We - Hastoe Housing Association
Transcription
We - Hastoe Housing Association
@home February 2010 a newsletter for Hastoe Housing association residents in this issue... Resident involvement page 7 Taking good care Hastoe prides itself on its mobile management service, but this is strongly supported on its original estates by a team of caretakers. in the south region we have seven caretakers. they are our eyes and ears on the estate. as well as looking out for our elderly and vulnerable residents, they report any vandalism, graffiti, fly-tipping and health and safety hazards. over the past year they have received extensive training: for fire precautions, ladder safety, lone working and customer service skills. at our staff conference in june they scooped a prize for their sketch of ‘it’s a Wonderful life’ depicting what it would be like for residents without, and with, them and the service they provide. We recently received an email from one of our resident in praise of our caretaker. Here is an extract: “i have been impressed with how clean and well-groomed the estate is kept. i have always found the caretaker to be both friendly and very helpful with advice on matters relating to jobs around my property. i have also noticed how hard he works to keep the estate looking as good as it does. for my money, he's an excellent caretaker”. We frequently receive compliments such as this about our caretakers and believe they thoroughly deserve our respect for the help they provide in providing local services. sustainable homes, sustainable communities Repairs and Maintenance update page 11 Vote on Link to the Developing World page 10 South @home : news estate Walkabouts if you have any concerns, comments or compliments about where you live, why not talk to your area housing manager at the next estate walkabout? everyone is welcome and the next visits are on: Bognor 5th jan, 2nd feb, 2nd mar and 13th apr Walton 12th jan 9th feb 9th mar and 6th apr Kirdford 2nd feb West Dean 2nd mar Beulah Hill 13th jan, 10th feb, 17th mar and 21st apr community spirit in the snow While carrying out our action plan to contact all of our older tenants during the recent cold snap, we came across a number of examples of staff “going the extra mile”. for example, two of our staff in the region visited a vulnerable tenant on the day before christmas eve as he had just lost his wife and is disabled. While there, they chatted to a terminally ill neighbour who was worried that her daughter would not be able to drive through the snow to pick her up before christmas and our staff offered to drive her there themselves if this came about. this member of staff said: “i just could not bear to think of her spending christmas on her own.” the same member of staff also contacted a resident on christmas day, knowing that he was alone: “he was extremely pleased that someone was thinking of him on such a special day,” she said. meanwhile, her colleague has been out and about visiting vulnerable tenants to deal with any repair issues through the bad weather. the cold weather brings all sorts of problems, but it does also often bring out the best in people. 2 @home February 2010 Chenies Close 20th jan, 3rd and 31st mar East Grinstead 27th jan, 3rd and 31st mar Eastbourne 3rd feb, 10th mar and 28th apr Ferndene every friday morning 10 -11am until further notice Langdale Gardens 22nd jan, 19th feb, 19th mar and 23rd apr Lichfield Gardens 15th jan, 12th feb, 12th mar and 16th apr Lewes 13th jan, 10th feb, 10th mar and 14th apr times, other details and walkabout events will be advertised locally. reaching for the sky We say a fond farewell to nick nacmanson this month who is leaving Hastoe to become a helicopter pilot in the british army. He will be missed. as Housing team administrator for the team at Hampton Wick, nick has been involved in a number of activities including managing the housing lists, managing vacant properties and help speed up turnaround for the new tenants as well as signing up new residents. nick said “i especially enjoyed meeting residents on our developments and handing over the keys to their home. i’ll miss the team spirit at the office too!” nick starts his officer training at sandhurst in the summer and after his training, could be deployed on any number of operations including peacekeeping, search and rescue or delivering humanitarian aid. We all wish him well and the best of luck. Round up Resident involvement ever wondered what being a resident board member is like? Hear from dave sprinks on page 7 editor’s column Welcome to our fourth edition of @home this winter! i’d like to wish you all a Happy new Year and best wishes for 2010. We’ve included some follow up stories on activities that happened in 2009 and lots of new information as well as our repairs and maintenance programme update on page 11. i’d encourage you to cast your vote and help choose our ‘link to the developing World’ as well as