issue 38 - Eastlands Homes
issue 38 - Eastlands Homes
issue 38 - Eastlands Homes
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Summer <strong>issue</strong> 2012 no <strong>38</strong><br />
Customer<br />
Panel<br />
Approved<br />
StreetsAhead<br />
News and views from <strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong><br />
Celebrating the<br />
Diamond Jubilee<br />
Page 3<br />
Inside<br />
Grow Your Own<br />
Scheme - Page 6<br />
Sheltered Residents<br />
Online - Page 7<br />
Literacy Beacon<br />
Project - Page 8
The news from <strong>Eastlands</strong> homes<br />
Contents<br />
Welcome to the<br />
jam-packed <strong>issue</strong><br />
of Streets Ahead,<br />
Summer 2012. You’ll<br />
also find the customerwritten<br />
newsletter<br />
Eastspeak, so if you’re a<br />
budding writer, give me<br />
a call now on 0161 274<br />
2164 or email abi.mistry@<br />
eastlandshomes.co.uk<br />
and you could be writing<br />
articles for the next <strong>issue</strong>!<br />
Since the last newsletter,<br />
we’ve celebrated the<br />
Queen’s jubilee and lots of<br />
you held colourful, vibrant<br />
street parties in your area.<br />
Turn to page three now to<br />
have a look at some of the<br />
photos.<br />
The Customer<br />
Involvement Team are<br />
working hard on the<br />
annual Fun and Feedback<br />
Day which is taking place<br />
on Wednesday 1 August.<br />
All the details of the day<br />
can be seen on page<br />
seven.<br />
I hope you all have a<br />
great summer!<br />
Abi<br />
Editor<br />
Receive the<br />
next <strong>issue</strong><br />
of Streets<br />
Ahead by<br />
email!<br />
Would you like to save the environment by<br />
helping us to reduce our paper usage? Or<br />
do you just prefer reading things online?<br />
If so, send your email address to abi.mistry@<br />
eastlandshomes.co.uk with STREETS AHEAD in the<br />
subject line and you’ll receive the September <strong>issue</strong> of<br />
the newsletter by email.<br />
In this Issue…<br />
Customer Involvement<br />
p5<br />
Equality and Diversity<br />
p8<br />
Community Safety<br />
Money Matters<br />
Star Survey 2012<br />
p9<br />
p10<br />
p16<br />
Fun and Feedback<br />
Day 2012<br />
p7<br />
Green<br />
Scene<br />
p11<br />
2
Diamond<br />
Jubilee<br />
Sheltered<br />
Housing<br />
Service<br />
We have started to carry out<br />
a review of our sheltered<br />
housing service. We recognise<br />
there is already lots of good<br />
work going on and we want<br />
to build on this to improve our<br />
service standards, buildings<br />
and value for money. We know<br />
how important our service is<br />
to customers and as part of<br />
the review we will consult<br />
and communicate with our<br />
customers and staff and other<br />
key stakeholders such as the<br />
City Council.<br />
More than<br />
£1,000 raised<br />
for Manchester<br />
Royal Children’s<br />
Hospital<br />
<strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong> would like to congratulate the<br />
Queen on celebrating her diamond jubilee this<br />
year, marking the 60 years of her reign.<br />
Over the extended bank holiday weekends, customers<br />
everywhere held street parties to celebrate the occasion and<br />
get to know their neighbours!<br />
The main street parties were held in Levenshulme, on the<br />
Anson Estate and on the Coverdale Estate, who benefited from<br />
a £100 community grant towards holding their celebration.<br />
Our staff raised £1,183 for<br />
charity last year through<br />
raffles, sponsored runs and<br />
other initiatives.<br />
The final figure has just been<br />
confirmed by our charity of<br />
the year – Manchester Royal<br />
Children’s Hospital. The<br />
chosen charity for 2012 is<br />
Cancer Research UK.<br />
Are you 60 or<br />
over? Or over 55<br />
and in receipt<br />
of full DLA?<br />
Our<br />
Performance<br />
p12<br />
Tap<br />
Hygiene<br />
p15<br />
Do you want to live in<br />
Openshaw? Then we have<br />
the flat for you NOW on<br />
Botha Close.<br />
Contact Ian Reid on 0161 274<br />
21<strong>38</strong> for more details.<br />
3
4<br />
Is someone<br />
living in a<br />
property that<br />
shouldn’t be?<br />
IF SO, PLEASE<br />
TELL US!<br />
<strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong> only<br />
has a small number<br />
of houses and flats<br />
available to let and<br />
these are prioritised<br />
according to housing<br />
needs.<br />
Tenancy fraud involves obtaining<br />
properties by deception, for<br />
example people claiming to be<br />
homeless when they already own<br />
a property or are already living<br />
at an address. It also includes<br />
people continuing to claim to be<br />
living at a property when they<br />
have moved out and sublet it.<br />
Even leaving a property empty<br />
and living elsewhere is tenancy<br />
fraud.<br />
We are determined to tackle<br />
tenancy fraud as families or<br />
individuals on the housing<br />
waiting list are denied housing<br />
because people are using the<br />
properties fraudulently for profit<br />
or simply queue jumping.<br />
We carry out Tenancy Audit Visits<br />
to stamp out tenancy fraud in<br />
our properties. Housing Officers<br />
will be calling to homes to ensure<br />
that properties are occupied by<br />
the tenants who signed up for<br />
