Residents contacting White Horse will never find their query being dealt with by a robot, that was a pledge made by Chief Executive Steve Warran when he spoke at a tenants’ meeting in Kilmersdon.
He was speaking at the annual residents’ meeting in the village hall, which drew more than 25 people and covered a huge range of topics.
Steve was explaining that although staff are exploring the use of AI to make some admin processes quicker and smoother so they can use their time more effectively, the board and the Tenant Scrutiny Panel are adamant chatbots will never be used to reduce direct human contact with tenants. “Tenants will not reach a robot when calling the office,” he said.
He said White Horse Housing is small compared with larger landlords but this allows a more personal one-to-one service and avoids tenants becoming just a number. He said while the organisation wants to continue to grow and develop new homes, he doesn’t want it to reach a size where personal contact is lost.
Talking about White Horse’s investment in repairs and maintenance, he said that in the last year it spent around £1.6 million on asset management, about half of its total turnover. Repair and investment costs in Kilmersdon were significantly higher than in their other areas due to the age and type of properties,’ he said.
He said over the last two years more than £740,000 has been spent in Kilmersdon on bathrooms, heating, and new roofs at Ammerdown Terrace, with significant expenditure on solar photovoltaic panels and replacement windows.
The new double-glazed windows and doors in listed homes in Church Street have been particularly expensive, he said, which shows White Horse is fulfilling its commitment to invest heavily in the village’s homes, even when it needs higher than usual spending.
Fielding a question about selling off older homes, he said it has always been policy that very old, uneconomic properties could be converted or disposed of when they become empty, if they are beyond viable repair and the money re-invested in updating existing homes or providing new homes for local people.
He said, unlike some other landlords, White Horse Housing will not evict tenants in order to sell homes. White Horse tries to reinvest sale receipts back into repairs and maintenance, particularly in the village. Receipts have also been used to fund new homes in nearby areas, such as the development in Horse Lane and other Somerset locations.
He said White Horse achieved a healthy surplus in 2025-26, which will provide funds for continued investment. “We are financially strong and remain ambitious both in service standards and in building new homes,” he said.
Responding to queries about contractors being called out multiple times for the same roof problem, Maintenance Manager Darrel Smith said repeat visits are monitored and are not paid for twice of no new work is done. He is also working with contractors to ensure as many correct parts are carried on their vans as possible to avoid having to come back.
Operations Director Belinda Eastland discussed the positive Tenant Satisfaction Survey and revealed tenant arrears across the association at the end of June stood at just 0.54 per cent, one of the lowest in the country.
She spoke about new regulatory requirements around transparency and access to information. From October, White Horse will have to comply with Social Tenants Access to Information Requirements (STAIRS). She said it already provides information on its website and portal, but will need to add extra web pages covering additional information about governance, decision making, spending, stock management, performance, services, service charges and other areas of interest.
From next April staff will have to respond to any tenant request for information within 30 days. There will be a section on the website to submit requests but tenants could also phone or email. Among the topics tenants might ask about are allocations, rent collection, rent levels, occupancy rights, estate management, communal maintenance, property conditions, repairs, antisocial behaviour, staffing, training, board meetings and scrutiny panel meetings.
As usual, there were two prize draws for people attending, with Nicola Young winning a £50 John Lewis voucher and Andrew Fry taking home a £50 Amazon voucher.
“Overall it was a really good meeting,” said Belinda. “We had a very good turnout and some really good discussions, which shows how important it is for us to be out there and meeting our residents.”