Housing newsletter - November 2022

Welcome to the November Better Homes, Better Lives newsletter

This newsletter includes the chance to win a shopping hamper worth over £30, important safety information for your home, updates on the environmentally friendly new homes we are building, how we have been carrying out improvements from tenant feedback and our energy saving tips that could save you up to £45.

Win a food hamper worth over £30 donated by Tescos in our monthly prize draw!

We're giving away a free food hamper, sponsored by Tesco, to our Newsletter readers. To enter, simply follow the link below and email us with your name and address before the closing date of Friday 11 November and you will be entered into the draw.

Fire safety in our communal areas this winter

As we approach the festive period this winter, we would like to remind you about keeping our communal areas safe and compliant for the safety of you and your neighbours.

As per our communal area policy, no decorations should be placed or hung in communal areas including stairwells and hallways, balconies, shed areas or corridors. This includes wreaths, garlands, posters or free-standing decorations such as trees as well as any electrical decorations like lights.

Please do not install any hooks or screws into flat entrance doors to hang decorations. These are fire doors, and any holes or alterations could seriously affect their performance in a fire situation.

If you have any questions regarding the communal area policy, please contact your neighbourhood officer on 0300 456 0117 - option 4 or email HSGMail@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window).

Carbon Monoxide detectors installed across our housing properties

The Housing team have had great success installing Carbon Monoxide (CO) detectors across a large part of our housing stock where required. However, we still have a number of properties which we have been unable to contact to determine if they require a new CO detector to be fitted.

If you have received communication from the Housing team regarding a visit to check your CO detector or if you believe you should have a CO detector and you do not have one in the property, then please contact our Repairs Team to book an appointment as soon as possible on 0300 456 0117 - option 2 or email  housingrepairs@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window).

New housing built with the environment in mind

If you're familiar with the Wilton Road area of Salisbury, you may have noticed the new homes being built on the former New Zealand Avenue Youth Centre site. There are 5 new dwellings in total, three 3 bed social rent homes and two 2 bed shared ownership homes.

The homes are being built to high standards which include air source heat pumps as standard. Swift bricks are also being included as part of the build to provide birds with nesting accommodation, along with protecting the mining bees in the existing bank along the main road of the site, as part of the importance of protecting wildlife and biodiversity.

The homes are all due for completion in January 2023, as long as the winter months are kind to the construction team!

If you are interested in one of the homes, please register your interest via Housing Solutions on 0300 456 0106 for both the rented and shared ownership homes.  For more information about purchasing a shared ownership home please contact Victoria Smith on 01249 706556 or email Victoria.Smith@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window).

Our estate offices have re-opened in Salisbury

Our estate offices on The Friary and Bemerton Heath estates have reopened for residents. The Neighbourhood Officer is usually available during opening hours to answer any questions you have regarding your home.

You can also phone or email to make an appointment to speak to them at the office and our Tenancy Sustainment Officers and Resident Engagement Officers will be available for drop-in sessions at the times listed below.

Bemerton Heath estate office - Gainsborough Close

Opening hours: Weekdays 9am to 4pm

TSO drop-in session: Thursday 9am to 12 noon

The Friary estate office - Whitefriars Road

Opening hours: Weekdays 9am to 1pm

TSO drop-in session: Wednesday 9am to 12 noon

Our community club meetings at sheltered schemes are changing and we want to hear from you

This autumn sees the last round of our quarterly community club meetings at our Sheltered Schemes.

The meetings have been popular at some of our schemes, but engagement requirements vary across the schemes with some preferring different ways to get involved.

We have been asking our residents how they would like us to engage with them going forward and we will be gathering your ideas in order to provide bespoke engagement for each sheltered scheme.

If you are a tenant in one of our sheltered schemes and would like to share your thoughts and ideas, please contact the Resident Engagement team.

Congratulations to the winner of our October hamper draw

Simona couldn't believe she was our October food hamper winner and was delighted to receive the box full of weekly essentials donated by Tesco.

Find out more about housing news and events on our Facebook page

You can keep up to date with all the latest news and updates from Wiltshire Council Housing and what is going on in your community on our Facebook page.

Visit the Wiltshire Council Housing Facebook page (opens new window)

At the Downside sheltered housing scheme in Wilton, the communal garden hardstanding and paths have had extra cleaning carried out as part of additional grounds maintenance works requested by the tenants.

One resident, Maggie told us " I was happy to see things like this being done to go the extra mile for residents, so they don't feel forgotten and that the garden now looks lovely. The operative who carried out the work was very polite and tidy, very efficient and was happy to listen to residents who had questions, a real credit to the service."

Keeping your shower time to just four minutes, could save a typical household £45 a year on their energy bills.

Save hot water in the bathroom and consider only filling you bath half full or to the level you need rather than filling the whole tub.

When using the hand basin, use the plug to fill the sink to wash your hands rather than letting the tap keep running unnecessarily.