Housing newsletter - December 2023
Welcome to the December Better Homes, Better Lives newsletter
In this edition, you can find out about the new Tenant Satisfaction Measures that we use to show how well we are performing as a landlord and where we can improve. We look at how to avoid burst pipes in the cold weather and some of the cost of living help available at this time of year. Finally we look at some of the community projects that residents have been involved in and how you can enter our holiday hamper competition.
Remember, information about Wiltshire Council's cost-of-living support, including energy cost advice, housing advice and financial support, can be found at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/cost-of-living and these pages will be updated regularly.
Win a holiday prize hamper donated by Tesco in our monthly prize draw!
This month our newsletter readers have a chance to win one of two hampers sponsored by Tesco. With a festive theme these hampers are full of surprises! For your chance to win simply email us with your name and address before the closing date of Friday 8 December and you will be entered into the draw. Your entry email must include your name and address for it to be valid and go into the draw. Please do not simply send a blank email.
Better Homes
Keeping you informed with the new Tenant Satisfaction Measures
From April 2023, Wiltshire Council Housing is required to collect data on a new set of tenant satisfaction measures (TSMs) as prescribed by the Regulator of Social Housing. This is intended to assess how well we are doing at providing good quality homes and services.
This is done by setting providers a series of measures by which they are judged. Some of these are perception based, and we ask you to help us gather this information by means of a survey. This includes looking at satisfaction with repairs, satisfaction that the landlord listens to your views and acts upon them and satisfaction with the landlord's approach to handling anti-social behaviour.
Others are more focused around performance, and we gather these through our records and data collection, such as fire safety and reports of anti-social behaviour. This summer we sent out a survey to half of our residents. This was similar to the STAR survey we have sent out previously. However, this year we adapted it slightly to capture the new information and perceptions that the Regulator of Social Housing has directed us to.
We received a good number of responses, which will allow us to identify areas for improvement - which will mean a better service for all of our residents. As we continue to carry out these surveys on a yearly basis, the TSMs will be fed back to the Regulator of Social Housing. If you did not receive a survey this time then keep an eye out next July for yours.
You can read the full TSM report on our website - TSM STAR full report by ARP research 2023 (PDF, 2 MB)(opens new window).
Thank you to everybody who responded to the survey and helped us with this work.
Beware frozen pipes this winter
Last winter, we had a number of cases of pipes freezing, bursting and flooding in Wiltshire Council Housing properties while the tenants of the properties were away.
This winter many of you may be going on holiday or spending time with friends and family and leaving your home empty. It is important to take precautions to avoid frost damage to your property such as frozen pipes which can lead to them bursting and flooding your home.
Before you leave always turn off your water at the main stop tap or sure stop switch. Should a pipe freeze then the flow of water will be greatly reduced. Leave your heating on low or, if it has it, on a frost setting, to keep the property warm and protected.
If the worst should happen and your property was to be flooded because these precautions had not been taken, you will need to have home contents insurance to protect your possessions as the council will not be liable for any costs for damages.
Please contact your Neighbourhood Officer if you have any questions or would like more information about home insurance.
Shower heads
When attending repairs calls for electric showers, our contractors have reported that some tenants are replacing the heads with the beaded colour ones from online stores. Some of these shower heads have caused the shower to develop a fault, resulting in a whole shower replacement.
The shower installed by Wiltshire Council in your property should only be used with the approved hose and shower head. Failure to do so could cause damage to the unit and invalidates the warranty. In these cases there could be a charge to you for the costs of repairing any damage or replacing the shower.
If a shower head or hose does become faulty, please contact the councils Housing Repairs team as soon as possible for a repair to be carried out.
Better Neighbourhoods
New bungalow lands in Durrington
Wiltshire Council is constructing a brand new two-bedroom accessible bungalow in Durrington. This is the very first of our Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) homes. These buildings are factory made in Dorset, supporting regional jobs, reducing waste and cutting transport costs. Wiltshire Council is adopting this growing technology to deliver around 100 new homes across the county. Factory construction means these homes are quality checked, highly insulated and draught free. With air source heat pumps, smart controls and solar panels the properties are zero carbon in use. The units are bolted together and can be configured as bungalows, flats, or houses to suit everyone's needs. Best of all, residents can move in soon - as the property arrives decorated and fitted out with a spacious kitchen and bathroom. With their brick slips, render and roof tiles it is hard to tell our MMC homes from traditional builds.
Wiltshire Council Project Manager Michael Kalvis says It has been really rewarding to see this modular building arrive on site. The crane operator and team from Rollalong were experts at manoeuvring the units precisely into place. This bungalow will be ready for occupation in a fraction of the time that it would take in a conventionally built home. The quality of the building is really impressive - inspectors from the National House Building Council have monitored every step of the process. I'm looking forward to rolling out this technology to more sites across the county!
You said, we did! - Repairs advice at Evergreen Court
You said - residents asked for more information about how to report repairs. The Resident Engagement Team invited the Housing Repairs Team to join them at a community meeting.
We did - 16 residents joined us at the meeting. Cerys and Michelle from the council's Housing Repairs Team talked about the repairs in general and how to contact the team by phone and iHousing and how to report out of hours emergencies. They then held a little quiz with some common repairs questions and the priority for repairs. At the end of the session Cerys and Michelle stayed on to speak to residents who have outstanding issues and were taking open requests from residents for repairs.