the tenancy and asking for ID<br />
and details of who is actually<br />
living in the home, please cooperate<br />
with us when we visit.<br />
If you know of anyone subletting<br />
or taking possession of a property<br />
fraudulently, please contact<br />
your local Eastline to report your<br />
suspicions to a Housing Officer.<br />
Service Charges<br />
In addition to renting a property from us, many residents receive<br />
services from us such as grounds maintenance, caretaking and<br />
communal lighting or cleaning. These services are currently paid<br />
within the total weekly rent you pay and we need to break down<br />
that figure between rent and service charges.<br />
We told you in the last edition<br />
that we will be consulting and<br />
communicating with residents<br />
living in Gorton, Ardwick,<br />
Rusholme, Longsight and<br />
Levenshulme over the introduction<br />
of itemising these service charges<br />
and showing these charges<br />
separately from the rent. These<br />
costs can go up or down to reflect<br />
the actual cost of providing the<br />
service. We need to show these<br />
costs separately to the rent you are<br />
charged.<br />
If you are in receipt of Housing<br />
Benefit and your circumstances<br />
Meet your Housing Officer<br />
Each area has their own<br />
Housing Officer who you will<br />
meet when you sign up to<br />
your property, and who you’ll<br />
work with throughout your<br />
tenancy. There are 15 Housing<br />
Officers across three offices. In<br />
the last <strong>issue</strong> of Streets Ahead<br />
we introduced the Housing<br />
Officers for Levenshulme,<br />
Gorton and Clayton and in this<br />
<strong>issue</strong> we introduce one more.<br />
Ian Fauguel - Ardwick<br />
Hello, my name is Ian Fauguel and<br />
I have been a Housing Officer for<br />
the past three years. The role of<br />
a Housing Officer is very varied<br />
and interesting. I manage around<br />
500 properties in Longsight and<br />
part of the Ardwick area. I have<br />
a good mix of property types and<br />
my customers are from a range of<br />
diverse cultural backgrounds.<br />
My role involves lots of<br />
partnership working with GMP,<br />
Adult Services, Children’s Services<br />
and Manchester City Council. I<br />
am also responsible for ensuring<br />
that empty properties are relet as<br />
Ian is just one of our 15 Housing Officer staff.<br />
Meet some more in September.<br />
have not changed, Housing Benefit<br />
will normally pay these service<br />
charges following notification from<br />
us.<br />
We will shortly start consulting<br />
with residents groups and<br />
Neighbourhood Assemblies so<br />
that we fully explain the changes<br />
and from April 2013 we will be able<br />
to show you the true costs of the<br />
services you receive.<br />
If you have any questions about<br />
service charges, please contact<br />
your local Eastline.<br />
Ian Fauguel<br />
soon as possible as there is huge<br />
demand<br />
I am always happy to help my<br />
customers with any queries they<br />
may have around their tenancy<br />
or housing related matters and<br />
welcome them contacting me.<br />
I meet customers regularly in<br />
the office but I can arrange<br />
appointments at their home if that<br />
is more convenient.<br />
I thoroughly enjoy the role of<br />
Housing Officer as no two days<br />
are the same. The work can be<br />
very demanding with lots of<br />
challenges yet also very rewarding<br />
at the same time.
Encouraging you<br />
to have an input<br />
The Governments new Localism Act which recently became<br />
law, has set out how customers should have an input into the<br />
running of their homes. This is called co-regulation.<br />
<strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong> have been<br />
involving Customers in the<br />
running of their homes in various<br />
ways:<br />
Service Improvement Panels<br />
– These look at the performance<br />
of specific service areas such as<br />
repairs or housing management<br />
and how these services can be<br />
improved.<br />
Neighbourhood Assemblies<br />
– These look at <strong>issue</strong>s that affect<br />
specific areas and are responsible<br />
for deciding how the community<br />
grants are spent.<br />
You said…<br />
We would like more<br />
stories about our lives and<br />
our areas in Eastspeak.<br />
Our young people asked<br />
if we could have a<br />
Facebook page.<br />
We want to know more<br />
about <strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong>’<br />
performance.<br />
We want more<br />
information on the effects<br />
of the Welfare Reform act.<br />
We want certain meetings<br />
held in the evenings for<br />
people who work.<br />
We want to know how<br />
much services cost and<br />
how you make sure they<br />
provide Value for Money.<br />
Young people asked us if<br />
they could review how we<br />
dealt with young person<br />
anti-social behaviour.<br />
Customer Involvement<br />
Readers and Email panels – If<br />
you want to have an input, but<br />
can’t attend meetings, we will<br />
send information out to you and<br />
give you an opportunity to give<br />
your input<br />
We have various ways for you to<br />
be involved and give your views,<br />
contact the Customer Involvement<br />
team on 0161 274 1013 now to<br />
