Newsletter Highlights
Tenants Newsletter - September 2011
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Blooming Marvellous Morborne!
Congratulations to our super tenant Alan Dunaway on the completion of a fabulous landscape gardening project at Morborne Close in Ardwick.
Alan put together a questionnaire for all his neighbours asking for their views and opinions on what they might like to see done in their close. He then compiled the residents comments and forwarded them along with some detailed designs of the intended works to Arawak Walton in order to seek permission to carry out the work. The designs that he created, drew and priced up were designed to be very low maintenance, multi-use and pleasing to the eye. While doing this Alan applied for a community grant from Manchester City Council in order to fund the project. The project was awarded a grant of £700, this was then added to by Arawak Walton to the tune of a further £300.
With the help of Sarah Hawkins of the “Manchester in Bloom” team and David O’Connor, who organises the community payback team where offenders carry out community service, work was soon up and running. David sent teams on 2 consecutive weekends who worked very hard to dig out and strip 2 large skip loads of brambles and dogwood all the way down to the roots.
With help from friends, colleagues, staff at Arawak Walton and the rest of the neighbours the project was soon complete. For the full story from Alan read his story in his letter
Moss Side Carnival
This year the Moss Side Carnival was held on the 13th & 14th of August.
The parade procession provided the public with a sea of vibrant colours and amazing costumes.
Arawak Walton had a stall in a shared marquee with other local social housing landlords. The carnival was an opportunity for Arawak Walton to showcase the housing services that we offer the public and the tenants of the association.
Children were invited to draw pictures showing them playing with their friends around Moss Side. The pictures were entered into a draw and the winner presented with a prize. A “Sweet & Sour “ board was on display and members of the public were invited to write down their “ Sweet & Sour” experiences of Moss Side.
A trailer with a “Big Brother style chair and recording equipment to record the public views on their lives and experiences of living in Moss Side was also used.
Power up your boiler
During the winter we receive many calls complaining about problems with heating systems and often by this stage all the city’s heating engineers are stretched to breaking point. This leads to delays and people being left cold and frustrated. You can avoid being caught out, however, by taking a few steps now.
Before it gets too cold turn your heating system on and check that all your radiators heat up from top to bottom. If there are any cold spots this could be air in the system and you need to bleed your radiators. Also make sure you understand the thermostat controls and the timers to ensure that you are getting the right amount of heat at the right time.
Complaints feedback
| We have received 8 complaints since April and here is a breakdown of some of them and the changes we have made | ||
| What is the problem? | What's the response? | What changed? |
| Kitchen was being replaced at short notice, contractors had no identification and architect was not used | Kitchen replacement was brought forward in response to savings available in the programme. The works were not extensive enough to justify the extra expenditure of using an architect. | The database has been updated to enable better programming of replacements. The contractors have been reminded to carry identification. |
| In a kitchen replacement -arrangements for re-siting cookers etc and allowance for individual adaptations were not clear. | The contractor should work closely with the tenants to ensure services are disconnected and reconnected at the right time and individual preferences can be included at the tenants expense. | For future replacements the tenants will receive a letter explaining all of the arrangements and their options prior to the start of works. |
| Viewed a property and expressed an interest but was not offered the property. | The City Council Nominated 3 people who viewed the property and as the first person on the list accepted we are bound to accept their offer. | Housing officers will make it clearer to prospective tenants who are nominated where they are on this list |
| The level of garden maintenance was unsatisfactory | Company was contacted and found that they were confused about where they should be working. | The company returned and tended to the areas 2 days later and amended their records to avoid a repeat. |
| Tenant on a starter tenancy had been given notice for anti social behaviour and rent arrears in felt that this was harsh. | The decision was reviewed and upheld as the association believed that the level and regularity of anti social behaviour was likely to continue. | The association is working toward a more comprehensive starter tenancy policy to make the process clearer. |
Millenium Green Fun Day
On Saturday 4th June 2011 in partnership with other Social Landlords, Manchester City Council and the Police there was a Fun Day held on Millennium Green in Moss Side.
The sun shone all day and there was a huge turn-out of local residents who participated in and enjoyed the many and varied events. Arawak Walton sponsored the table football game and in partnership with Mosscare conducted a colouring competition.
Tenants Quality Panel update
The panel met in July to consider the “Tenancy” part of the local offer. They decided to halve the amount of time applicants wait to be told about their re-housing prospects and change the age criteria for children sharing bedrooms to bring it in line with benefit changes.
In addition, the meeting considered the postal survey results and endorsed the survey results on tenants’ representation on the Board and the need for the association to continue to guide the panel.
The group, however felt that tenants should be supported to communicate in English however that the association should assist with translation to deliver its services where required.
Postal Survey 1 Results
The first postal survey of the year considered tenant involvement and empowerment. One interesting finding was that only 12% of respondents felt that information on race and gender was none of the association business. The majority felt that the association should collect data on all these characteristics. The report on the first postal survey is now on the web site and anyone who returned it will receive the next survey. Remember all tenants who complete all 4 postal surveys will receive £20 at Christmas.
Important News for People Claiming Housing Benefit
If you have a spare bedroom in your property please read on!
From April 2013 the government is planning to introduce new criteria for Housing Benefit claims, based upon the number of bedrooms in your house.
What do the proposed size criteria mean?
Housing Benefit will be restricted to only allow payments for one bedroom for each person or couple. If you have a spare bedroom you will be regarded as ‘under-occupying’ the property and Housing Benefit will no longer pay for the additional room.
YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE UP THE SHORTFALL FROM YOUR OWN INCOME.
Who will be affected?
All claims where both the claimant and their partner are under state pension credit age. In 2013 the pension credit age will be 61 for both men and women.
Are there any exceptions?
Exceptions will be made for the following:
- Different gender children aged 10 or over will be allowed separate rooms
- Same gender children aged 16 or over will be allowed separate rooms
- Disabled tenant or partner who needs non-resident overnight carer will be allowed an extra room
Exceptions will NOT be made for the following:
- Separated parents who share the care of their children
- Couples who use their ‘spare’ bedroom when recovering from an illness or operation
- Foster children (as they are not counted as part of the household for benefit purposes)
- Parents whose children visit but are not part of the household
- Families with disabled children
- Disabled people including people living in adapted or specially designed properties
How much will I lose?
The cut will be a fixed percentage of the Housing Benefit eligible rent. The government has said that this will be set initially at a 13% cut for one extra bedroom and a 23% cut for two or more extra bedrooms.
It’s thought that Housing Association tenants will lose, on average, £14 a week.
For more information go to: http://www.direct.gov.uk
Gas safe
Have you had your Gas Safety Check in the last year?
The Association is legally obliged to carry a safety check at your home once every 12 months.
Our contractors, Manchester Heating & Plumbing have been given the responsibility of ensuring that this happens.
If they contact you over the coming months to arrange access it is very important that you arrange an appointment and honour it.
Every failed appointment costs the Association money so we ask our tenants to help us save as much as we can!
Arawak Walton Performance
As always we like to keep our residents informed about how we are performing. See for yourself below.
| May 11 | Jun 11 | Jul 11 | Target | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voids % (no. of properties) |
0.33% (3) |
0.22% (2) |
0.11% (1) |
0.5% |
| Rent arrears (as a % of weekly rent receivable) |
5.49% |
5.56% |
5.59% |
5.8% |
| Repairs Completion Statistics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 10 | Dec 10 | Jan 11 | Target | |
| Emergency | 100% |
100% |
100% |
98% |
| Urgent | 99% |
99% |
99% |
98% |
| Routine | 99% |
99% |
99% |
98% |
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