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Introduction and background
At Leeds Federated, our goal is to tailor our services to meet each customer’s individual needs effectively.
understand the diverse needs of tenants, including those arising from protected characteristics, language barriers, and additional support needs; and
assess whether their housing and landlord services deliver fair and equitable outcomes for tenants.
Historically, while we have collected information on customers' disabilities, we haven't always collected details on specific adjustments needed to enable customers to access our services fairly.
Early in 2024, a project group was formed to look at what we currently do and how we can improve this to ensure we're providing customers with a service that meets their needsand our regulatory obligations.
Findings and way forward
The project group developed a Needs and Adjustments Policy to formalise our approach. We also agreed that new procedures needed to be introduced to ensure we were asking customers the right questions, recording the information in a meaningful way and ensuring it was accessible for all colleagues/contractors etc.
To support the procedures, we updated the housing management system we use. This will help us to record the adjustments each customer needs.
We:
updated and streamlined disability descriptors, ensuring consistency through a standardised pick list.We chose a pick list option to prevent ad hoc additions and to allow an element of consistency for reporting and monitoring.
made some changes to the way we record customers' advocate details and made it easier for colleagues to access this information to prevent unnecessary barriers for our customers.
Further information:
What is a reasonable adjustment?
A reasonable adjustment is where we make a change to the way we usually do something at Leeds Federated, to make sure any customer can access our services to the same level as anyone else. We don’t want customers to be at a disadvantage or miss out because we didn’t think about how their individual needs make it more difficult for them.
How will we decide what is reasonable?
1. Effectiveness - We will think about how effective the adjustment is and if it fully meets the customer's needs.
For example, we wouldn’t arrange to translate something into sign language if a hearing-impaired customer didn't know sign language.
2. Practicality - We will think about how practical the adjustment is.
For example, it wouldn’t be practical to install a wheelchair accessible toilet on every floor of our office, but we could make sure there was at least one accessible toilet available for wheelchair users.
3. Cost - We will have to balance the cost of the request against the business need.
For example, if someone would only ever communicate with Leeds Federated by requesting a face-to-face appointment and lived a long way from the office, we may need to look at the cost of providing this option and whether there was a suitable alternative way to communicate.
4. Disruption - We will consider how disruptive the adjustment would be.
For example, we may suggest a portable ramp for wheelchair users to access our offices rather than altering every step in the building.
We will listen to what our customers need. We will be as flexible as we can be and where we can’t make an adjustment, we will be honest about that and look for an alternative solution.
Examples of current reasonable adjustments
Letters in large print
Letters printed on pink or yellow paper
Allow extra time to answer the door or telephone
Knock loudly on the door
Telephone call prompt for appointments if someone won't hear a door knock
Visit in twos
Telephone interpretation
British Sign Language
Provide written instructions or visual cues
Repetition of key information
Preferred contact times for telephone calls - am / pm / avoid school run times
Emergency evacuation assistance
Medication storage requirements
Introduction and background
At Leeds Federated, our goal is to tailor our services to meet each customer’s individual needs effectively.
understand the diverse needs of tenants, including those arising from protected characteristics, language barriers, and additional support needs; and
assess whether their housing and landlord services deliver fair and equitable outcomes for tenants.
Historically, while we have collected information on customers' disabilities, we haven't always collected details on specific adjustments needed to enable customers to access our services fairly.
Early in 2024, a project group was formed to look at what we currently do and how we can improve this to ensure we're providing customers with a service that meets their needsand our regulatory obligations.
Findings and way forward
The project group developed a Needs and Adjustments Policy to formalise our approach. We also agreed that new procedures needed to be introduced to ensure we were asking customers the right questions, recording the information in a meaningful way and ensuring it was accessible for all colleagues/contractors etc.
To support the procedures, we updated the housing management system we use. This will help us to record the adjustments each customer needs.
We:
updated and streamlined disability descriptors, ensuring consistency through a standardised pick list.We chose a pick list option to prevent ad hoc additions and to allow an element of consistency for reporting and monitoring.
made some changes to the way we record customers' advocate details and made it easier for colleagues to access this information to prevent unnecessary barriers for our customers.
Further information:
What is a reasonable adjustment?
A reasonable adjustment is where we make a change to the way we usually do something at Leeds Federated, to make sure any customer can access our services to the same level as anyone else. We don’t want customers to be at a disadvantage or miss out because we didn’t think about how their individual needs make it more difficult for them.
How will we decide what is reasonable?
1. Effectiveness - We will think about how effective the adjustment is and if it fully meets the customer's needs.
For example, we wouldn’t arrange to translate something into sign language if a hearing-impaired customer didn't know sign language.
2. Practicality - We will think about how practical the adjustment is.
For example, it wouldn’t be practical to install a wheelchair accessible toilet on every floor of our office, but we could make sure there was at least one accessible toilet available for wheelchair users.
3. Cost - We will have to balance the cost of the request against the business need.
For example, if someone would only ever communicate with Leeds Federated by requesting a face-to-face appointment and lived a long way from the office, we may need to look at the cost of providing this option and whether there was a suitable alternative way to communicate.
4. Disruption - We will consider how disruptive the adjustment would be.
For example, we may suggest a portable ramp for wheelchair users to access our offices rather than altering every step in the building.
We will listen to what our customers need. We will be as flexible as we can be and where we can’t make an adjustment, we will be honest about that and look for an alternative solution.
Examples of current reasonable adjustments
Letters in large print
Letters printed on pink or yellow paper
Allow extra time to answer the door or telephone
Knock loudly on the door
Telephone call prompt for appointments if someone won't hear a door knock
Visit in twos
Telephone interpretation
British Sign Language
Provide written instructions or visual cues
Repetition of key information
Preferred contact times for telephone calls - am / pm / avoid school run times
Emergency evacuation assistance
Medication storage requirements
Page last updated: 03 Jun 2025, 12:40 PM
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Lifecycle
June 2025 - Roll out new procedures
Your adjustment and access needs has finished this stage
Updates to our housing management system and staff training.
July 2025 - Phase 1
Your adjustment and access needs has finished this stage
We will contact customers who have previously shared a disability / need to let us know if there have been any changes. Customers will be able to update their information directly on MyAccount or contact us by phone or email. When we ask a customer about their needs we will record this information.
August 2025 - Phase 2
Your adjustment and access needs is currently at this stage
We will contact customers who haven't previously told us about any disabilities / needs. We will ask them to confirm if they'd like any adjustments to be made or considered and record that they have been asked and what their response is.
September 2025 - Phase 3
this is an upcoming stage for Your adjustment and access needs
We will try to contact customers who we've not managed to speak to yet and who haven't updated their own information on MyAccount. We may write to customers or visit them at home.
Post-September 2025 - Business as usual
this is an upcoming stage for Your adjustment and access needs
We will continue to review customers' needs on a regular basis and record any updates.Every quarter we will meet as a team to review the adjustments we haven't agreed or that have been classed as unreasonable. This will help us identify trends and themes to indicate that we need to make more changes to how we do things. We want to make sure we're listening to customers and doing as much as we reasonably can so everyone has equal access to all our services.
