Customer Influence Policy

This policy covers how B3Living enables our customers to hold us to account. It addresses the requirements of:

►   The NHF Code of Governance 2020 in relation to Resident Focus, Accountability and Board Election, Selection and Appointment.

►   Together with Tenants Charter commitments regarding relationships and communication, and voice and influence.

►   The current Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard 2024 issued by the Regulator of Social Housing, including the Tenant Satisfaction Measures.

This policy applies to:

►   All B3Living colleagues.

►   All legal entities within the B3 Living Ltd Group or activities undertaken under trading names where there is a customer service function.

Not within the scope of this policy:

►   This policy does not cover the full definition of customer engagement, which may encompass a wider range of communications and relationship-building activities (such as newsletters, community events, social media content, noticeboards).

►   Our complaints handling procedures, which are outlined in our Complaints Policy.

Definitions

“Customers” refers to all current and potential tenants, shared owners, and leaseholders of properties owned or managed by B3Living. This definition includes garages but excludes commercial leases.

“Customer influence” – is a continuous two-way conversation between customers and B3Living on topics that matter to them, where they can hold us to account. This has a broad definition which includes:       

►   “Feedback” – refers to activities that collect our customers’ views on our existing services based on recent transactions with us or past experiences. This includes feedback gathered through formal processes, usually initiated by B3Living, and informal feedback picked up in the course of other activities. Typically, an individual participates on a one-off or ad hoc basis.

►   “Input” – indicates activities that seek to understand our customers’ view on potential ways of delivering our services. This includes ideas for improvements developed in partnership with customers (i.e., co-design and co-production). Generally, these involve customers subscribing to ongoing participation (at the level of their choice), through which we build a working relationship with them.

►   Consultation or participation work that builds a deeper understanding of the social housing lived experience. Examples may be partnership work with other housing associations or national customer networks.

“Customer voice” refers to the collective feelings of wishes expressed by our customers – both feedback and input. This is a holistic assessment that considers all customer insights  (qualitative and quantitative).

“Subscribed customers” refers to current B3Living customers who have signed up to give B3Living their input on an ongoing basis as part of our Customer Community.

“Customer Community” is our network of subscribed customers.

"Customer Advisory Panel” is a new independent group of B3Living customers that launched in May 2025. Our aim is for the Customer Advisory Panel to collaborate with staff and the Board to improve performance, service delivery, and value for money. We hope this will be done through the panel identifying and scrutinising resident-facing services and ensuring that customer views shape the company’s strategic vision.

1.1              Policy statement and aims

1.1.1       Listening and responding to our customers is essential to our success as a social business. We aim to take customer views into account in our decision-making, working in partnership with them and engaging them to challenge, develop and improve our services.

1.1.2       We need a continuous two-way dialogue with our customers that is broad, live, and deep. We recognise that our customers are diverse, may have intersectional needs, and will not all be able to/want to be involved to the same degree. It is important that we take a multi-channel approach and offer a variety of avenues to influence our decision making.

1.1.3       B3Livng aims to promote the customer voice at all levels within the organisation, including at Board. This policy encourages a positive culture in which all colleagues recognise and embrace role of customer influence when looking to deliver excellent customer experiences.

1.1.4       We aim to ensure that we practice good governance and meet the requirements of the NHF Code of Governance 2020, Transparency, Influence and Accountability Consumer Standard, and the Together with Tenants Charter.

1.2              How we listen to our customers

1.2.1       We have a clear Customer Influence Framework attached in Appendix A. This Framework works to help B3Living to build a representative picture of our customers’ opinions, concerns, and suggestions for improvement. It also sets out the mechanisms that we have to ensure the customer voice is heard at all levels in the organisation and used to guide our strategic decision making.

1.2.2       Our understanding of the customer voice must be inclusive and broad. B3Living’s Customer Influence Framework is designed to remove barriers to engagement and offer a range of meaningful opportunities.

1.2.3       B3Living must always consider the impact of our work on our customer, and we aim to do “with”, rather than do “to”. We invite customer input into any activities where a substantial, tangible impact will be felt in customers’ lives. Examples include:

-       Rent setting

-       Contractor appointments (ongoing, largescale contracts)

-       Customer and building safety measures

-       Service standards (performance against them, reviewing or setting new standards)

Although it is impossible to outline every scenario in which we will seek our customers’ input, our approach is to consider seeking customer participation in strategic decisions, unless we can justify why it would be impractical or inappropriate to do so.

1.2.4       We proactively seek regular, live feedback on our core services, particularly from those that have used services recently, so that we can learn from lived experiences.

1.2.5       When we invite customer input, we are clear about our legal or regulatory responsibilities and how this affects their scope to influence our actions.

1.2.6       We view complaints as a valuable source of feedback and, as such, the insights generated via our complaints service form part of the customer voice and are used to influence our operations. The complaints handling service, therefore, is a component of our Customer Influence Framework but since it operates as a reactive, day-to-day customer service, it is covered under a dedicated Complaints Policy.

