Contact us

Our location:

Accessibility

We aim to be as inclusive as possible, so that everyone can contact us and access our services in a way that meets their needs.

Our office is wheelchair accessible, with an automatic entrance door and an on-site car park, to create ease of access. A disabled toilet is available inside at Reception.

At Reception, we also have a Hearing Loop, to assist visitors with hearing difficulties.

We aim to meet everyone's needs and provide the best support possible. If you have any suggestions on how we can improve the accessibility of our office, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

By car

Please enter 'Southway Housing' into your Sat Nav / Google Maps as this will be more accurate than using the postcode. Please note our location on the map above, which is on Princess Road and next to Christ Church, West Didsbury.

Visitors parking is available at Southern Gate (in the short-stay car park in front of the barrier) - access is via Princess Road.

If the car park is full, there are usually spaces on nearby streets just off Princess Road and Barlow Moor Road.
There is also Pay & Display parking available across the Princess Parkway at Christie Fields, Derwent Ave, Manchester M21 7QS. 

On foot

Our Visitors Reception is accessed via Princess Road. Please follow the advice above if using Google Maps.

By bus

We are accessible by bus; use either:

• Southern Cemetery Bus Stops (A, B or J) M20 2ZA
• St Andrews School Bus Stop M20 2ZE
• Mersey Crescent Bus Stop M21 7QA

By rail

Our nearest train station is East Didsbury, M20 5WP.

Walking distance from here is approximately 40 minutes so we would recommend getting a bus or tram from here (see advice).

By tram

The nearest tram stops are:

• Burton Road M20 1JQ
• Withington M21 7GB

 Walking distance from these is approximately 15 minutes.

Complaints

At Southway we are committed to encouraging and listening to feedback from out customers. We welcome complaints because we know they help us improve services. 

• You can read the Complaints Policy here 
• You can make a complaint to Southway here

We ensure we adhere to the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code which provides us with instruction and guidance on how we should handle complaints from our customers. You can find more information here. 

Performance 

We monitor and report on our performance around handling complaints. The following is our performance for 2021-22:

78 Formal complaints   

We closed 78 formal complaints in 22-23.  26 of these went to Stage 2.

67% Stage 1 complaints closed within target, 62% of stage 2 complaints closed within target.   

We have a target of 10 working days to close a Stage 1 complaint and 20 working days for Stage 2

10.5 days       

on average to respond to a Stage 1 complaint

231 Put Things Right Complaints    

These are complaints that are more straightforward that we can resolve quickly, in agreement with the customer

54% of complaints were about repairs      

This service has the most interactions with our customers and we therefore expect it will receive the highest number of complaints. Covid had a significant impact during 21-22 on the delivery of our repairs service.

We take complaints seriously and make changes in response to what our customers tell us, During 2021-22 you told us that we needed to improve in the following areas: 

You told us waiting for repairs and poor communication about repairs were the main areas of dissatisfaction.

We have created a dedicated Repairs Team within our Contact Centre that handles and manages all our repairs appointments and re-appointments. They are also able to comprehensively answer any Repairs Queries as they are solely focused on this service area.

You told us damp & mould in our properties were a concern.

We have committed to a full review of our Damp & Mould Policy and approach to advising on and managing damp and mould in our properties.

If you would like to make a complaint regarding one of our services, fill out the form below. We aim to resolve complaints as quickly and effectively as possible by using the following process.

Please note if your complaint is regarding a neighbour or Anti Social Behaviour in your neighbourhood these are dealt with differently and can be reported here.

Put things right

We try to resolve complaints by offering a quick solution that put things right for you, your complaint will be responded too usually with a phone call or email explaining the resolution and it will be logged as a ‘Put things right’. Occasionally if we can’t offer a resolution because it does not comply with one of our policies we will also log it as a Put things right so we have a record of your dissatisfaction for us to consider when we evaluate our service to make improvements, you will be advised of this with an explanation of why we can’t uphold your request.

Formal complaints

If your complaint is more complicated and in-depth, requiring a detailed investigation, it may take us longer to look into and respond:

Formal: Stage 1
A Stage 1 complaint is investigated by an appropriate Manager and we aim to offer you a resolution within 10 working days. Our Complaints Officer will work with you and the relevant department to ensure that your complaint is understood and the best possible outcome is offered, they will also ensure that any promises made as part of a resolution are delivered. We regularly evaluate complaints and are committed to using them as a valuable learning tool that helps us to deliver a better service to tenants.

Formal: Stage 2
If you are dissatisfied with your Stage 1 complaint response and can provide additional information that could change the response decision you can request the complaint be escalated to a Stage 2 Complaint which will be investigated by the Head of the relevant Department. We aim to respond to Stage 2 Complaints within 15 working days.

If after this you are still dissatisfied you can contact The Housing Ombudsman who can offer an independent investigation of a complaint decision if appropriate. The Ombudsman can only investigate a tenants complaint if it has first been logged as a complaint and responded to by Southway. Our Complaints Officer can explain to you how the process works and provide you with contact details for the Ombudsman.

Just to let you know, once your complaint has been resolved we may ask you for feedback on the outcome and way it was handled. The feedback helps us improve our Complaints service.

Further information

Read more about complaints in our Complaints Policy.

We offer a Complaints Buddy Service, where you can be paired with an impartial buddy to help support you with your complaint. Find out more.

Would you like to give your feedback and help shape Southway's Complaints Service? Join our Service Improvement Group.

For press and media enquiries, please complete the form below.