Moat Home News 32:Moat Home News 32

How to avoida repair billwhen youmove home■ Look after your home andkeep it in the same state aswhen you moved in.We willcharge you for any repairs notcaused by normal wear andtear.■ You are responsible forrepairing any damage caused bya member of your householdor visitors to your home.■ If fixtures or fittings aredamaged deliberately or breakbecause you haven’t lookedafter them properly, we willcharge you for repairing them.■ If you want to make anyimprovements to your home,including things like layinglaminate flooring, get writtenapproval from us first.We willremove any unauthorisedimprovements and charge youfor the work.■ Some of the commonreasons for repair chargesinclude:• clearing the property of allbelongings, furniture andrubbish, including carpets,floor coverings or items left inthe loft, garden and sheds• removing white goods such ascookers and washingmachines and disposing safelyof unwanted fridges andfreezers• repairing or replacingdamaged internal doors,hinges, locks, brackets andkitchen fittings• repairing damaged plasterwork and decorations• replacing cracked or brokeninternal glazing.A new way of workingMoat takes action to cut down the time homes stand emptyMoat is working in partnership withresidents and our repairs contractor,Mears, to completely revitalise the waywe manage empty homes, which we refer toas ‘voids’.Since June, our voids and lettings team, membersof our neighbourhood teams, and contractorsfrom Mears have been inspecting homes early –before the outgoing resident has left – andidentifying any work that’s needed beforesomeone else can move in.This speeds up therepairs process and reduces the time homes areleft empty.We have also been giving home seekers moreinformation earlier on in the process.Here’s a breakdown of how it works:•With agreement from the outgoing resident, wearrange a visit to the property with the personwho wants to move in.•The new resident has the opportunity to askabout local amenities, such as schools, shoppingand other services, while staff from Mears canNew Moat resident KerryChapman is pictured herewith Stephen Tucker (left),Moat’s voids and lettingsofficer for Medway, andAndy Roalf, Mears voidmanager.Kerry was nominatedfor a Moat home byDover District Council inJune. She was interviewedand inspected a propertyon 1 July.She moved in later thatmonth with her two sons,on the same day that theprevious resident movedout.Thanks to Moat’s newvoids and lettingsprocedures, the propertydidn’t stand empty for asingle day!Kerry is happy to havefound permanentaccommodation in Dover,close to her family andconvenient for the localschool.Re-letting our homesThe average time to re-let all general needshomes (not including sheltered schemes)has decreased.Numberof letsTurnaroundtime2008/2009 1,378 46 days2009/2010* 1,764 38 days* at 31 March 2010assess the condition of the property and decidewhat work, if any, is needed to bring it up to theDecent Homes Standard.•We then make an offer to the prospectiveresident. Once they have accepted, we can workmore closely with them and with Mears to decidewhich work can be completed during the firstweek of the tenancy. When possible, the new residents aregiven the opportunity to make choices about their newhome – for example, they may be able to select finishes orchoose the way the kitchen is laid out.• On the day the resident moves out, an inspection iscarried out. If everything is in order and all alterations orrepairs have been completed as agreed, the new residentcan move in, subject to the necessary health and safetychecks.We are currently running a pilot scheme with PCLEnergy Services, which provides gas and electric keys andcards. As soon as someone tells us they intend to moveout of their home, we notify PCL so that they can arrangeto reset the meters.We can also commission a new gas boiler, if required,before the new resident moves in.The aim of this pilot is to cut down on delays and makefor a smoother handover to the new resident. So far theprocess is working well – so well, in fact, that, as our picturestory on the left shows, we have just achieved our first‘nil void turnaround’ – one family moved out and anothermoved in on the same day!Sign up pack willcut down stressNew residents signing tenancy agreements withMoat for the first time now receive moreuseful information and in a more user-friendlystyle with our new sign up pack.We have been working with existing residents forseveral months to get it right and already we’ve hadsome very positive feedback from new residentsreceiving the pack.As well as updating our current Moat literature, wehave included more local information, such as details ofrefuse collection days and the locations of hospitals,doctors, schools, local authorities and benefits offices.Neighbourhood officers will hand out the packs tonew residents and we will also be putting them on ourwebsite so that people can access the information beforethey move into their new home.We hope that the new packs will help make movinghome as stress-free as possible.Moat signs up to nationalhome decorator schemeKeeping your home looking its bestis easier and cheaper than ever,now that Moat hassigned up to anational HomeDecorator’s Packscheme withCrown.This is in addition to our existingvoucher schemes with B&Q and Homebase.■ Benefits for all new and existing residents and leaseholdersNew residents who qualify will receive a Crown Home DecoratorPack voucher, which will entitle them to claim a selection of paint anddecorating tools.There are 21 carefully selected colours to choosefrom and free technical advice and support from your local CrownDecorating Centre. Everything will be delivered free, direct to yourdoor.Current residents and leaseholders can claim great discounts of upto 20% off the trade price when they purchase Crown decoratingproducts using the Crown Residents Discount Scheme. Paints, wallcoverings, brushes, rollers and much more – everything you need todecorate your home, as well as expert advice from friendly,professional staff and FREE delivery.■ How to claim the discountAll you need to do is:• order your goods online at www.crowndecoratorcentre.co.uk or• visit a Crown Decorating Centre or• call 01634 262566 and ask for your contact Vicky Whitehill• remember to quote Residents Discount Schemenumber 712200 when making your purchase.The special discount prices will be automatically calculated anddelivery is free regardless of the size or value of the order.Tracy Kinton, Moat’s voids and lettings manager says:“We havebeen working with our residents to improve satisfaction levelsand we want to give all our new residents the best possiblestart in their new homes by providing them with choices ofdecoration schemes.“We also want to encourage our existing residents andenable them to look after their homes, so we hope that theywill take advantage of the new discount scheme.”Up to 20%off withResidentsDiscountSchemenumber7122008 9▲