A1 Housing held it’s 3rd annual Tenant Conference at The Elms Hotel on the 12th March and it was a huge success.
The purpose of the conference is to share with our customers the work we have been doing since the pervious conference and give them the chance to meet with and speak to Senior A1 Housing Officers and Board Members.
At this years conference we discussed;
Every Customer Counts – Joice Richards, Director of Strategy & Change opened the conference with a presentation on how A1 Housing makes sure it’s services are accessible by all customers and potential customers
Decent Homes – Andrew Davenport, Decent Homes Manager gave an explanation on, what is a decent home, why the government have extended the programme to run until 2013 and how we will receive the monies to complete the programme. We also took the opportunity to show the decent homes DvD.
Housing Repairs – No conference is complete without a presentation on housing repairs and this year was no different, Phil Fores, Service Manager for repairs outlined the work he and his team have been doing to address the weaknesses identified in the Audit Commission report and how the repairs service will operate alongside the decent homes programme.
Choice Based Lettings – A1 Housing’s newest senior officer Jonathan Duffield explained how A1 will allocate Council properties when the new Choice Based Lettings scheme is introduced later this year.
Being Involved with A1 Housing – To round off the conference Sam Roberts, Customer Services Manager gave a presentation highlighting some of the improvements that A1 have made over the last 12 months as a irect result of feedback or involvement from customers.
The conference provided many lively debates and listed below are some of the key questions asked;
Q: Does decent homes apply to all properties?
A: All properties have been surveyed but not all properties need to be improved, some already meet the Governments Decent Homes specification
Q: Why do some people have to pay for Supporting People, (Warden Service) but their neighbour doesn’t?
A: When the new payment scheme started Bassetlaw District Council agreed to subsidise those existing customers on benefits so that they would not be penalised however, all new customers have to pay therefore the situation does occur where 2 neighbours will pay different amounts.
Q: What are we going to do about bungalows with only one door especially if tenant disabled?
A: This area is not covered by decent homes and there is no requirement to make changes under the current legislation, however, all new windows fitted should allow for exiting the property if absolutely necessary.
Q: Why do some people have to pay for adaptations?
A: All applications are means tested and the new Preventative Adaptation Scheme, (see take a look on back page) will pay for grab rails etc and may be far cheaper than going through a means test.
Q: Will all windows be replaced including the single glazed Upvc windows?
A: Only windows failing the standard will be replaced, we are trying to get efficiency savings to increase the number we can replace.
Q: Most people have been led to believe that they will get decent homes work can A1 be honest with them?
A: Our Decent homes Update leaflet shows that not all properties will get work. If a customer disagrees they can ask for a review, but our funding is based on the results of the independent surveyors report and the restrictions of the government specification on what is a decent home, further information on this is included in the Decent Homes Update included with this newsletter.
We received a huge response for places at the conference and due to limited space we were forced to carry out a draw and unfortunately some people missed out, as you can see from the photo’s we were packed to the rafters. If you were one of those who wanted to attend but didn’t get a place we will send you details of all of the presentations and a list of the key questions asked and our responses.
The feedback we received on the day was fantastic and we were told that it was the best conference so far.
Look out in the October edition of In Touch for details of our Consultation day to be held in November.
POLICE are advising elderly residents to be vigilant of visitors claiming to be from the waterboard following four distraction burglaries in Bassetlaw.
To reduce the risk of becoming a victim, practice the steps of the good doorstep behavior code;
1. STOP - before you open the door.
2. CHAIN - put it on every time you open the door to a caller even if you think you know who it is.
3. CHECK - are you expecting anyone, look through the spy hole if you have one or the window to see if you can identity who the caller is.
REMEMBER any genuine caller will be HAPPY to show you IDENTIFICATION and for you to check their identify.
Severn Trent Water operates a password protection scheme, supported by Nottinghamshire Police. This provides you with a password, which must be used by any Severn Trent Water official calling at your home. This enables you to distinguish between a genuine Severn Trent Water employee and a bogus official.
To request a doorstep protection password from Severn Trent, call 08457 500 500