give us have your ideas for charitable donations in the future. in 2008/09, we gave £15,300 to good causes that help us to meet your needs with donations ranging from £250 to £3000. i’m always pleased to hear from you with comments and ideas and you can get in touch with me at the head office. You can find details on the back page. phone me on: 020 8973 0437 or email: rbeaumont @hastoe.com Rebecca rebecca beaumont Hastoe registered with Homeswapper Homeswapper is a service for social tenants (in rented property) who want a house or flat swap. this is also called mutual exchange. if you live in a council house or housing association property you can swap. Hastoe is registered with this service so tenants who wish to put their names down can do so for free. You can read more about the service at www.homeswapper.co.uk or on our website under ‘existing tenants’ and ‘How to’ ‘exchange Homes’ or ask your area housing manager. Home focus magazine You can still find out about low cost home ownership by requesting a free homefocus magazine via text or ring us on 020 8973 0437. it features up to date information about buying an affordable home and aims to help readers understand the options available across the uk. text 81025 with “Homefocus Hastoe” followed by your name and address to receive a copy free of charge. texts costs 25p and go towards administration costs. Your normal network charge will apply. Winter chill We would like to thank residents for their patience during the cold period. We managed to run a full service but it was difficult for staff to get in and out of work. We did hear some heart-warming stories from residents of how individual staff had looked after those needing extra help during the extreme weather conditions. We also contacted vulnerable residents to see if they needed any help. mrs lane from burnham market in the east said: “i was really impressed to receive a call and with your proactive and caring attitude towards residents.” February 2010 @home 3 8 Repairs and maintenance fire Safety ID cards We are finalising inspections of buildings – generally those with lifts or with more than four floors - which require in depth fire risk assessments. this involves detailed inspections of each building, highlighting improvements to existing communal areas and, where necessary undertaking additional fire prevention work. We are also providing advice to residents on how to get out of the building in the event of a fire. We will be doing evacuation fire drills soon and preparing plans for residents who are physically disabled to ensure that emergency services are aware of their needs. You can help us to prevent fires by following some simple advice... l do not leave things in communal areas as they can be set alight by irresponsible people. We have experienced one incident where this occurred which caused considerable damage to the building and residents great concern and anxiety. 4 @home February 2010 l switch off electrical equipment or appliances when not in use. l do not leave pots and pans unattended during cooking. l make sure cigarettes are properly extinguished. l Have electrical equipment checked before using it, particularly if it is old and in a poor state. l do not overload electrical sockets. l do not keep gas cylinders in any of our buildings. they are not allowed and pose a very serious risk of explosion in the event of a fire. Every resident in our tower blocks will have had advice on fire evacuation and notices are in the communal areas. Please read these carefully and keep in a safe and easily accessible place. please remember all our contractors are required to show identity cards. if someone calls at your door, please ask to see their cards before allowing them into your home. if the contractor is unable to show an identity card do not allow them in and contact us immediately on 0845 757 3842. our contractors will not be offended! Repairs and maintenance Customer satisfaction with repairs improving our repairs service Improving Homes We are committed to making sure that all our homes meet a decent standard. this means making your home warm, weatherproof and with a reasonably modern kitchen and bathroom. the government requires our properties meet the ‘decent Homes standard’ by december 2010 and we are well on the way to achieving this challenging target. in the last twelve months we have completed two new roofs at our properties in Walton with a further two planned for later this year. We are also planning to start renewing roofs at Hornchurch. We are carrying out over £1 million worth of decent Homes work through our partner contractors and we expect these to be completed by july 2010. this is our fourth year of carrying out insulation works and we have completed cavity insulation/loft insulation to over 1000 properties. our gas contractor has renewed over £100,000 worth of boilers replacing old, tired appliances with modern energy efficient