discuss how to have your say.<br />
We use the feedback from<br />
customers to improve the way we<br />
do things - see below.<br />
We did…<br />
We now have dedicated meetings with<br />
customers to write their own stories.<br />
A Facebook page is now up and<br />
running and has interesting information<br />
regarding <strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong> – Join us by<br />
searching for <strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong> now.<br />
Performance is now discussed at our<br />
Neighbourhood Assemblies and Service<br />
Improvement Panels.<br />
The Financial Inclusion Team have<br />
been talking to customers at our<br />
Neighbourhood Assemblies and Service<br />
Improvement Panels. We put updates in<br />
all our newsletters.<br />
The repairs service improvement panel<br />
will trial evening meetings.<br />
Presentations are given to our value for<br />
money customer panel from various<br />
service areas to discuss costs and<br />
budgets.<br />
We now have a panel of young people<br />
who meet to review our approach.<br />
Hampden<br />
Estate<br />
tidy up<br />
In March, customers<br />
from the Hampden<br />
estate in Gorton took<br />
part in a community<br />
clean up. This follows<br />
complaints about<br />
littering, overgrown<br />
areas and waste<br />
dumped on the<br />
streets.<br />
<strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong>’ Estate<br />
action team were there to<br />
remove large items, MCC<br />
provided a mechanical<br />
sweeper, and skips<br />
were placed around the<br />
estate for customers<br />
to get rid of unwanted<br />
items. The Community<br />
Payback scheme provided<br />
the labour along with<br />
Manchester City Council,<br />
Local Councillors and<br />
customers all joined<br />
in. The local KFC and<br />
Tesco kindly provided<br />
refreshments for the team<br />
hard at work!<br />
An intensive investment<br />
work programme also<br />
began in March on the<br />
estate which will include<br />
work on car parking<br />
facilities, planting shrubs,<br />
fencing and block paving<br />
to improve the appearance<br />
of the area. It is expected<br />
to complete in December.<br />
5
Customer Involvement<br />
It’s not too late<br />
to enter this<br />
year’s Gardening<br />
Competition<br />
The Customer Involvement Team are organising<br />
a gardening competition again this year which is<br />
open to all customers.<br />
Categories are:<br />
Best school or crèche, Best<br />
communal garden, Best<br />
communal border, Grow your<br />
own fruit and vegetables,<br />
Contribution to the community,<br />
and Best individual garden.<br />
The closing date for all entries<br />
is Monday 2 July 2012 with<br />
prizes of £50 for each category<br />
and £200 for the overall winner<br />
up for grabs. Casey, one of our<br />
contractors, kindly donated the<br />
prize for Best school or crèche.<br />
Judging will take place on the 5<br />
and 6 July 2012.<br />
Forms are available at all<br />
receptions or by calling Wendy<br />
Woodfine on 0161 230 1013.<br />
Forms can also be downloaded<br />
here www.eastlandshomes.co.uk<br />
Hearts, Minds<br />
and Voices<br />
Social Club<br />
The new Hearts, Minds<br />
and Voices Social Club<br />
aims to improve mental<br />
and physical well-being by<br />
doing activities like walking,<br />
socialising and networking<br />
in and around Rusholme.<br />
The club is held every first and<br />
third Monday of each month with<br />
the next ones on:<br />
• 2 July 2012<br />
• 16 July 2012<br />
• 3 September 2012<br />
• 17 September 2012<br />
The club meets at the Birch<br />
Community Centre, on Brighton<br />
Grove in Rusholme 1-3pm. For<br />
more information contact Loraine<br />
Butterworth or Lorraine Burgess<br />
on 0161 901 7411.<br />
’Grow Your Own Scheme’<br />
Training<br />
Situated in Debdale Park and<br />
overlooking the beautiful Gorton<br />
reservoir, Debdale Eco Centre<br />
is one of the few eco-centres in<br />
Manchester focussing on organic<br />
gardening. We’ve been working<br />
with the Eco centre to introduce<br />
basic ‘grow your own food’<br />
training courses called ‘Plotting<br />
the Future.’<br />
Lots of our customers have<br />
already completed the free six<br />
week training course and we<br />
can now offer places on the next<br />
course, starting on Thursday 12<br />
July.<br />
The Plotting the Future course<br />
covers all aspects of growing,<br />
composting, companion planting,<br />
organic growing etc. The training<br />
also caters for basic gardeners<br />
with small gardens in their own<br />
homes as well as prospective and<br />
existing allotment holders. Each<br />
topic is delivered over a two hour<br />
session for six weeks, and each<br />
session will run between 2pm to<br />
4pm.<br />
Debdale Eco Centre also offers<br />
one day ‘crash courses’. Call<br />
Wendy Woodfine now on 0161<br />
230 1013 to book your place and<br />
arrange your FREE transport to<br />
and from the venue.<br />
6
Customer Involvement<br />
Getting<br />
our<br />
sheltered<br />
residents<br />
online<br />
Back in April we spent<br />
the day at the North Road<br />
Sheltered Accommodation<br />
in Clayton to help<br />
residents get online.<br />
We took our involved young<br />
