Customer Home Improvements (Alterations)
A customer home improvement or alteration request is when customers want to make a change to their home at their own cost, for example, upgrading a kitchen, putting up a shed, or installing new flooring. We want to make the process of requesting home improvements as clear, simple, and supportive as possible. By improving how we handle these requests, we aim to make things easier for customers and improve the overall experience of our service.
What we asked
We asked customers what their expectations of the service are - from how they would expect to request permission, what information is needed before applying for permission, if they would use an online self-serve option, what service standards would they expect, what documents or information would be most useful, how updates should be given, what might prevent a customer applying for permission to carry out an alteration, and what does a good customer experience with this service look like.
What people told us:
Over 40 customers completed the survey for this project. Some recurring themes or comments from customers were:
- Customers need an easy to understand/straight forward process
- Clear communication – letters, documents etc
- Customers need to be kept informed/up to date with progress of application
- An FAQ sheet for guidance would be helpful
- Being able to look at the Alterations policy
What changed – How we improved:
This is still a work in progress for Platform and the customer feedback received will help us improve the service. We’re enhancing the customer experience by recommending the service area introduce self-serve options and multi-channel access so customers can choose how and when to contact us.
We’re improving the online forms, guidance and documentation to make it easier to understand what’s needed when requesting permission for an alteration. We’re also reviewing our internal processes and systems to ensure requests are managed efficiently and consistently, and that customers receive clear, automated updates at every stage.
Our goal is to build a more accessible, transparent, and responsive experience, one where customers feel informed and supported throughout the journey. Their feedback is driving these improvements, and we’ll continue to use it as we design and test new ways to deliver the best possible service for customers.
