Wigan Council – A Tenant Voice That Shapes Policy

In partnership with GovMetric, Wigan Council launched a robust approach to reach as many tenants as possible, across all demographics, including the digitally excluded, using a mix of emails, social media, face-to-face support, and paper surveys for underrepresented groups.

This was to collect as many tenant voices and opinions as possible to help shape services based directly on what their tenants want.

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This approach yielded 4,090 responses with a 99% confidence level.

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Real-Time Damp & Mould Alerts

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Recently, Wigan introduced GovMetric Alerts to better address key safety issues identified through TSMs. Since going live, the system has been automatically detecting and flagging feedback related high priority issues including damp and mould.  

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This is an example of how automated insight is helping housing providers proactively identify risk, prioritise urgent cases, and support compliance with the roll-out of Awaab’s Law.

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"See the Person, See the Home"

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Inspired directly by TSM feedback and tenant focus groups, this immersive training experience helps staff challenge unconscious bias and deliver more respectful, empathetic services. Staff are invited into a purpose-built mock home, complete with everyday details like damp patches, disconnected appliances, or drying laundry, to reflect on their assumptions and spot signs of tenant need. It’s a powerful way to connect housing services back to real lives.

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Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Insights, Co-Designed with Tenants

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ASB concerns raised in TSM responses triggered a deeper data-led approach: dashboard now enables service leads to drill down into local insights by area, block, or service type. These insights are shared with the Community Safety Partnership, the Council’s partnership approach to safety across the Borough and feed into cross-agency action.

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Tenant Feedback Embedded in Governance

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Results are decentralised, shared across housing teams, officer forums, and tenant focus groups,including quarterly sessions on complaints and repairs. Team ownership of insights helps drive local action and service improvements.

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At Wigan Council, we use tenant feedback to understand what matters most to residents and identify where services need to improve, helping us shape changes that support a safer and better-quality experience for every tenant.