Moat Home News 32:Moat Home News 32

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▲MoneymattersUnderstanding service chargesThe service charge is the money youpay towards the day-to-day runningcosts of the scheme or propertywhere you live. Depending on where youlive, and whether you are living in a house oran apartment, service charges may coverthe cost of:• maintenance to a scheme’s communalgrounds• cleaning of communal areas• electricity for communal areasLucky winnerThe lucky winner of our direct debitprize draw is Mrs E L Hollis, wholives in Surrey. She receives £150worth of Sainsburys vouchers.Mrs Hollis was automatically enteredinto the prize draw when she electedto pay her rent by direct debit, theeasiest way to pay your rent, servicecharges or other charges.It is very easy to set up and thepayments are debited from your bankor building society accountautomatically.You don’t have toremember to pay each week or month,so you are less likely to miss paymentsand risk losing your home.At the moment you can choose tomake your payment on the 1st, 15th or25th of each month.To find out more, call us on0845 600 1006.Our service charge team is busy producing the 2009/2010 final accountsfor residents who pay a variable service charge. They are looking at theactual expenditure for each scheme or neighbourhood in the last year andcomparing it with our estimates, so that, where necessary, your accountcan be adjusted. This article explains how the cycle works• contract costs for lifts or door entrysystems• other costs as detailed in your tenancyagreement.Sometimes these services are notprovided by Moat, but by a managing agentor management company, and their chargesare passed on to you.Where your tenancy agreement allowsfor a ‘variable’ service charge, here’s anexplanation of what that means.■ Estimating the service chargeAt the beginning of each year, we will workout how much we think it will cost toprovide you with services for the comingfinancial year, which runs from 1 April to31 March.We will do our best to make this asaccurate as possible, basing it on what wespent in previous years, along with ourexperience and knowledge of your schemeor property.We will use contract figures wherepossible, such as for cleaning and groundsmaintenance costs, but we will have toestimate other costs, such as utility accounts.We will write to you by the end ofFebruary each year to inform you of thenew estimated weekly charges, which willcommence in April of that year.■ Actual service chargeAt the end of the financial year, we willcompare what you have paid for the yearwith what we actually spent on the schemeMake your payments by textCommunicating by text is nothing new – over 5,000 text messages are sentevery second in the UK and over 75% of the adult population now ownsa mobile phone. Since August, you can even choose to pay your rent orservice charges by text message, using Allpay’s secure SMS text messaging billpayment option.You will need a UK registered mobile phone, a valid Allpay swipecard and acurrent debit or credit card. Then you’ll need to complete the quick and simpleAllpay online registration at https://www.allpayments.net/textpayOnce registered, you will be able to make payments any time and anywhere youchoose. All you do is text your code and the amount you wish to pay to adesignated number every time you want to make a payment.If you want to start making payments this way, visit the Allpay website athttps://www.allpayments.net/textpayor property where you live. We will send youa statement by the end of September eachyear, setting out all the costs and informingyou of any credit or deficit on your servicecharge account. We may owe you money oryou may owe us money.A letter will accompany the statement totell you how this adjustment will be dealt with.If you have any questions, please contact uson 0845 600 1006 and ask to speak to amember of the service charge team.Or you can contact us by email atcustomer@moat.co.ukmoatRepair/Service Gas Engineers RequiredWorking in Partnership with Moat☎EXCELLENT PACKAGEIMMEDIATE START020 88763 5333 or 077252 46340BSW is an equal opportunities employerNeed some friendly advice?If you’re struggling to manage your money, you don’t have to do it alone. Moat’swelfare benefits service is here to offer help, support and advice on moneymatters. You can reach us by calling 0845 600 1006.Welfare benefits officers Helen Goldsmith and Lynn Lennon make regular visitsto our regional offices. If you’d like to chat to them – in complete confidence – youcan book an appointment by calling 0845 600 1006.Here’s where they’ll be for the rest of the year.Pollards Hill ............every ThursdaySevenoaks ..............every FridayMaldon ...................every ThursdayMedway ..................every FridayChristian Fields ....the last Monday ofevery month from27.09.10Stanhope ................every otherWednesdayfrom 25.08.10If your rent account is in credit and you think you might be entitledto a refund, write to us at the following address:Income Recovery Team, Moat, Mariner House, Galleon Boulevard,Crossways, Dartford, Kent DA2 6QEJoining a credit union canhelp you plan your spendingCredit unions are community savings and loans co-operatives owned andcontrolled by their members. They aim to help you take control of your money,by encouraging you to save what you can and borrow only what you canafford to repay.Credit union members pool their savings to lend to one another. Any profits are eitherreinvested in the organisation or given to members in the form of a dividend – just likegetting interest on your savings. As well as savings and loan accounts, most credit unionsoffer life or loan protection insurance and some offer other insurance products, includingtravel, motor and home insurance.If you’re on a low income or have no previous history of borrowing, a credit union maybe more willing to help you than a high street bank or building society. They charge muchless interest than banks – and much, much less than loan sharks.Contact our customer services centre on 0845 600 1006 for a list of credit unions inyour area.Annual report is on its wayThis year’s Moat annual report is currently in production andshould be landing on your doormat at the beginning of October.It’s full of information about the way we’ve responded to whatyou’ve told us over the year and sets out what we’ve done – and arecontinuing to do – to improve the services we provide for you.We hope you’ll enjoy reading it.1011
