Newsletter July Issue 47.pub - Wiltshire Rural Housing Association

 Wiltshire Rural Housing Association
Summer 2015 - Issue 47
Rural Connections
Wiltshire Rural Welcomes Kilmersdon Tenants
In April, Wiltshire Rural was chosen by the Trustees of Kilmersdon Rural
Housing Association (KRHA) as there ‘preferred partner’ to undertake a
Transfer of Engagements.
Kilmersdon Rural Housing Association was established in 1969
This means that, following a formal legal process, and providing we obtain
consent from our regulator the Homes and Communities Agency, the 96
properties owned by KRHA will be legally transferred into the ownership of
Wiltshire Rural Housing Association. These additional properties, plus the
20 we are currently building, will take the total number of homes WRHA
own and manage up to 370.
It is expected that the legal transfer will take place by October this year.
However, in the interim, WRHA have taken on the management of the
homes from 1 July 2015. Our staff will now be responsible for the everyday
management of the homes and dealing with repairs and maintenance
issues.
WRHA are delighted to have been chosen to take on these homes. We will
now be working hard to visit all the Kilmersdon tenants and introduce them
to WRHA, help them through the changes that are being made and
integrate them into the services we provide. Once the transfer has been
finalised we will be working closely with the tenants to plan a future
maintenance programme to bring their homes up to the same high
standard our existing tenants enjoy.
Wiltshire Rural Housing
New Hall
Market Place
Melksham
Wiltshire
SN12 6EX
Telephone: 01380 850916
Email: info@wrha.co.uk
Website: www.wrha.co.uk
Inside this issue
Page 1—WRHA welcomes Kilmerston
Tenants
Winners of the Tenant Draw & Satisfaction
Draw
Page 2— New Staff join Wiltshire Rural
Page 3—Universal Credit & Rent Arrears
Update
Tenant Draw Winners
Mrs Gordon
Page 4 & 5—New Developments
Page 6—Feedback Groups
Page 7—Garden competition
Page 8 -Neighbourhood Visit Schedule
Tenant Satisfaction Drawer
Mr D Gingell & Ms N Hall
Wiltshire Rural Housing Association Resident Newsletter Issue 47 Readers Service
1 New Staff join Wiltshire Rural
As a result of WRHA taking on the management of the 96 homes on behalf of Kilmersdon Rural Housing
Association (see news story ‘Wiltshire Rural Welcomes Kilmersdon Tenants’) we have made some
changes to our staffing structure to ensure we have the capacity to manage these extra homes and maintain
our standard of service. These changes are temporary at the moment until the formal transfer of the
Kilmersdon properties is completed:
New Housing Assistant
Our Customer Services Advisor, Tracy Crook has
moved into this new role to help support our two Housing Managers, Belinda Eastland
and Sue Bone, in the work they do. Tracy will be helping with allocations,
neighbourhood inspections, tenancy visits, rent collection and tenant involvement.
After 10 years of service Tracy is well known and well-liked by our customers and is
ideally placed to take on these new responsibilities.
Customer Services Advisor Gillian Hart has joined the Association to take
over this role. Gill has previous housing experience and will be dealing with many of our
customer’s enquiries. She will also support the housing staff to enable them to spend
more time working with our tenants.
Property Surveyor As a result of the management contract with Kilmersdon Rural
Housing Association we have been joined by a Property Surveyor, Ian Ralph. Ian
worked for the previous managing agents and transferred to WRHA on the 1 July 2015.
Ian has a wealth of experience in building surveying and maintenance and will work
closely with our Maintenance Manager, Matt Young, to ensure all our properties are well
maintained.
Maintenance Manager Matt Young took over from Clive Jude in May 2015.
Matthew was previously the Group Heating Manager for Greensquare.
Caretaker As a result of the management contract with Kilmersdon Rural Housing Association we have
also been joined by Cherry Gilham. Cherry worked for the previous managing agents and transferred to
WRHA on the 1 July 2015. Cherry’s role is to provide caretaking services to the older person’s scheme at
Coles Gardens in Kilmersdon.
Wiltshire Rural Housing Association Resident Newsletter Issue 47 2 Universal Credit
As you are no doubt aware from the news there are several changes underway as the Government
implements its changes to welfare payments.
Universal Credit is one of the changes in these new welfare reforms, and has been introduced in the
Wiltshire Council and Swindon Council area.
