Customer feedback
Local services for all
You’ve told us you want services that feel local, personal and relevant to your everyday life – and we’re listening.
Dorset Local Panel pilot
This year we piloted a Local Panel in Dorset, bringing together customers and staff to talk face-to-face about local issues, including the grounds maintenance service we provide across Dorset and the integration of East Boro Housing Trust into Aster Group.
Customers said they appreciated speaking directly with staff who know their area and it led to them feeling heard and understood.
We also learned however that not everyone felt represented through the panels, due to the lack of diversity – such as the ages and types of housing that customers sitting on the panel represented. We’re using what we learnt from the pilot to involve more diverse and representative views from customers on projects designed to improve local services.
Section 20 – Listening before we act
In 2024/25, we ran 290 Section 20 consultations. These give you a chance to share your views before we carry out major work or sign new contracts.
Thanks to your feedback, we made some real changes:
Bin store rethink
Customers in one block told us a new bin store we had proposed wasn’t needed, so we didn’t go ahead.
Sewage services
You preferred local contractors over a national company, so we split the contract by region.
Policy review
Our Section 20 policy is now written in plain, easy-to-understand language, and we’ve added a simple guide on what to do if you disagree with a decision.
Bringing more choice to your home
We want your home to feel like yours and that includes more say in how it looks. This year we asked customers to help us choose new kitchen and bathroom flooring options.
Before, there were just two colours to pick from. Thanks to your feedback, you can choose from four new styles, all selected by fellow customers.
The choices include:
Powell Oak Anthracite
Apunura Oak Light Grey
Cottage Stone Black
Pietra Sacre Medium Grey
We’ll be in touch to make your choices when the time comes to refurbish your kitchen or bathroom.
Your Customer Annual Report
We want this report to be useful and easy to read. That’s why we asked nearly 300 customers what they thought of last year’s version – and we used feedback to make it better.
- 81% gave the 2023/24 report three stars out of five or more for content and clarity
- You wanted more information on repairs, how we listen to feedback and support services, so we’ve included more this time around
- You also asked for more detail on homeownership, service charges and sustainability, so we've added new sections this year
- We’ve made the layout easier to navigate, so you can find what you need faster even if you’re looking at this from a mobile.
We’d love to hear what you think of this year’s report too, just email us at customervoice@aster.co.uk
We’ve also refreshed our monthly customer eShot, which is a digital newsletter, based on your feedback. You asked for more help and advice articles, updates on our plans and more from Aster colleagues and our communities. You can read our latest stories here.
New local drop-in sessions
We’ve made some changes to our Independent Living Service to better support customers in Independent Living and Extra Care schemes. This includes local drop-in sessions, where you can meet your Independent Living Housing Officer face to face and talk about anything to do with your home or community. It’s also helping us spot when someone might need extra support to stay safe and well at home.
Our Independent Living Customer Group, made up of customers from our schemes met four times this year. They looked closely at services like communal cleaning and planned maintenance, and their feedback gave us valuable insight and helped shape improvements.