people to interact with the<br />
residents and teach them how<br />
to use the computers. Different<br />
activities took place throughout<br />
the day such as “Questions and<br />
Answers” which involved the<br />
young people asking questions<br />
about the resident’s childhood,<br />
they then had to team up and<br />
gather images to make an<br />
intergenerational board of “Then<br />
and Now”.<br />
The young people worked<br />
alongside the residents to show<br />
them how to use the computers<br />
from logging in, to accessing<br />
their preferred area of interest<br />
such as Facebook, Twitter,<br />
Gardening websites and much<br />
more.<br />
The day was a huge success<br />
and everybody enjoyed taking<br />
part.<br />
Video Pod<br />
Football training<br />
sessions<br />
Craft Stall<br />
Rugby Training<br />
Sessions<br />
Drumming Work shop<br />
Fancy having a go on a climbing wall, getting a henna<br />
tattoo, or winning a prize? Then come to our annual Fun<br />
and Feedback Day on Wednesday 1 August 2-5pm at<br />
Ashbury Meadow Primary School in Beswick.<br />
As well as FREE fun activities for all the family, many stalls will<br />
have key information and advice on them on a range of topics to<br />
do with you and your home. So if you have questions that need<br />
answering around the new benefit cuts, or you’d like some help<br />
finding a job, make sure you come along.<br />
Further information and an invitation will be sent to you in July.<br />
Fred the Red<br />
Climbing wall<br />
Fun and<br />
Feedback Day!<br />
Badge Making<br />
DJ<br />
Henna Tattoos<br />
Rodeo Sheep<br />
Inflatable assault course<br />
Moon Beam and<br />
Moon Chester<br />
FREE event<br />
Mrs Daley from Ardwick<br />
won a TV at last year’s<br />
Fun and Feedback Day –<br />
this year, it could be you!<br />
7
8<br />
<strong>Eastlands</strong><br />
<strong>Homes</strong> is<br />
currently<br />
recruiting<br />
for the<br />
important<br />
position of<br />
Tenant Board<br />
Member<br />
It is a crucial role as the<br />
Board have ultimate<br />
responsibility to oversee<br />
the business of <strong>Eastlands</strong><br />
<strong>Homes</strong>. The Board of<br />
<strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong> is<br />
responsible for:<br />
• Leading the company and<br />
ensuring that it is successful<br />
and is run properly<br />
• The efficient use and<br />
management of approximately<br />
8000 homes in East<br />
Manchester<br />
• Ensuring that <strong>Eastlands</strong><br />
<strong>Homes</strong> achieves its vision:<br />
‘Creating a better future<br />
for its customers and their<br />
children in safe and successful<br />
neighbourhoods’<br />
There will be two separate<br />
processes – one for Beswick,<br />
Clayton and Openshaw and<br />
one for Ardwick, Levenshulme,<br />
Longsight and Rushome. To be<br />
eligible, you must be a tenant<br />
living in one of these areas.<br />
Application packs will be<br />
available from the beginning of<br />
July and applications will need<br />
to be submitted by 23 July.<br />
To talk about the role, or to<br />
receive your application pack,<br />
please call Victor Hassan,<br />
Governance Officer on 0161<br />
274 2140 or Daniel O’Sullivan<br />
on 0161 230 1075.<br />
Equality<br />
and Diversity<br />
Do you know<br />
someone who<br />
struggles to read or<br />
write, and lives on<br />
the Coverdale and<br />
Newbank Estate or<br />
the Anson Estate?<br />
If you do, the Literacy Beacon<br />
Project can help them.<br />
Back in April, we trained up six<br />
customers and six members of<br />
staff to be Literacy Champions.<br />
The Literacy Champions help<br />
people to learn to read or write.<br />
This could be reading a child a<br />
bedtime story, writing a shopping<br />
list or even sending a text<br />
message.<br />
The project is starting off as a<br />
pilot project first in two different<br />
areas, but is planned to be rolled<br />
out to other areas in the future.<br />
Give Lynne Harrison a ring on<br />
0161 230 1078 for a confidential<br />
chat. Lynne will assign an<br />
appropriate champion to work<br />
with the customer.<br />
Literacy Champions<br />
Samantha Minshull, Jean<br />
Noble and Remi Pierre<br />
Omoboye commented on their<br />
role: “We would like to say that<br />
we totally enjoyed the literacy<br />
training and cant wait to get<br />
started. It means so much to us<br />
to help our community in any<br />
way we can, so please don’t be<br />
shy. We all struggle in one way<br />
or another, if any one would like<br />
some help with reading, writing<br />
or form filling just give us a call.<br />
We are always happy to help<br />
and look forward to hearing from<br />
you.”<br />
Excited and proud!<br />
We’re excited to be taking part<br />
and showing our support for the<br />
LGBT community at this years<br />
Manchester PRIDE, and we’ve<br />
already started again to plan our<br />
float!<br />
This year, we’re doing a joint float<br />
with other housing associations<br />
including Mosscare, Guinness<br />
Northern Counties and Affinity<br />
Sutton.<br />
We’d love you to get involved,<br />
so if you’d like to come and<br />
represent <strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong> at<br />
this year’s PRIDE, call Lynne<br />
Harrison now on 0161 230 1013.
