Sheltered housing occupants are set to have bi-monthly meetings to discuss concerns and issues.

Those living in bungalows in Baron Road and Garner Close, Dagenham, joined representatives from Genesis Housing and Margaret Hodge MP to discuss the move last month.

The meeting came about after a number of residents and relatives raised their concerns with her at a coffee morning a few weeks ago.

The bulk of complaints concerned a letter about service charges, which Genesis admitted was mistakenly issued and apologised to those concerned.

Following the discussion, which also saw Genesis pledge to address a number of individual issues, there will be a tenants’ meeting every other month to try to reduce the number of problems building up without being resolved.

Mrs Hodge said: “I was shocked to hear so many complaints from local residents about one housing association. Their services are simply not good enough.

“Whenever residents raise issues with Genesis they are passed from pillar to post and too often these concerns are ignored.

“Housing associations are increasingly becoming big business and these companies appear to be forgetting their responsibility to residents and the community.”

A Genesis spokeswoman said: “Genesis deeply regrets the instances where we haven’t met our usual high standards of customer service, and we are working closely with residents to remedy issues raised.

“We have apologised to the residents who were sent service charge letters in error, and have arranged for a team of surveyors to visit properties and recommend what improvements and repairs need to be carried out.

“We will continue to monitor the situation, and have arranged for more regular meetings with residents to gather feedback and update them on actions taken. Genesis has a longstanding commitment to delivering housing care and support services in Barking and Dagenham and we want to ensure that high quality customer service remains our number one priority.”