condensing boilers that not only have better performance but are also cheaper to run. some of you may be concerned about the disruption that installing a new kitchen or bathroom might bring. However, our partner contractors are very experienced and we have been getting excellent feedback from happy residents. mrs mortimer from Victor close said: “the quality of the workmanship was fantastic the operatives were very helpful and obliging and i was surprised at how quickly the works were completed” while mr & mrs cain also from Victor close said: “the work men were very polite and understanding and the finished works were very good.” We have had significant success in fitting alternative heating sources where gas is not available. in the east region we have installed ground source heat pumps that take energy from the ground. these create significant savings for residents. in the West region, we have been developing a programme of installing and renewing multifuel stoves. We are now developing our programme for all maintenance works for the next twelve months. In the next edition of @home we will be publishing details of all those schemes. Watch this space. our top priority is getting repairs right first time and on time. our aim is to ensure that you are fully satisfied with service we and our partnering contractors provide. since april, your satisfaction rating with the service has grown from 88% to 95% and we hope that more planned improvements will build on the work that has already been done. If you have any comments or ideas about the repairs service then you can contact our Customer Service Manager, Glynda Mortimer on 020 8973 0455. Leaseholders gas servicing and repairs at reasonable rates our gas contractor currently repairs and services gas appliances in our tenants’ homes and we would like to extend this service to our leaseholders. as a leaseholder you could benefit by being offered servicing and breakdown cover at a reasonable cost. You do not need to commit at this stage, but please ring Tom Bernard on 0208 973 0467 to register your interest. February 2010 @home 5 Greening Hastoe Money matters Helping to manage your money .B B8>; 687 =< *7*0270 /8; ;.<2-.7 0.= 9*,4 ><./>5 +>- george’s green tips... Here are some tips from george, who is a member of Hastoe’s green team, which could help reduce your carbon footprint and save money on your energy bills. it is a good idea to close your curtains at dusk to prevent heat loss. if possible, fill up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher: one full load uses less energy than two half loads. only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you're using an electric kettle). by turning down the thermostat by 1°c, heating bills could be cut by as much as 10%. Where a heating bill is £600 a year this equates to a saving of £60. the temperature reduction would not be noticeable. make sure that appliances are not left on standby; ensure that they are switched off at the mains socket. also, don't leave electronic devices charging unnecessarily. setting a hot water cylinder thermostat at 60°c/140°f will reduce gas bills by a considerable margin. 6 @home February 2010 We have produced a new information and advice leaflet called ‘managing your money’ which gives useful information on how to make your money go further. it also has an easy to follow budget planner to help you balance your income and spending. if you would like a copy, please contact your area housing manageror visit our website at www.hastoe.com keeping warm keep Warm keep Well is a national campaign to reduce cold-related illness and deaths during winter. You'll find information and advice about how to stay well in winter by keeping warm and what financial support is available.We support the campaign and would encourage you to find out more at www.keepwarmkeepwell.direct.gov.uk/ index.html or contact your area housing manager for advice. rent changes We have recently completed the consultation with the Hastoe Hundred club on plans to amend our rent policy which has been agreed by the board, to bring it more into line with the government’s recommended approach. our aim remains to keep rents affordable and unless adjustments are needed to meet your target rent, increases will be in line with inflation plus 0.5%. if you would like more information, please ask your local office for a copy of our rent information factsheet or your area housing manager for more information. Involvement getting on board “i’ve been a Hastoe resident since christmas 2000. after a few years i saw an article about getting involved at board member level so thought i’d find out more. after talking to someone at my local office, i decided to put myself forward as a candidate despite not having had any experience of being ‘involved’ before. some of the reasons included wanting to understand more about the business, give direct input and feedback, getting to know how