Community Safety<br />
Hate crimes<br />
A hate crime happens when<br />
someone is targeted because<br />
of their membership of a<br />
certain social group. This<br />
usually means someone’s<br />
religion, sexual orientation,<br />
disability, ethnicity,<br />
nationality, age, sex, or<br />
gender identity.<br />
If you are a victim of a hate<br />
crime, it can be reported to the<br />
Police on 101 or to us by calling<br />
the Community Safety Team<br />
on 0161 230 1010. All of our<br />
offices are third party reporting<br />
centres for hate crimes which<br />
means that you can come in to<br />
one of our offices and speak to<br />
a member of staff in confidence<br />
about the <strong>issue</strong>.<br />
Our Community Safety Manager<br />
working with GMP to make your<br />
neighbourhoods safer<br />
Jackie Hynes, Community<br />
Safety Manager at <strong>Eastlands</strong><br />
<strong>Homes</strong>, was recently awarded<br />
the Divisional Commanders<br />
Award from Greater<br />
Manchester Police (GMP) in<br />
recognition of the excellent<br />
teamwork between <strong>Eastlands</strong><br />
<strong>Homes</strong> staff and GMP Officers.<br />
Jackie worked with GMP on<br />
Operation Rolo; a project to tackle<br />
drug dealers and takers across<br />
Manchester. The operation took<br />
place during December 2011 and<br />
led to the arrest of 51 offenders.<br />
The Divisional Commander<br />
Awards are normally only given<br />
to employees of GMP, so this<br />
award is a true recognition of<br />
the hard work from Jackie and<br />
the rest of the team at <strong>Eastlands</strong><br />
<strong>Homes</strong>, helping to make your<br />
communities safer places for you<br />
to live.<br />
Pest Control<br />
Adaptations<br />
To make sure that we get<br />
value for money and a<br />
quality service, we put the<br />
Pest Control service out to<br />
tender.<br />
Manchester City Council won<br />
this with their commitment to<br />
providing high quality, customer<br />
focussed pest control treatments<br />
and all their service delivery<br />
staff are experienced and fully<br />
qualified within the pest control<br />
industry.<br />
Manchester City Council Pest<br />
Control Services will deliver the<br />
following treatments to you free<br />
of charge.<br />
• Mice (inside the property)<br />
• Rats (inside the property and<br />
garden/yard)<br />
• Cockroaches<br />
• Fleas, Bedbugs<br />
• Beetles (inside the property)<br />
• Squirrels (inside the property)<br />
• Wasps (inside the property<br />
or outside on the building<br />
structure blocking access to<br />
the property or its use, e.g.<br />
above a doorway).<br />
We’ve also negotiated a good<br />
price on the things you have to<br />
pay for:<br />
Wasps outside the property in the<br />
property garden - £ 35.00<br />
Garden/Black Ants inside the<br />
property only - £ 40.00<br />
Bees (that are above a doorway<br />
and blocking access) - £ 35.00<br />
If you would like further details on<br />
the pest control service, call your<br />
local eastline now.<br />
If you struggle to get in<br />
and out of your shower<br />
or up and down the<br />
stairs, and feel you<br />
could benefit from an<br />
adaptation such as a<br />
level access shower,<br />
stair lift or ramp, contact<br />
Manchester Equipment<br />
and Adaptations<br />
Partnership (MEAP)<br />
on 0161 277 8600 to<br />
arrange an assessment.<br />
If you meet the criteria,<br />
we can fund and carry<br />
out the adaptations<br />
needed within eight<br />
weeks of assessment<br />
approval to minimise<br />
your wait.<br />
9
Money Matters<br />
Under Occupation<br />
Do you have a spare bedroom? Do you receive Housing Benefit? If<br />
your answer is yes to both these questions and you are of working<br />
age, it is likely that from April 2013 your Housing Benefit will be<br />
reduced.<br />
From April 2013 your Housing<br />
Benefit will be reduced if you<br />
have more bedrooms than your<br />
family needs. The government<br />
uses the “National Bedroom<br />
Standard” to define the number of<br />
bedrooms you need. According<br />
to this standard:<br />
• Two children of the same sex<br />
can share a bedroom until the<br />
age of 16<br />
• Boys and girls can share a<br />
bedroom until the older child’s<br />
tenth birthday<br />
• A couple (aged 16 or over) who<br />
live together as partners should<br />
have their own room<br />
• A single person aged 16 or over<br />
should have their own room<br />
• A non resident overnight carer<br />
should have their own room<br />
IF YOU OR YOUR PARTNER IS<br />
OF PENSIONABLE AGE, THIS<br />
DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU.<br />
<strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong> has over<br />
1,500 customers that could be<br />
affected by these changes and<br />
Right to Buy –<br />
Think before you buy<br />
we will be writing to and visiting<br />
these customers over the next<br />
six months to offer advice and<br />
assistance on a whole range<br />
of money matters and housing<br />
options.<br />
For further information please<br />
contact <strong>Eastlands</strong> Money Matters<br />
Team or our Housing Options<br />
Officer, Ashleigh Hogan by<br />
phoning Eastline or visiting your<br />
local <strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong> reception.<br />
If you have lived in your<br />
home for more than five<br />
years you will be eligible<br />
to buy it at a discount,<br />
so long as you can prove<br />
that you can afford the<br />
mortgage payments. The<br />
amount of discount you<br />
can get depends on how<br />
long you’ve been a tenant.<br />
Unless you can buy your home<br />
with cash, you'll need to get<br />
a mortgage from a bank or<br />
building society. Loan companies<br />
operate in our areas that offer<br />
loans to customers but the<br />
interest rates are much higher.<br />
Customers wishing to exercise<br />
the ‘right to buy’ or ‘right to<br />
acquire’ should always get<br />
independent advice. You can get<br />