Any single person who applies for benefit including rent, will now be awarded Universal Credit. These
payments are monthly in arrears and include all benefit entitlement.
We have contacted all our tenants who are single, who would be affected by this and provided them with
information regarding the changes.
It is important to understand these changes, your Housing Manager will be happy to go through them with
you if you need any further information. Phone Sue/Belinda on: 01380 850916
Rent Arrears Update
So far this year we have seen a week on week
decrease in overall rent arrears levels compared to
2014/2015. This is extremely encouraging and at the
end of the first quarter from April – July the arrears
are at 0.76%, compared to 0.88% at the same time
last year.
We continue to be vigilant in recovering rent arrears,
and this is proven by the reduction in the arrears.
Before we get to the stage of going to Court if you
have any problems with paying your rent please don’t
‘bury your head in the sand’ contact us and we will
assist wherever we can, if necessary directing you to
debt advice services for assistance.
Please contact Belinda or Sue if you wish to
discuss your rent payments.
We have so far this year had to issue two Notices of
belinda@wrha.co.uk
Intention of Seeking Possession. We have not had to
apply to Court for any Possession Hearings, and are sue@wrha.co.uk
hopeful that everyone with a repayment plan for
Tel: 01380 850916
arrears will continue to pay, avoid the necessity to
apply to the Courts.
The current arrears level are slightly higher than at
the start of this financial year, but are within our
targets and we will continue to aim for even lower
levels still.
The Association take arrears very seriously and
pursue rent arrears strongly, and will continue to
issue Notices of Seeking Possession when arrears
are at an unacceptable level.
We will continue to strive to keep the arrears level as
low as possible during the remainder of this financial
year, and will continue to monitor and contact those
tenants who are in serious or persistent arrears.
Wiltshire Rural Housing Association Resident Newsletter Issue 47 3 New Developments
Redlynch
We started on site in the village of Redlynch, south of the county, in April 2014. This brown field site housed
an old redundant garage and we are now building a row of 6 modern and energy efficient homes for local
people. The site has been derelict for some time and this site presented us with a wonderful opportunity to
use the land for the provision of affordable housing for local people.
The new properties include 2 x 1 bed houses and 4 x 2 bed houses.
It is expected this state of the art development will be completed in July 2015.
Urchfont
WRHA has purchased 5 new homes on a modern development in the centre of Urchfont. The development is
being built by Redcliffe Homes. Situated next to the famous village duck pond the 5 homes include 3 x bed
house for rent and 2 x 2 bed Shared ownership flats for sale.
All five homes are expected to be completed by September 2015. The 2 Shared Ownership flats are now
being advertised through the Help to Buy South website – www.helptobuysouth.co.uk
Wiltshire Rural Housing Association Resident Newsletter Issue 47 4 Burton
WRHA has purchased 2 x 3 bed houses from the developer – Cotswold Homes – on a small site in the village
of Burton. The development started in March this year and we expect the properties to be completed by
October 2015.
Hullavington
WRHA has also purchased 5 properties from a developer – Coln Residential – who are building a small
development in the village of Hullavington. The homes include 1 x 2 bed house, 1 x 3 bed house, 2 x 1 bed
flats and 1 x 2 bed Shared Ownership house. The properties are situated in the centre of the village and will
benefit from air source heat pumps to help reduce fuel bills. It is expected the 5 new homes will be completed
in November 2015.
Wiltshire Rural Housing Association Resident Newsletter Issue 47 5 Resident Feedback Groups
Resident Feedback group first one took place on the 8th July @ Codford, which included Children’s nature
activities at the Codford Wildlife Area, Cherry Orchard, this was held as part of Rural Housing week.
It was a chance for resident’s to come along and have their say on any issues that are concerning them and
to comment about the services that Wiltshire Rural Housing Association provide and the way they are
delivered. We always appreciate all the comments made by our residents with regard to our service
standards, so that we can improve our services.
We are always happy to assist those who may be
experiencing changes to their benefit or change to
their circumstances. We have a useful Top Tips
leaflet for tenants applying for Universal Credit.
The Children made homes for snails, to promote the
‘say Yes to homes campaign’.