Hastoe made its decisions and when and where residents’ issues were taken into account. i also wanted to give something back to Hastoe for providing me with my home. dave sprinks talks about becoming involved as a Hastoe board member even though i live in the West country, but all my travel and refreshment expenses are covered. just because i’m a resident board member doesn’t mean that i’m treated any differently to other board members – i’m an equal member of the board. it’s not intimidating and i’m welcomed and expected to contribute to the discussions and decision making as much as everyone else. in fact, as the resident representative, i’ve got a powerful voice! but the same goes for being a Hastoe resident - i experience the same service standards as everyone else should i have a query about a repair. i was fully trained in “how to be a board member” and i found it helpful and interesting. my experience so far has been very i went through an interview worthwhile and a real insight into process, which was really to make why different and sometimes sure that the level of commitment difficult decisions are made. i’m If you ini getting involved, was rightare for interested me and that was now on the Human resources why contact your area housing happy tonot take on the responsibility committee, which is a sub-group of a board member.toi find travel to more? looking at policy development manager out london once every two months, and the performance management of staff. i was heavily involved with the selection of the gas servicing contractor and having worked as a marine engineer and as a police dog handler, i find that i can put my practical experience and skills to use. i’m helping to make the decisions which ultimately affect all of us as residents and shape how the services are provided. see you at the next board meeting? it would be great to have some new resident representatives and be able to bounce ideas off each other as a resident and a board member. i’d really encourage any of you to get in touch with me and discuss any level of involvement and why i think getting involved is so worthwhile. You can email me on dave-sprinks@hotmail.com or request a phone call through shirley evans-jones on 01305 216934 who will pass your details on to me.” February 2010 @home 7 Performance Our performance in october to december 2009 rent collected as a percentage of rent due Target: 100% Actual: 98.7% (includes arrears) percentage of emergency repairs completed within 24 hours Target: 98% Actual: 98.9% percentage of urgent repairs completed within 5 days Target: 95% Actual: 91.6% |||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||| percentage of homes with a valid gas certificate Target: 100% Actual: 98.92% 24 19 percentage of calls to Hampton Wick answered within 20 seconds Target: 80% Actual: 87.2% 30 seconds Target: 100% Actual: 96.1% number of days taken to re-let empty homes Target: 24 Actual: 19 in the first three quarters of the year (from april 1 to december 31) we had 84 complaints. these were broken down as follows: Complaints by department l Asset Management l Development l Housing Management (E) l Housing Management (S) l Housing Management (W) l Sales and PR 36 3 9 28 7 1 Complaints by subject l Hastoe decisions l General repairs l About staff l Service charges l Rent l Contractors (mess) l Contractors (attitude) l Defects l Development l Lettings 33 9 18 4 6 6 1 2 3 2 We received 39 compliments in that period and last month received a further 26. 8 @home February 2010 Why we survey You will soon receive a survey form through the post from an organisation called feedback. this is an independent survey to see how satisfied you are with the services we provide. We thought we should explain why we survey in this way. one reason is that we are required to run this type of survey at least every three years by the tenant services authority (tsa) which regulates housing asssociations. the results of this survey will go to the tsa and will determine how well they think we are doing. We have won recognition from the customer services excellence award (Quality Housing services) and the investor in people award but your opinion is what matters most. this survey will allow us and others to compare Hastoe against other housing associations and make judgements about how good we are. as a result of what you said in the 2008 survey we have changed the way we do things, including by delivering services direct to your home We offer a wide range with mobile of opportunities to get management. involved and this survey is another way you can tell us in complete confidence what you think of our services. We know that you’re all busy people and as an added incentive we are offering the chance to win a prize. one completed survey picked at random by feedback services will win £250 and ten others will win prizes of £25. finally, the survey asks a little about your circumstances. it