free independent advice from<br />
The Money Advice Service by<br />
ringing them on 0300 500 5000.<br />
When thinking about taking out<br />
a mortgage you should make<br />
sure you will have enough<br />
money to pay your mortgage<br />
each month and other bills like<br />
buildings insurance, Council<br />
Tax, utility bills, etc. You will<br />
be responsible for repairs and<br />
maintenance to your home and<br />
if you buy a flat, you’ll probably<br />
also have to pay a ‘service<br />
charge’ towards the upkeep of<br />
the whole building and repairs.<br />
The value of your home can go<br />
down as well as up and if you<br />
don’t pay your mortgage you<br />
could lose your home.<br />
The government revived<br />
the Right to Buy scheme for<br />
council tenants (and Housing<br />
Association tenants with a<br />
preserved right to buy following<br />
a stock transfer) from 2 April<br />
2012.<br />
For further information please<br />
contact the Money Matters Team<br />
or <strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong> Right to Buy<br />
Team on 0161 276 7362.<br />
10
The Green Scene<br />
Tips and ideas on how to save<br />
money and the environment<br />
At each reception, we now have containers where<br />
you can bring in old batteries to be recycled.<br />
What batteries can be<br />
recycled?<br />
Any portable battery can be<br />
recycled. This means any<br />
battery which is sealed, can<br />
be hand-carried without<br />
difficulty, and is not an<br />
automotive or industrial<br />
battery.<br />
Why recycle batteries?<br />
Batteries may contain a<br />
variety of heavy metals, such<br />
as lead, cadmium, nickel and<br />
mercury. All of these can<br />
be extremely toxic to both<br />
humans and the environment.<br />
If a battery is burned, it can<br />
send dangerous fumes into<br />
the air.<br />
Those batteries used to power<br />
your remote, camera and other<br />
appliances can be recycled.<br />
They are valuable for the<br />
metal and plastic that they<br />
contain, which can be reused.<br />
Hearing aid and watch<br />
batteries are also valuable<br />
because the silver and lithium,<br />
among other materials, that<br />
they contain are rising in<br />
demand to be recycled.<br />
Who is recycling our<br />
batteries?<br />
BatteryBack are the company<br />
we are using to pick up the<br />
batteries. They take them<br />
to two recycling plants in<br />
Belgium for safe disposal.<br />
For more information visit<br />
www.batteryback.org<br />
Flush saver's pack<br />
Flushing the loo takes<br />
up one third of the water<br />
we use every day. Fitting<br />
a save-a-flush device in<br />
your cistern saves around<br />
one litre of water every<br />
time you flush. Why not<br />
send for your free save-aflush<br />
today?<br />
The save-a-flush device<br />
contains super absorbent<br />
polymer and silica sand, which<br />
absorbs water when it is placed<br />
in the toilet cistern.<br />
To receive a free save-a-flush<br />
register your details here<br />
www.unitedutilities.com/<br />
watersaverspack<br />
Please note that if you live in a<br />
house or flat built after 2000, we<br />
advise you not to fit the savea-flush<br />
in your toilet cistern.<br />
Toilets fitted after 2000 tend to<br />
have a low-level flush, using<br />
only six litres of water, which<br />
is already water efficient. The<br />
toilet may not flush properly if<br />
a save-a-flush is fitted in these<br />
toilets. The save-a-flush does<br />
not fit in a dual flush toilet (with<br />
two buttons) as these are also<br />
water efficient.<br />
Make sure you keep the device<br />
out of reach from children and<br />
animals. Information on how<br />
to install your save-a-flush is<br />
shown on the packet.<br />
If you do not have access<br />
to the Internet you can<br />
contact Nicola Buckley at<br />
<strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong> on 0161<br />
274 2390 who will order on<br />
your behalf (up to three per<br />
household)<br />
11
Our Performance<br />
Facts and figures from January to March 2012<br />
12<br />
How do YOU think we’re doing?<br />
Your<br />
Complaints<br />
• Complaints received: 60<br />
• Outcomes: 48% upheld /<br />
partially upheld<br />
• % tenants satisfied with the<br />
way their complaint was<br />
handled: 78%<br />
Complaint<br />
Number<br />
Type<br />
received<br />
Allocations 1<br />
Home ownership & leasehold<br />
services 1<br />
Tenancy management 6<br />
Tenant rents & service charges 4<br />
Repairs & maintenance 28<br />
Investment programme 14<br />
Staff & customer services 4<br />
Other <strong>issue</strong>s 2<br />
Your<br />
Compliments<br />
• Compliments received: 20<br />
other<br />
staff<br />
investment<br />
repairs<br />
Complimented Number<br />
Department tenant rents received<br />
Neighbourhood Services 9<br />
Repairs & tenancy maintenance 5<br />
Investment 3<br />
Chief Executive home owner 2<br />
Overall service 1<br />
Ways to Complain, allocation Comment<br />
or Compliment us<br />
We want to hear from you and<br />
will act on every complaint we<br />
receive. You can call, write, email,<br />
visit us in person or online at<br />
www.eastlandshomes.co.uk or<br />
request a complaint form from us.<br />
We are pleased to hear what we<br />
are doing well too! Let us know<br />
by using any of the contact<br />
methods listed above.<br />
We monitor our performance<br />
closely so we know how we’re<br />
doing and where we need to<br />
improve.<br />
You can keep an eye on our<br />
performance too – every <strong>issue</strong><br />
of Streets Ahead includes the<br />
latest on how we compare<br />
with some of the targets set in<br />
our Customer Service Charter.<br />
If you have any ideas on how<br />
we can improve this page,<br />
please let us know – whether<br />
you want more, less or different<br />
information. Just email<br />
overall<br />
eastline@eastlandshomes.<br />
co.uk or call your local<br />
Eastline team.<br />
chief exec<br />