1.2.7       Our Customer Advisory Panel (CAP) will play a vital role in shaping services that directly impact residents. Meeting quarterly, CAP will aim to provide strategic oversight of resident-facing services, review key strategies, and ensure customer voices are both heard and represented. They will work in partnership with the Board and actively influence our strategic plan—helping us deliver services that accurately reflect the needs and priorities of our residents.

1.2.8       While we aim to be proactive as an organisation in seeking an understanding of the customer voice, we will also support customers who wish to coordinate customer-led activities to influence and scrutinise their landlord’s strategies, policies and services.

We endorse the creation of independent, customer-led residents’ associations. While we can offer limited initial support upon request, our involvement remains advisory. Request for B3Living to attend meetings should be made to B3Living and is subject to our capacity.

To register with B3Living as a formal residents' association, a constitution—or an equivalent document that outlines the association’s structure, objectives, membership criteria, and governance protocols, must be established and submitted.  

1.3              Making sure we listen effectively

1.3.1       We make sure listening is embedded into our processes by:

-       Having an overarching Customer Strategy, which includes provisions for customer engagement, which is reviewed by Board every three years. A summary of the latest version is available on our website.

-       Reporting on customer voice considerations in all B3Living Board papers.

-       Reporting customer insights and feedback to our Customer Experience working group, as well as to our senior leadership, Board and more widely within the organisation.

-       Identifying customer input opportunities within our annual planning processes.

1.3.2       We train our colleagues to make sure they understand how they can promote the customer voice in their role. At the same time, we raise awareness internally and externally about the value of customer influence.

1.3.3       It is important that customers feel that they have enough opportunities to influence B3Living’s work and that these are accessible. To monitor whether we are meeting these expectations:

-       Our Board and customers review our Customer Influence Framework and this policy every three years to make sure our customer voice mechanisms stay relevant, effective, and meaningful.

-       We seek feedback from our customer base more widely on how we engage and involve them. We do this every three years.

-       Our colleagues independently network to gather best practice on resident engagement and increase their awareness of the wider housing sector challenges. We also support our subscribed customers to network and learn and promote opportunities to them.

-       We will proactively seek feedback from our Customer Advisory Panel to ensure that customer input is meaningfully incorporated into any reviews or scrutiny processes undertaken.

1.4              Accessibility

1.4.1       All B3Living customers, regardless of tenure or protected characteristics (age, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, pregnancy or maternity, beliefs, disabilities) can access opportunities to independently scrutinise our work. We provide options for anonymous feedback.

1.4.2       As much as possible, customer input should be accessible without formal training. But subscribed customers and members of our Customer Advisory Panel are also offered timely advice or signposted to networking opportunities and relevant training, where needed and appropriate.

1.4.3       We aim to offer offline as well as digital input options (e.g. focus groups in person and via webinar), either in the first instance or on request. As far as is practical, we should offer inclusive ways to engage, tailored to the needs of the individual. This may include arranging opportunities in the evenings or weekends.

1.4.4       We recognise that some customers have limited time or capacity to provide feedback or participate in activities. Our Customer Influence Framework offers quick engagement opportunities that require only a few minutes or hours, with no long-term commitment.

1.4.5       We keep our customers informed and promote customer influence opportunities regularly:

-       Our website and other communication materials (e.g. newsletters) will include information on how to get involved and on our activities. These also include routes for customers to request more information in order to hold us to account. 

-       All colleagues understand their role in promoting our customer input opportunities.

1.4.6       Access to our customer input forums is only denied to customers who fall under our Persistent &/ unreasonable Complaints Policy or who have breached the terms of reference / community guidelines for that channel.

1.5              Responding to the customer voice

1.5.1       We have robust processes to make sure the customer voice influences the ways we deliver our services. These include, but are not limited to:

-       Customer Voice Action Plan driven by the customer voice (including complaints)

-       Six-weekly Customer Experience working group

-       Customer Ethos Champions

-       B3Living internal communications

-       Training

-       Governance oversight via quarterly Customer Advisory Panel meetings, an Operations Committee and Board papers (incl. a quarterly Customer Experience Report).

We may respond to customer input or feedback at the individual, local, or global level, depending on its nature. Our Customer Influence Framework (Appendix A) sets out how we respond at the strategic level.

1.5.2       We aim to share the customer voice faithfully, for example, by using quantitative analysis or representative verbatim quotes.

1.5.3       Any outcomes agreed based on customer feedback are actioned by the relevant teams.

1.5.4       Our response to localised customer influence (i.e., feedback/input related to a single estate or location) is targeted at those affected. Therefore, this may fall outside our strategic response but will follow the spirit of this policy regarding transparency and accountability.

1.6              Governance

1.6.1       The role of customer influence in our governance structures is clearly set out in Appendix B to this policy.

1.6.2       Our Board is committed to integrating customer feedback into our decision-making processes. They review a Customer Experience Report each quarter, which consolidates the latest insights and feedback from our customers. In addition, Board members receive direct input through a scheduled calendar of focus groups, events, a joint annual review meeting with our subscribed customers, and newly introduced quarterly Customer Advisory Panel meetings.