is important for us to know about you and what you need from us. the survey is confidential. Your form will go to feedback who will only pass on your results and comments in a way that guarantees your anonymity. so feel free to say what you think. listening and learning How are we doing? Would like to see how we compare with some of the other housing associations operating in your area? if so, the tsa (tenant services authority) has just the thing for you. simply go to www.tenantservicesauthority.org and click on the “find and compare landlords” link. You said... You said: the lighting on the estate was broken and had been for some time. We did: replaced the entire lighting system ensuring all communal areas were adequately lit. You said: appointments for viewing shared ownership properties were inflexible. We did: We now book property viewings during evenings and at times when the buyer is not working. We are considering extending this for tenants. You said: When dealing with anti social behaviour we failed to keep the complainant informed of what actions we were taking. We did: We have recently reviewed our anti-social behavior policy and procedure and staff will now be using an action plan approach when dealing with reports of asb. this means that the complainant will be consulted on the action that is to be taken and kept fully informed. You said: You were unhappy with how we dealt with counter-allegations of anti-social behaviour. We did: area housing managers now have a full asb toolkit to support them when working with all parties in asb cases in a sensitive and constructive way. ...We did You said: We did not respond quickly enough to a problem with rodents. We did: made staff more aware of problems of damage that rodents can cause and the need to resolve problems more quickly. You said: We did not keep you informed about repairs to the sewage treatment plant. We did: arranged a meeting with contractor and residents and will keep residents better informed in the future. February 2010 @home 9 community Involvement donations last year Hastoe gave out donations to charities and organisations that offer services and support to the residents and communities we serve. at the recent equality and diversity forum, a resident suggested that we should let you know about some of the work we are involved with. amongst others, we support: shelter which works to alleviate the stress caused by homelessness and bad housing. they provide confidential advice and help to people with all kinds of housing problems and lobby government and local authorities to improve the lives of the homeless and badly housed. www.shelter.org.uk the plunkett foundation who provide support, networks and knowledge to help rural communities become aware of, understand and implement practical solutions to the challenges that they are facing. their projects include rural community shops, making local food Work and strengthening rural communities. for more information please visit their website at www.plunkett.co.uk Hastoe is committed to promoting financial inclusion and offer support to residents who find themselves in financial difficulty. to help us do this we support credit unions in all three regions. credit union members have access to convenient ways to save and borrow, low cost loans and insurance. for more information about credit unions near you please contact your area housing manager. lots of residents believe these are the right sort of organisations for us to support. let us know what you think. If you have any ideas that you would like us to consider please contact Helen Riley on 020 8973 0419 or email hriley@hastoe.com 10 @home February 2010 Vote on link to developing World nick lear, (board member) and sue chalkley (chief executive) interviewed three charities following our decision to look for a charity or community to support in the developing world. We are keen to select a community with which Hastoe can have a long term relationship. this will include more than fundraising. for example, childrens pen pals, education links or exchange visits between community members and Hastoe residents and staff. fundraising will be encouraged by matched funding up to a certain limit from Hastoe Wyvern our charitable subsidiary. the three projects are: Let them help themselves www.lethemhelpthemselves.org is a charity which was set up by two local women, one of whom is a Hastoe leaseholder, to provide support and education for rural african communities, particularly in sW uganda. it has already established a nursery school and built and equipped an adult craft training and education centre, together with a guest house that contributes towards their running costs. the aim is to further develop self-sufficiency and small businesses amongst the villagers. the charity is currently fundraising in the uk to provide clean water and other facilities for village families. Rwanda Aid www.rwanda-aid.org rwanda