Upcoming estate inspections in December
15 December - Bemerton Heath, Salisbury
The inspection will start at the entrance of Pinewood Way at 10am and move on to Pinewood Close.
Neighbourhood Reviews - the future of estate inspections
In 2024 we will be rebranding estate inspections into Neighbourhood Reviews. We will conduct one review per month, and we will publicise the locations on our website and on our Facebook page.
We will carry out reviews to:
- allow us to monitor the appearance and upkeep of our neighbourhoods
- give residents and staff the opportunity to work together to make your neighbourhood a better place to live
- give you the opportunity to let us know about issues affecting you and your neighbourhood
- give you a greater opportunity to make a real difference to your estate
If you would like to join a neighbourhood review please contact your Resident Engagement Officer or just turn up! Dates and locations will be found on the Resident involvement web page. We are keen to listen and act upon local knowledge and would be delighted to meet you.
All issues identified will be recorded on a Review Tracker and publicised on our website, this will be updated regularly so that residents can gauge progress. Together we can make a difference.
For more information about how we can support you in holding events and setting up new groups and activities in your area, please contact the team at Tenantparticipation@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window).
Better lives
Families take part in the Edible Ebble project
Families from Bemerton Heath, Salisbury have been taking part in the Edible Ebble Project brought to us by the Chase and Chalke landscape partnership project. With transport provided the group, including Resident Engagement Officer Kate and Salisbury City Council's Jane, set off for the Chalke Valley to meet local artist Cherry. Cherry took the group on a walk to forage for edible plants and berries to be used in the days cooking. After a quick stop at the community shop for some further ingredients they headed for the local village hall where Cherry's Mum had prepared tea and hot chocolate for all. Using foraged ingredients, the group prepared a three-course lunch including a delicious stew, nettle soup, homemade bread and an apple cake. "This has been truly inspiring!" said one of the Mums.
Wiltshire Council continues to provide support during cost-of-living crisis
Although energy prices have dropped slightly, and inflation has reduced, both remain much higher than in previous 'standard' years, and with interest rates continuing to be unpredictable, this will undoubtedly put financial pressure on people throughout the county.
Wiltshire Council has a range of support available to help make things a little easier and to provide support and advice to those who need it, including:
- Wiltshire libraries continuing as warm spaces
- Warm & Safe Wiltshire in place to help people live in warmer, safer and healthier homes
- an updated interactive guide to help people find key support
- Household Support Fund to directly financially support a range of programmes and initiatives
- a range of online support and sign-posting information on topics including council tax/benefits, energy advice and mental health support
- area boards continuing to look at way to support their local community projects
- a dedicated Wiltshire Wellbeing support line to provide advice and guidance
- the council's FUEL programme to continue this winter
Wiltshire Council also continues to work in partnership with a number of local organisations to distribute £5.4m in round four of the Household Support Fund from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The funding will be distributed through partner organisation and council departments and will run from April 2023 to 31 March 2024. The Household Support Fund is in place to support households that would otherwise struggle to buy food, pay essential utility bills or meet other essential living costs during the current cost-of-living challenges. The expectation is that the Fund should be used to support households in the most need; particularly those who may not be eligible for the other government support but who are nevertheless in need. The fund can support a wide range of low-income households, including families with children of all ages, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers, and disabled people who have had adaptations to their home and incur higher energy bills as a result.
Housing Management have so far been allocated £60,000 to help our Wiltshire Council Tenants who are in need of additional support. This has been spent so far on assisting with the cost of gas, electric, alternative fuel, water, food and wider essential linked to help keeping the home warm.
We have limited funds, so this is not guaranteed but if you feel you are in need, please contact us on 0300 456 0117 (Option 1).
We can also refer you to our dedicated Tenancy Sustainment Team who can look at your situation and see if we can maximise your income, and ensure you are getting all the benefits you are entitled to.
Some of our recent success stories include:
- A single parent; had been getting by, using an unsafe cooker with frayed wiring and an oven door that needed to be propped closed while cooking which was a fire hazard. She was in debt and experiencing financial hardship, she was relying on Universal Credit as her sole income and had no idea that help was available to her. She said she felt she had no choice but to use this to cooker to cook meals for herself and her daughter who needs a lot of care as she was unable to afford a new or second hand one to replace it. A new cooker was purchased through Household Support Fund enabling her to cook safely.
- We supported a Tenant who had a newborn baby and was on a limited income. Through the Household Support Fund, we were able to support her to address outstanding utility debts and stop upcoming enforcement action by the utility provider.
FUEL Programme back to provide festive fun and support
Wiltshire Council's Holiday Activity and Food programme, FUEL, is back for the Christmas holidays and families can now request places for children who are eligible for the programme. It follows a summer of success which saw more than 1,300 young people take part in the programme.
Our Holiday Activity and Food programme, FUEL (Food, Unity, Energy and Laughter) is funded by the Department for Education and provides children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals with free access to activity, food and nutritional education during school holidays.
Many of the same organisations we worked with to put on the summer programme will once again be supporting us to provide activities throughout Wiltshire during the Christmas school holiday.
For more information visit FUEL programme.