Supervising Adaptations at KWL

We’re pleased to introduce Mike Quail, one of KWL’s Adaptations Supervisors, working alongside colleagues to run our busy adaptations service and help transform homes for tenants who need them most.

A joiner by trade, Mike started his career with Hull City Council before spending many years self‑employed and in management roles within construction and modular housing. He joined KWL as an adaptations supervisor in April last year, bringing extensive hands‑on experience of kitchen contracts and home improvement work across the city.

What Mike’s role involves

Mike oversees a wide range of adaptations that make properties safer and more accessible for tenants, including:

• Level‑access showers and wet rooms to replace baths.
• Kitchens adapted and lowered for wheelchair use, with specialist pull‑down baskets and height‑adjustable worktops.
• Ramps, widened doors and other changes to improve access for people with mobility needs.

When Mike first joined, the adaptations budget was around £1 million per year; last year, the team delivered around £4 million of work and cleared a backlog of jobs that, in some cases, had been waiting several years. That means more tenants are now getting essential changes to their homes more quickly, often with a big impact on daily life.

Making a real difference

Day to day, Mike’s work involves coordinating contractors, materials and schedules, while working closely with tenants. He’s the first to acknowledge that long waiting times can create frustration, and that supervisors sometimes receive the “backlash” when jobs finally start. But he also sees how attitudes change once work is underway and, in his experience, the vast majority of tenants are hugely grateful by the time adaptations are complete.

From older people struggling to get in and out of the bath, to families needing wheelchair‑friendly access or specialist kitchens, Mike knows that what might look like a simple adaptation can be a life‑changing improvement. He enjoys being busy and takes pride in seeing the difference that well‑planned adaptations make to comfort, safety and independence.