investment<br />
Investment repairsProgramme<br />
Ardwick, Gorton North, Gorton<br />
South, Levenshulme, neighbourhood Longsight<br />
and Rusholme:<br />
Total number of<br />
improvements as from<br />
April 2009 until<br />
31 March 2012:<br />
17,198 including:<br />
• Double Glazed Windows and<br />
Doors: 41<strong>38</strong><br />
• Electrical Rewiring: 1194<br />
• Kitchens: 3409<br />
• Bathrooms: 3395<br />
• Boilers: 3186<br />
• Cavity Wall Insulation: 126<br />
• External Wall Rendering: 337<br />
• Structural Improvements:<br />
714<br />
• Roofs & Chimneys: 714<br />
Beswick, Clayton & Openshaw:<br />
Total improvements to<br />
31 March 2012: 18,059
Repairs Service<br />
Type Our Target 11/12 Quarter 4<br />
Emergency Repairs – within 3 hours 100% 100%<br />
Urgent Repairs – within 5 working days 100% 100%<br />
Routine repairs – within 10 working days 100% 98.81%<br />
How are we going to improve?<br />
Our challenging targets continue to be met in all but very few cases. We have identified a<br />
technical <strong>issue</strong> that prevented us from completing this small number of repairs on time and<br />
hope to improve in this area.<br />
Eastline – Customer Service Calls<br />
Calls answered within service standard of 20 seconds 93% 86.9%<br />
How are we going to improve?<br />
During the last three months we have improved in this area and have put plans in place so that<br />
this continues. This includes improvements to the way we record and solve customer queries<br />
and a continued focus on our busier and quieter times of demand.<br />
Rent<br />
Current rent arrears (%) 5% 5.17%<br />
Former tenant arrears – rent collection (%) 25% 22.4%<br />
Rent loss from empty properties 1.12% 0.98%<br />
How are we going to improve?<br />
We have seen some good progress and we are reducing the amount of rent arrears. We are<br />
reviewing the resources at each office to make sure we have the right number of staff in the right<br />
places.<br />
Empty Properties<br />
Empty properties as a % of the properties we own 1.12% 0.92%<br />
Average re-let times of empty properties 20 days 23 days<br />
How are we going to improve?<br />
We continue to turnaround properties more and more quickly and hope this pattern will<br />
continue in the coming months.<br />
Nuisance & Anti-social Behaviour<br />
Cases referred 167<br />
Cases resolved and closed* 156<br />
Legal actions taken 10<br />
* Includes cases from a previous period.<br />
13
Community Grant<br />
helps 12 local groups<br />
Congratulations to the 12<br />
local organisations who<br />
were awarded a total<br />
of £1,790 by customers<br />
on our neighbourhood<br />
assemblies in our latest<br />
round of community grant<br />
applications.<br />
The successful groups include:<br />
• Friends of Clayton Park: £200<br />
towards Jubilee celebration<br />
party<br />
• Mill Court Tenants Group: £190<br />
towards new gardening club<br />
• Peterchurch Tenants<br />
Association: £150 towards<br />
planting initiative<br />
• Waytars tenants / residents:<br />
£250 for equipment in new<br />
community facility<br />
• Lingfield Road Tenants &<br />
Residents: £175 for new seating<br />
area<br />
• Friends of Birchfields Park: £100<br />
towards community fun day<br />
• Rose Court: £150 towards<br />
community ‘pamper day’<br />
• Healthy Ardwick: £100 towards<br />
football competition<br />
• Brailsford, Mosely, Braemar and<br />
Balmoral Residents Group: £100<br />
towards Jubilee party<br />
• Coverdale and Newbank<br />
Community Association: £100<br />
towards Jubilee party<br />
• Gortonia Community Arts<br />
Association: £50 towards digital<br />
photography workshops<br />
• Gorton Visual Arts: £225 towards<br />
craft session for residents of a<br />
sheltered housing scheme<br />
The <strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong><br />
Community Grant supports<br />
projects and activities<br />
operating in east and<br />
south-east Manchester.<br />
Applications are encouraged<br />
from all of our areas, but<br />
must benefit the local<br />
community in order to be<br />
considered.<br />
Application forms and further<br />
information is available at<br />
www.eastlandshomes.co.uk/<br />
communitygrant or on request<br />
by visiting your local <strong>Eastlands</strong><br />
<strong>Homes</strong> office or calling your local<br />
Eastline team.<br />
Applications for consideration<br />
in the Summer submission<br />
must be received by 5pm on<br />
Tuesday 31 July 2012.<br />
Concessionary Gardening<br />
We recently carried out a tender process for the concessionary gardening service.<br />
‘Greenfingers’ were chosen and have been supplying the service since April.<br />
If you receive the concessionary<br />
gardening service you will<br />
notice that the workers wear<br />
high visibility vests with both<br />
Greenfingers and <strong>Eastlands</strong><br />
<strong>Homes</strong> logos on the back. You<br />
can contact your local Eastline<br />
each month to find out the<br />
approximate date that the<br />
gardeners will be attending your<br />
home.<br />
After each maintenance visit,<br />
the contractor will leave you<br />
a feedback form for you to<br />
complete and return. Your<br />
feedback is vital as it allows us<br />
to deal with any problems and<br />
get these sorted to ensure that<br />
you are happy with the service<br />
you are receiving.<br />
Early feedback has said<br />
that the new service is<br />
working well:<br />
“The best up to now,<br />
very pleased”<br />
“The workmen were great,<br />
they did a great job, best<br />
workers ever.”<br />
If you don’t currently use the<br />
concessionary gardening<br />
scheme, but would like to, call<br />
your local eastline now to see if<br />
you are eligible.<br />
14
Tap Hygiene<br />
It is important that taps that are used for drinking water<br />
are kept clean. The water coming out of your tap is safe but<br />
bacteria can live in the kitchen and some can grow both on<br />
the outside of the tap an inside the lip of the spout. They<br />