1.6.3       Where applicable, decision making at our Board is influenced by the customer voice, which is referenced in all board papers and proposals.

1.6.4       Established in May 2025, the Customer Advisory Panel will play a vital role in integrating customer insights into our strategic decision-making processes, reinforcing B3Living’s commitment to inclusive and responsive governance.

1.6.5       We strive to recruit people with lived experience of social housing to our Board. Vacancies are open to B3Living customers, subject to a fair, transparent and accessible recruitment process. We advertise widely, including to our customers.

1.7              Being accountable and building trust

1.7.1       Openness is one of B3Living’s core values. We are committed to being transparent about our decision making and activities, and where customers can/have influenced these. Appendix A sets out how we ‘close the loop’ on our customer influence activities.

1.7.2       Where we have sought customer input via our Customer Community, we will report back to the those involved directly to confirm any decisions and outcomes.

1.7.3       We publish information on our activities and performance to keep our customers informed and help them to hold us to account. This includes information on complaints, finances, regulatory framework, board decisions impacting our customers, satisfaction measures, customer influence activities, and equality, diversity, and inclusion. This information is available via:

-       B3living main website.

-       Customer annual report.

-       Financial statements.

-       Monthly e-newsletter.

1.7.4       We regularly report back to our wider customer base and colleagues on our customer influence activities. These reports are accessible and transparent, outlining the feedback/input we received from our customers, the outcomes or decisions made, and how we plan to respond.

An Equality Impact Assessment (Part 1) has been completed. Due to the nature of this work, there is the potential to privilege some groups over others, but the policy includes appropriate mitigations to ensure we listen to a diverse sample of customers.

Gathering customer feedback and input involves the processing of our customers’ personal data. A Data Processing Impact Assessment has been completed, and the residual risk level is low.

As part of the policy approval and review process, we consulted with our newly formed Customer Advisory Panel during their first quarterly meeting in June 2025.

Since the panel plays a prominent role in this policy and it was due for renewal when they launched, we believed their input would be valuable.

The panel observed that while the policy emphasises the importance of customer voice, it raises concerns about accessibility and diversity. They asked for assurances that customers without digital access can offer feedback through alternative channels and stressed the need to capture input from a broader range of customers.

Although the panel was pleased to see their inclusion, they recommended clarifying that their integration into our framework and the influence of their voice is an aspirational aim, reflecting the fact that they are new and still establishing their presence.

Housing Act 1985.

Equality Act 2010.

The NHF Code of Governance 2020 provisions related to “Resident Focus”, “Accountability”, and “Functions of the Board”.

Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard 2024 issued by the Regulator of Social Housing.

NHF “Together with Tenants” Charter.

Internal:

-       Complaints Policy

-       Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy

-       Customer Strategy

-       Communications Strategy

-       Customer Community Terms of Reference

-       Customer Advisory Panel Terms of Reference

External:

-       NHF Code of Governance 2020

-       Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard 2024 issued by the Regulator of Social Housing.

-       The Housing Green Paper “A New Deal for Social Housing” 

-       NHF “Together with Tenants” Charter

Head of Communications

►   Overall responsibility for this policy, including initiating its review every three years as set out in section 3.3.2.

Customer Influence Manager

►   Overseeing the delivery of our Customer Influence Framework on a day-to-day basis.

►   Overseeing involvement from the Customer Advisory Panel

►   Managing relationships with our subscribed customers.

►   Analysing trends in the customer voice and sharing this within the organisation.

►   Ensuring that B3Living reports back to colleagues and customers on the decisions and actions taken based on the customer voice.

All B3Living colleagues

►   Recording customer feedback in the appropriate format.

►   Facilitating formal feedback or customer input activities as and when required.

►   Promoting opportunities to our customers.

►   Identifying decisions in their area which require customer input. Working with the Customer Influence Manager to arrange consultations, surveys, etc to gather this input.

B3Living Board

►   Monitoring compliance with this policy, including that the “Customer Voice” is heard in strategic decision making

►   Engaging with our subscribed customers periodically to improve their understanding of the customer voice.

►   Review and approval of this policy and framework triennially.

Company Secretary / Assistant Company Secretary / Governance Assistant

►   Recruiting Board members with lived experience of social housing.

►   Supporting with the running of our Customer Advisory Panel.

The performance of our customer influence activities is monitored quarterly and reported to Board within our key performance indicators and Customer Experience report.

We monitor if we are listening effectively through:

-       Quarterly perception survey Tenant Satisfaction Measures. Our metric for ‘listening and acting on customer views’ is reported to our colleagues and Board in our strategic key performance indicators.

-       An annual report to our Board on the headcount and demographic profile of our subscribed customers, complainants, and feedback survey respondents compared with the profile of our wider customer base. We set targets to increase participation in under-represented groups.

-       A quarterly Customer Experience Report to our Board / Operations Committee.