New Tenant Portal launched to assist Council tenants in Exeter
Published: 13 September 2023
Council tenants now have much greater access to the housing services they require following the launch of a new Tenant Portal.
The secure online portal makes life easier for tenants by enabling them to access to their rent accounts, pay rent, arrange repairs to their homes and check on the status of any repairs already raised.
The Tenant Portal has been designed by Council Housing and Development Services to be an additional way of contacting the Council and increasing the options available.
It has been carefully researched over a number of years to ensure the security of data and the ability of the system to link to the information held on the Council’s housing systems.
Members of the Council’s Tenants’ Voice group were able to provide valuable feedback while the portal was in development and were the first to test the ‘live’ version.
Letters have been sent out to Council tenants across the city ward by ward - to ensure that the system and support staff are not overwhelmed by demand - with log-in details and leaflets explaining how the portal will work.
Drop-in sessions have been arranged so that tenants can find out more and be helped with logging on. Information is available in an accessible form on the Council’s website, and tenants can telephone for advice on how to access and use the system.
Once they have registered, instead of telephoning officers to check on progress and discuss rent accounts, tenants will be able to access everything they need, which will enable officers to deal with people who are more vulnerable and unable to do this themselves.
In the future additional elements will be added to the Portal so that tenants will be able to raise further housing management issues.
Cllr Barbara Denning, Lead Councillor for Council Housing Development and Support Services, said: “The new Tenant Portal will be a great way for people to access all the information they need, at the time they want to access it. The information is secure, and our Housing team will provide all the assistance needed to make sure everybody can register and make full use of this important new service.”
Tenants wanting more information or technical assistance in registering for the portal can email tenantportal@exeter.gov.uk for help.