Sovereign resident Lin Cleverley from Marlborough was please that she registered on the Housing Association’s new online self-service portal – she won an iPad3.

When Mrs Cleverley, 30, registered to use MySovereign, the new portal for the housing association, she was entered into a prize draw, and was delighted to win first prize.

“I was browsing on the Sovereign website when I saw the advert for MySovereign. I decided to register as I prefer to do stuff online whenever I can,” said Mrs Cleverley, who lives with her husband, Matt, and two-year-old son, Damian.

“As a busy mum, I have my hands full most of the time, so I find it much easier to be able to sort things out myself, in my own time - no need to use the phone or leave the house.”

Mrs Cleverley is one of 1,280 residents had signed up for MySovereign by early January. They are able to view the balance of their rent account and make a payment, as well as reporting or tracking repairs and viewing details of services or maintenance that are due.

“As I pay my rent weekly, it’s useful for me to be able to view my balance and make sure I keep up to date with my rent. I also used MySovereign to see when my next gas service is due,” said Mrs Cleverley.

To register, residents should visit www.sovereign.org.uk/mysovereign. All they need is their tenancy reference number. In October 2011, the various subsidiaries in the Sovereign Housing Group merged to form a single legal entity, Sovereign Housing Association. The MySovereign project is aimed at standardising the customer experience across all of the association’s regions and giving residents more choice about how they access services.

“The number of people who have registered has far exceeded our target, so we’re really pleased that residents are choosing this option, which we feel will provide a consistent service that allows them to access services in a secure and user-friendly environment at a time that is convenient to them,” said Debbie Humm, head of Sovereign Connect.

“The feedback we have received so far has been very positive; residents appreciate the fact that all they need to know about their tenancy can be found in one place. Based on the feedback, we are going to make further improvements to MySovereign to make it an even better online service,” she added.

Residents who have suggestions about what further services they’d like to access online should e-mail mysovereign@sovereign.org.uk.