aid provides support for needy people in the remote south West of rwanda. We are particularly interested in their work on the island of nkombo, where they are building new houses - with sustainable features for families whose homes were destroyed during an earthquake. this work could expand into other aspects of community life such as vocational workshops and microfinance. Happy Child www.happychild.org this charity rescues children from the streets and reintegrates them into family and community. it has been working with street children in brazil since 1993 and has helped over 7,500 children and teenagers and is now exploring a project in the city of luanda, in angola, africa. it is estimated that in the capital city of luanda there are 100,000 children living at risk on the streets following years of civil war. Happy child is planning to work with the local community to provide homes for the children, educational services and a health centre. To vote on which one you would like to choose please phone Rebecca Beaumont on 020 8973 0437, vote on our website at www.hastoe.com and follow the link or send your response on the back of a postcard / envelope addressed to R Beaumont, FREEPOST HASTOE, KT1. and finally... South just for fun... answers on back page Wordsearch Alternative formats of this document Can you find the names of 10 birds native to England: If you require this information in another language, large print or different format such as braille or audio CD please contact your local office. You can now find us on Facebook. Why not look ‘Hastoe Group’ up and catch up with news and views? You could also make contact with other Hastoe residents. A H B C U C K O O X I I T B M E A R L E Y N L G H L A T H M U B A A L O J A C K D A W H N U I L T C O R T G R U N G N D C K R O E P E W N H G F H B H B L I N I L A W I E I W I N E L R D N O N R R A N B R A V G E R C V D S W A L L O W N T H I M A T S I L L A N H P C H S I A T H R U S H N Update on works most of this year’s cyclical decorations programme is complete but there are some properties where we are still to complete works. these include Hastoe grange and cholesbury grange where we anticipate works being on site in early march and completed by mid april. the delays have been as a result of an extended tender process and the cold weather period. as for major works, most schemes are complete. We have renewed the roof at copenhagen Way, carried out footpath repairs at cholesbury and latimer grange and renewed a sewage treatment plant at Herriard. in the next couple of months we will be carrying out repairs to communal paving in the beulah Hill area. there is considerable activity on our decent Homes programme across the region with a number of properties having new bathrooms and kitchens fitted as well as being rewired. these works are well underway and we anticipate completing all of them by the end of march 2010. We are now finalising the details for next year’s cyclical decorations, major works and decent Homes programme. a full programme will be published in the next edition of @home in may 2010. February 2010 @home 11 WORD SEARCH ANSWERS: cuckoo, goldfincH, blackbird, jackdaW, magpie, tHrusH, starling, sWalloW, Wren, robin. News Hastoe South contact information Milton Keynes Area Office Witan court 319 upper fourth street milton keynes buckinghamshire mk9 1eH News Who’s Who... Who’s who? Housing team administrators “We are the first point of contact for the office. our role is to assist the housing team with enquiries and provide general administrative support.” lo-call: 0845 702 3271* tel: 01908 396240 fax: 01908 237843 email: miltonkeynes@hastoe.com emma templeman (milton keynes) email: etempleman@hastoe.com tel: 01908 396240 Opening Times: 9am – 5pm, monday to friday joanna mccall (Hampton Wick) South Office marina House 17 marina place, Hampton Wick kingston upon thames surrey kt1 4bH email: jmccall@hastoe.com tel: 020 8973 0394 lo-call: 0845 702 3271* tel: 020 8973 0394 fax: 020 8943 2163 email: south@hastoe.com Have you…? been into any of our reception areas recently? We have given them a bit of makeover as we want them to be more welcoming and useful to you. let us know what you think. Opening Times: 9am – 5pm, monday to friday Repair Line: lo-call: 0845 601 5506* or tel: 020 8973 0395 Out of hours emergency number: 5pm to 9am; weekends and bank holidays lo-call: 0845 757 3842* www.hastoe.com *please note that calls to Bed shireford- from mobiles may cost more. e hir ms ha ing ck Bu e hir ds for Ox Milton Keynes Be rks hire Wiltshire Suffolk Little Chesterford ire dsh for t r Essex He Hampton Wick reception sex dle Mid Surrey Hampton Wick Hampshire Sussex set Norfolk geshire Cambrid 0845 and 0800 numbers Kent published by Hastoe Housing association ltd, Head office, marina House, 17 marina place, Hampton Wick, kingston upon thames, surrey kt1 4bH printed on recycled paper Hastoe ref: 00043/0210/nl/V4 soutH