are not visible to the naked eye, but the tap can become<br />
contaminated from foods or items washed in the sink. For<br />
this reason, you should never allow food to come into contact<br />
with the end of the tap.<br />
Key water tips<br />
• Regularly clean household<br />
taps thoroughly using a<br />
mild household disinfectant<br />
ensuring that you wash inside<br />
the spout.<br />
• After cleaning the tap, run it for<br />
a few moments to remove any<br />
remaining disinfectant.<br />
• Don’t leave the dishcloth on the<br />
tap to dry.<br />
Taste and odours<br />
Customers occasionally report<br />
that their tap water has an<br />
unpleasant taste or odour. These<br />
complaints are often of a chlorine<br />
smell or a chemical, bitter or<br />
medicinal taste. Sometimes this<br />
taste occurs only in boiled drinks,<br />
especially tea, or when a glass of<br />
water has stood for some time.<br />
There could be several causes,<br />
the commonest of which are<br />
given below. However, if you get<br />
a sudden or unusual taste or smell<br />
with your drinking water contact<br />
you water company so that they<br />
can investigate the problem.<br />
Outside taps and<br />
hosepipes<br />
A hosepipe connected to an<br />
outside tap can present major<br />
risk to water quality in the home.<br />
If there is a sudden reduction in<br />
mains pressure, contaminated<br />
water could be sucked back<br />
through the hosepipe into your<br />
home.<br />
Key water tips:<br />
• Outside taps should be<br />
protected with a double check<br />
valve to prevent backflow. Now<br />
hose taps are available with a<br />
double check valve built into<br />
the tap. Separate double check<br />
valves are also available.<br />
• Never place the hosepipe<br />
outlet into the drains, garden<br />
ponds, buckets or watering<br />
cans containing chemicals like<br />
fertilisers or pesticides.<br />
• Hosepipes should be fitted with<br />
a self-closing flow control (such<br />
as a trigger spray gun) and be<br />
hand held when in use.<br />
Returning to a vacant<br />
property<br />
If your home is empty for two<br />
weeks or more and water has<br />
not been used, then the quality<br />
will deteriorate. This can lead to<br />
taste and odour problems and in<br />
extreme cases illness.<br />
Ground Maintenance<br />
Continental Landscapes have been awarded the Grounds Maintenance contract to<br />
maintain over 300,000 sqm of <strong>Eastlands</strong> <strong>Homes</strong> open and communal spaces.<br />
This will involve:<br />
• Carrying out litter pick prior to<br />
cutting grassed area’s<br />
• Cut all open space grassed<br />
area’s<br />
• Clear footpaths abounding<br />
grassed area’s of clippings<br />
• Cut back hedges and shrub’s<br />
twice a year<br />
• All grass collected at first cut<br />
• Weed treatment to all hard<br />
standings<br />
• All shrub area’s to be tended<br />
to on grass cycle and to be<br />
weed and litter free<br />
• Pedestrian mowing routes to<br />
be edged.<br />
As part of their commitment<br />
to employing local people on<br />
their contracts, Continental<br />
Landscapes have employed two<br />
people from CVs provided by us<br />
from our local residents, and will<br />
continue to use this a source, for<br />
recruiting new staff as required.<br />
Continental Landscapes will be<br />
working with us to create a tram<br />
of Green Inspectors made up of<br />
customers who will act as our<br />
eyes across our estates.<br />
15
STAR survey 2012 –<br />
make your views count!<br />
One in four of our customers have been sent a<br />
STAR survey with this edition of Streets Ahead –<br />
have you been selected?<br />
This year we are sending the<br />
survey to all our customers in this<br />
way, asking for your views on our<br />
services. So if there isn’t a survey<br />
in this time, look out for it in a<br />
future edition of Streets Ahead.<br />
The STAR survey, otherwise<br />
known as the Survey of Tenants<br />
and Residents, will be carried<br />
out every year and will help us to<br />
make more improvements to the<br />
work we do and the services we<br />
provide.<br />
If you have received a survey this<br />
time, make sure you return it by<br />
Tuesday 31 July to be in with a<br />
chance to win up to £250 of high<br />
street vouchers in our big survey<br />
prize draw!<br />
If you have any questions about<br />
the survey, please call your local<br />
Eastline team or email eastline@<br />
eastlandshomes.co.uk<br />
Save time and money!<br />
Complete the survey<br />
online by visiting<br />
www.eastlandshomes.<br />
co.uk/star - you will<br />
need to quote your<br />
unique survey number<br />
to take part.<br />
Big survey prize draw<br />
winners<br />
Congratulations to the<br />
winners of our first prize<br />
draw of the year: Mr and<br />
Mrs Nicholls of Rusholme<br />
won the top prize of<br />
£250, while Mrs Mayne of<br />
Gorton and Mr Thomas of<br />
Clayton both won runnerup<br />
prizes of £50 each.<br />
How to contact us<br />
☎<br />
☎<br />
Call Us<br />
Lines open 8am – 5.30pm weekdays.<br />
Belle Vue House: 0161 230 1000<br />
(if you live in Gorton North<br />
or Gorton South)<br />
☎<br />
Cornbrook House: 0161 276 7300<br />
(if you live in Ardwick, Levenshulme,<br />
Longsight or Rusholme)<br />
☎<br />
<strong>Eastlands</strong> House: 0161 274 2390<br />
(if you live in Beswick, Clayton<br />
or Openshaw)<br />
An out of hours service is provided<br />
for emergency repairs.<br />
✉<br />
✉<br />
✉<br />
✉<br />
Write or visit: Receptions are<br />
open 8.45am – 4.30pm weekdays<br />
Belle Vue House, 27 Garratt Way,<br />
Gorton, Manchester, M18 8HE<br />
Cornbrook House, 217 Stockport<br />
Road, Ardwick, Manchester, M12 4DY<br />
<strong>Eastlands</strong> House, Victoria Street,<br />
Openshaw, Manchester, M11 2NX<br />
Email: eastline@eastlandshomes.co.uk<br />
Web: www.eastlandshomes.co.uk<br />
If you would like information in another language or format such as large print or audio, please ask us.