If you would like to come along to our next Resident Feedback Group and enjoy a formal get together with
refreshments and a chance to win a £50.00 Tesco Voucher, please see below for dates of our next
meetings:
Resident Meetings Dates
19th September 2015
The Wyvern Club
Devizes
12pm to 2pm
30th September 2015
The White Hart
Wroughton
5.30pm to 7.30pm
6th October 2015
The Churchill
Wootten Bassett
5.30pm to 7.30pm
Resident Feedback Group, winner of the £50.00 Tesco
voucher went to Mrs Gibbens of Codford.
Wiltshire Rural Housing Association Resident Newsletter Issue 47 6 Garden Competition for WRHA tenants only.
Are you proud of your garden?
If this year your garden is looking lovely and you would like to show everyone, then please think about
entering our 2015 garden competition.
We would like to invite all our tenants to enter
our garden competition by sending in or emailing
photos of their gardens. To enter please send in
your photos by the end of August 2015.
We will select four gardens from all the entries
received and this will be judged by our Chief
Executive, Steve Warran who will choose a
winner. The winner of the competition will
win a £50 garden voucher.
Tenancy Plus Service
www.homeswapper.co.uk
Do you need help or advice with budgeting,
finding a new home, housing benefit, obtaining
adaptations or signposting to other services like
CAB, Splitz or Community4?
If you are under occupying your property you could
consider a transfer or mutual exchange.
Don’t suffer in silence, please get in touch with
your Housing Managers, Belinda Eastland or
Sue Bone who run this additional service for
tenants.
Do remember, you can mutual exchange with someone
who has a local connection to the village where you
live.
Subscribe to ‘Homeswapper’ for free.
Telephone: 01380 850916 or email us on:-
If you are thinking about moving in the future make
sure you are still registered with either:
belinda@wrha.co.uk sue@wrha.co.uk
www.homes4wiltshire.co.uk
Help to Buy South
The 2 Shared Ownership flats at Urchfont are now being advertised through the
Help to Buy South website.
Everyone who is interested in buying a Shared Ownership property must first
be registered with the local Help to Buy Agent. For Wiltshire this is ‘Help to Buy
(South)’ – www.helptobuysouth.co.uk You can apply on-line and all Shared
Ownership properties and other low cost home ownership products available in
the region are advertised on their web-site. They will tell you if you are eligible
for a shared ownership property.
Wiltshire Rural Housing Association Resident Newsletter Issue 47 7 Neighbourhood Visit Schedule 2015/2016
Our Housing Managers, Belinda and Sue will be visiting our schemes to carry out inspections on the following
dates over the coming year. If you would like a personal call on that day to discuss tenancy issues or any other
matters please do call the office to book it in. Visit times start between 9.15am, 9.30am & 10am onwards.
Neighbourhood visit Schedule 2015/2016 Burbage/Collingbourne Ducis
15/10/2015
15/01/2016
Heddington
13/10/2015
12/01/2016
Meadow Close, Minety
20/11/2015
18/02/2016
09/11/2015
09/02/2016
12/11/2015
11/02/2016
30/11/2015
16/02/2016
Ogbourne St. George
04/08/2015
Redlynch
Whiteparish
14/08/2015
South Marston/Wanborough/Wroughton
01/09/2015
Luckington/Castle Combe
08/12/2015
Colerne
08/12/2015
Codford
11/12/2015
Kilmington/Edington/Dilton Marsh
23/07/2015
Tilshead/Winterslow
19/01/2016
20/01/2016
BIG THANK YOU
Belinda and Sue would like to thank all the tenants from Mildenhall, Rushall, Bromham, Lower Compton, Minety,
Kington Langley & Corsley for participating in the visits which have been taking place since April this year.
What has come out of these visits.
Removal of vehicles not in use. Tidying up of communal areas. Assistance with repairs necessary but not previously
reported. Window restrictors ordered. No dogs sign delivered for tenant who had problems with dog fowling. Secured
manhole covers where lifted. Followed up outstanding repairs where not completed.
Generally the outcome of the visits have resulted in tidier developments, and more customer satisfaction
which is our aim.
Reader Service: If you would like any information on any of the items in this issue please email: info@wrha.co.uk
Wiltshire Rural Housing Association, New Hall, Market Place, Melksham, Wiltshire, SN12 6EX
Phone: 01380 850916, E-mail: info@wrha.co.uk, www.wrha.co.uk
Wiltshire Rural Housing Association Resident Newsletter Issue 47 8