and where we need to improve.  We will use the information we gather to monitor and review how we can shape the services we offer now and in the future.

We will share our Customer Voice activities on the Aster website and via the customer e-shot, making sure we demonstrate the impacts of our activity and how we listen to customer feedback. 

Use your customer voice to make a difference

Our involved customer groups

Our customers, particularly those in our involved customer groups, play a strong role in what we do, they help to shape the services we provide, let us know where we can improve and feedback to make sure our customers are at the heart of all decision making. If you'd like to find out more about your future involvement, please fill in the enquiry form above.

We currently have a range of formal customer groups, including - The Customer Voice Committee (CVC), our Designated Complaints Panel (DCP), and our Customer Scrutiny Panel (CSP).

Our independent customer panels

The Customer Scrutiny Panel (CSP) is an independent panel of customers and supports the Customer and Community Network (CCN) which forms part of our governance structure.  It meets the co-regulatory requirements of the Regulatory Standards for social housing in England. They work to provide an independent and objective assessment of services and business processes from a customer perspective. Engagement is at the heart of their work.

CSP member: "I really get a great amount of satisfaction being the Chair and member of the CSP.  It is satisfying to know that at the end of a scrutiny exercise I have done the very best I can to improve services for fellow customers and Aster. I gain so much personally in being able to undertake this work and  being an involved customer in this group, including being able to meet with staff and explain the role of the CSP."

The Designated Complaints Panel is made up of a group of dedicated customers to oversee Aster’s performance and cultural approach to complaints handling. Key roles and responsibilities include reviewing policy and procedure, annual complaints self-assessments and compensation amounts and application. The panel will participate in learning circles and will hold Aster to account to ensure any learning from complaints is identified and acted on.

The Panel has delegated responsibilities from Customer Voice Committee to seek assurances around complaint handling and will work closely with our Customer Scrutiny Panel where themes and trends are identified.

Our Customer Voice Committee (CVC) is a committee which forms part of our governance structure. The group is made up our customers, senior executive and non-executive directors. The CVC works collaboratively and has a central role to play in the key decisions we make. This includes scrutinising and challenging our performance, how we deliver our services to customers and the outcomes of our work. Most importantly, because there are customers on the committee, they bring the customer voice into our business at the highest level.

CVC member: "We look at what’s important for Aster, our customers and  the community."

CVC member: "I joined to provide a customer and community voice, create community cohesion, and work to bridge societal difference and disadvantage."

CVC member: "It's about customer voice, collaboration, community vibrance."

We value your feedback, it helps us see what’s working, where we can improve, and how to make our services more responsive to your needs. Following recent feedback, and because we believe in being open and transparent, here’s how we use surveys, who carries them out, how your data is protected, and how you can opt out.

Types of surveys we carry out

  • Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) survey - a survey to understand how we're doing and where we can do better. These were introduced by the Regulator of Social Housing. To find out more about the regulator click here.
  • Service-specific surveys – for example, after a repair, complaint, planned maintenance visit, or when you move into your new home, so we can improve that service.
  • Engagement and research surveys – for example, asking how safe you feel in your building, how easy it is to contact us, or your views on proposed changes to services.

How we contact you

Depending on the survey, you may be contacted by phone, text, email, post, or through our online portals.

Who carries out our surveys 

We sometimes use trusted independent research companies to run surveys on our behalf. We share survey contact details and responses under legitimate interest, and your personal information is protected in line with the UK Data Protection Act. We never sell your information and only use it for the purpose it was collected.

Our current providers are CX Feedback (run by Target Applications Ltd) and their partner PEXEL:

If you’re unsure, you can call us on 0333 400 8222 to check.

How to opt out

Taking part is your choice. You can opt out of surveys any time by:

  • Emailing contactcentre@aster.co.uk
  • Calling 0333 400 8222
  • Updating your communication preferences in your MyAster account

Data Protection

We follow UK GDPR when carrying out surveys:

  • Legal obligation – we must measure performance as a Registered Social Landlord.
  • Legitimate interest – we use your feedback to improve our services.

If we use a survey partner:

  • Aster remains responsible for your data (Data Controller) and the partner acts on our instructions (Data Processor).
  • A formal agreement ensures your data is protected.
  • We only share what’s necessary, usually your name and contact details and send it securely.
  • Data is never used for anything else.
  • Any call recordings (for training and monitoring).

You can read more in our full Privacy Notice here. 

Jargon buster

We consult with customers on various documents which can sometimes include abbreviations and terms that people may not be familiar with. 

We try really hard to avoid jargon, but sometimes we can’t, because it may relate to our legal obligations, or other regulations.  

The Resident’s Network at the Housing Quality Network has put together a really useful jargon buster to explain the terms commonly used in the social housing sector. We’d like to share this with you to support your involvement, and to ensure your voice is heard on the issues that matter to you.

Jargon buster

Customer Voice use CX Feedback for our customer surveys.

More info on this trusted platform can be found here:

https://www.cx-feedback.co.uk/ 

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