Cromwood’s maintenance supervisor Zeeshan Khan knows only too well what it’s like to live in poor housing conditions. Through his role at Cromwood – armed with latest technology – he’s ensuring tenants get the best possible service.
‘I’ve been through it all. Growing up, I experienced social housing from the tenant end, and now I’m trying to support our tenants from the provider end,’ says Zeeshan Khan.
Cromwood’s maintenance supervisor was born in Dudley to immigrant parents who moved to London when he was just six months old. He was raised on a council estate in Hackney, north London, where the boiler often broke down and his parents struggled to get someone to fix it.
He knows what it’s like to live without heating and hot water; to fall through the gaps in service and communication; hope that someone’s coming.
Today, he works hard to ensure people get the help they need as soon as possible – often within 24-hours. But he initially took a very different path.
Prior to joining Cromwood’s maintenance team, he was studying towards a mechanical engineering degree and passing his exams – maths, physics, all the difficult stuff. Then, in his final year, personal tragedy struck. With just his dissertation to go, the ground beneath his feet opened and the future he’d mapped out disappeared. ‘I couldn’t continue,’ he says.
For the next few years, he worked as an Uber driver but began to feel dispirited. ‘I was confident, had lots of self-belief, and was good at writing, communication and IT. I knew I had the skills to do something else. I started to think about going into business.’
While he was planning his next move, he saw an advert for a job with Cromwood’s maintenance team. Even though he’d never had an office job, he decided to apply.
‘I had a deep conversation with the former manager, Mike, and got the job. Out of all the applicants, he decided to give me a chance. He believed in me.’
Zeeshan started as a maintenance worker on 8 January 2023. It’s a date he remembers well because it’s the day his second path opened, supported by Mike who was as much a mentor as a manager. ‘I learnt a lot from Mike. He was patient and understanding. I’m grateful for the opportunity.’
Newly promoted to a supervisory role, he speaks with pride about the new maintenance web portal he’s helped to develop over the last 12 months. Tenants will find it easier to report repairs, track the progress of their complaint, and get a contractor or repairs officer to visit at a mutually convenient time.
‘When I first started, a tenant would call and report an issue. We’d ask them to send an email and then to send photographs or a video via WhatsApp so that the contractor had a reasonable understanding of the problem. Most of the time, we’d be waiting for images and there could be problems with access, which caused further delays.
‘We’re now training tenants to use the web portal. After every inspection, the housing officers offer to show tenants how to access their personal profile. Thames Reach support workers will be able to go through the process with tenants too. It’s very simple and easy to use.’
Tenants can still upload photographs and videos to the new portal, but there’s also an option to click on a photograph of a common issue, such as a dripping tap or a faulty radiator.
‘It’s going to be a game-changer,’ he states. For those who don’t have access to the internet or who aren’t comfortable with IT, the maintenance helplines will remain open.
Looking back to those days in poor social housing, he is proud to work for an organisation that seeks to consistently deliver a good service to tenants.
‘I like to think we’re doing a much better job,’ he says. ‘Where I am now, I’m very happy. This job – working with homeless people, speaking with tenants who need someone to listen and be there – I’m very, very happy.’