100 reasons tocelebrate theMoat mortgagerescue schemeThrough the Government’sMortgage Rescue Scheme,Moat has been able to help100 families in Essex, Kent and Sussexto stay in their homes andcommunities, rather than facerepossession and homelessness.Mortgage Rescue is one of a numberof options available to eligiblehomeowners who are in danger ofhaving their homes repossessed.As well as helping families andindividuals, it also benefits the widercommunity, as families can remain livingin their homes, keep their jobs andtheir children’s school places, and stillbe part of the community.“We are extremely proud to be thelead provider for Mortgage Rescue inEssex, Kent and Sussex,” says SarahHolman, Moat’s Home Ownershipmanager.“We are also delighted that we havebeen able to transform the lives of somany families by removing the threat ofhomelessness.”…TOP TIP…Don’t get caught outby the cold weatherTest that your heating isworking properly by putting iton for an hour every monththroughout the summer.Thatway, you’ll have time to get anyproblems fixed before the coldweather arrives.Your chance toget a foot on theproperty ladderDo you think buying your ownhome is a distant dream?HomeBuy may be able to helpyou make that dream a reality.HomeBuy helps people – usually first timebuyers – to buy or rent a home that suitstheir household needs.Tenants of housing associationsand local authorities aregiven top priority forHomeBuy so, as aMoat resident, this could bejust the opportunity youare looking for!If your household has asalaried income of at least£18,000 and you haveaccess to savings of £5,000or more, you could be eligible.The HomeBuy options that could beavailable to you include sharedownership (also known as part buy, partrent) whereby you can buy ashare of just 25% of a property and pay asubsidised rent on the remaining part.Alternatively, equity loans of up to 30%are available to help you buy a new homewith HomeBuy Direct.HomeBuy also helps people to rentwhilst saving a mortgage deposit.With many of the HomeBuyoptions, you have theopportunity to buyadditional shares inyour home when you canafford to, until you eventuallyown it outright.The application process iseasy.You can apply online atwww.HomeBuyoptions.co.ukor call us on 0845 359 6161 and we’ll sendyou an application packTo find out more about HomeBuy, alongwith available properties, housing news anddetails of HomeBuy events, please visitwww.HomeBuyoptions.co.ukSocial HomeBuy: the flexibleway to own your own homeSocial HomeBuy is proving to be a popular and realistic way for Moatresidents to purchase a share in the home they are renting, or to buy itoutright.This spring, three Moat residents successfully became homeownersthrough the scheme.All our rented homes are available for Social HomeBuy. To be eligible for thescheme you must meet the following criteria:■ if your first social housing tenancy began on or after 18 January 2005, you musthave been a tenant for a minimum of five years■ your rent account must be up to date.For more information about Social HomeBuy, Right to Buy and Right to Acquireschemes, you can visit our website – www.moat.co.uk – where you can downloadmore information, and an application form. Alternatively, please contact a memberof the Home Ownership team on 0845 359 6161.Moat’s just the job for Donna and TanyaWhen a vacancy came up in the sales and marketing team atour main Moat office in Dartford, we were keen to offer itas a job opportunity for someone local.We wrote to 700 Moat households with details of the job on offer, aswell as advertising on our website, and received nearly 60 applications.The quality of the eight people we interviewed was so goodthat we were able to fill two further vacancies as well.Pictured here are two of the successful applicants,Donna Thandi (left) and Tanya Cooper, both now happilyworking for Moat.If you or someone in your family is lookingfor work, why not check out jobopportunities with Moat atwww.moat.co.uk£4 million to be spenton home improvementPlanned work will target homes where fixtures and fittingscan’t be repaired and need bringing up to dateMoat will be working with ourcontractor Apollo to deliver a£4 million programme thisyear, replacing kitchens, bathrooms,windows and doors, carrying outelectrical rewires and replacing consumerunits (fuse boards).We are in the middle of carrying outstock condition surveys on all ourproperties so that we can plan the workas accurately as possible. Once this task iscomplete, we hope to be able to publishthe planned works programme on theinternet, along with more information forresidents, such as the kitchen designs andstyles of front door available.It’s our usual policy to replace kitchens,bathrooms and windows when theyhave come to the end of their useful life.For kitchens, that’s 20 years, forbathrooms and windows, 30 years.Apollo, our planned works partneringcontractor, has two teams, one workingin Essex and the other working acrossKent, Surrey, London and Sussex.Each team has a dedicated residentliaison officer to consult with residentsabout the work to be done. Residentsare able to choose from three kitchendesigns and a range of colours.Works completed last year were:■ 297 kitchens■258 bathrooms■443 doors■75 rewires■386 consumer units.Now that we have almost finishedthe work we needed to do to bring ourhomes up to the ‘decent homes’standard, we would welcome yourcomments on how you think we couldimprove the work we do on kitchensand bathrooms in future.Let us know what you think.Call us on 0845 600 1006 and ask forHayley Vause, project manager forProperty Services, or email her onhayley.vause@moat.co.ukKeeping a local focusThe new regulator for social housing, theTenants’ Standards Authority (TSA), requiresMoat to consult with residents to develop ‘localoffers’ – locally agreed standards for some of theservices we provide.Our plans for introducing local offers need tobe in place by this October, and we will beconsulting with residents soon in a variety of ways.1213▲
Page 1: moatIssue 32September 2010
Page 4 and 5: Going digitalCommunal aerial system
Page 8 and 9: Even if you don’t fancy enteringo

Moat Home News 32:Moat Home News 32

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