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Our apology was branded ‘unusual’ – what does this say about the sector?
Rooftop Housing Group’s apology for poor service was described in the media as an “unusual statement”. John Rockley reflects on what this means
“…The housing association has now released an unusual statement admitting they got it wrong, apologising to the pair and promising to learn from their mistakes.”
When I saw that line in the second paragraph of the front page of the local paper, I didn’t know how to react.
Yes, we had apologised. Yes, we had got it wrong... but “unusual”?
There’s a couple of ways I can take this. It’s either unusual because we generally have no need to apologise or, and this is the bad one, when we do get it wrong, we struggle so desperately to justify it that we don’t apologise.
In the first instance, we all get the journalists calling about the terrible state we’ve left tenants in when it’s actually something that lies outside our responsibilities: partition fence, vermin, damp that’s actually condensation so try ventilating and popping the heating on for a bit... that sort of thing.
“Are we as a sector bad at owning our mistakes, responding appropriately and making our services better?”
We’re right to be vigorous in telling the press that this is not our responsibility, as laid down in the tenancy agreement that was signed by the tenant.
They may be cross, they may still run the story but it doesn’t get traction.
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In the second instance, are we as a sector bad at owning our mistakes, responding appropriately and making our services better? Is an ‘unusual’ apology one of the things that can help rebuild trust with housing?
Trust is a slippery thing, like the sorites paradox where you can’t identify the grains of sand that turns ‘some sand’ into a ‘heap’, you can’t identify the exact thing that cements or destroys trust.
It could be someone’s own personal tolerance, a series of minor actions that scrape away at the surface until it produces a wound, it could be one devastating blow, and trust is gone.
It’s the same when cementing trust, you can’t identify the moment but you know it when you have it.
To be trusted we need to be trustworthy, consistent, emotionally aware, robust with boundaries and humble.
Yes, we need to get it right more often but we certainly need to have the courage to say sorry when we don’t.
John Rockley, head of communications and marketing, Rooftop Housing Group
Rooftop’s “unusual” apology in full
The Evesham Journal reported that Rooftop Housing left a couple without hot water and central heating for nearly two months.
In response, Rooftop issued the below statement, which was described as “unusual” by the newspaper:
“We were alerted to the problem with the heating in this property at the end of November and we have been working closely with our contractor to resolve the situation.
"The heating system is unrepairable, and, due to the nature of the system, a replacement has proved difficult to source.
"The heating is being replaced and we are talking to our contractors to make sure that happens as soon as possible.
"We were under the impression that the property had an electric shower that was providing hot water. We were wrong.
"There is no excuse for leaving our tenant without hot water for this extended period, and where we have got things wrong, we admit it and we learn from it.
"In this case we have got it wrong. We are contacting our tenant to find a way to make this period easier for them whilst our contractor works to replace the heating system.”
