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Office closing times over Christmas and New Year
Newlon’s offices will close at 1pm on 24th December and re-open on Friday 2nd January.
If you need to contact us in an emergency you should phone 020 7613 8080, where a recorded message will direct you to the contractor providing emergency cover. Please note that we will not be able to reply to any text messages or emails over the holiday closure period, so if you do have an emergency please call 020 7613 8080.
What’s inside...
Residents’ Forum update
Changing the way we work from April 2015
Have your say for your chance to win £25!
Follow us on Twitter at @NewlonHT
Home Owners’ Newsletter Winter 2014
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Here is an overview of what was discussed at the most recent Forum:
l The Forum’s suggestion to pilot a system to let residents know their estimated waiting time when they are calling the Service Centre was agreed.
l Newlon’s employers’ requirements were outlined. These set out the standards of workmanship that contractors and partners on new developments must adhere to.
l There was a performance update which showed an improvement in many areas. Call answering had improved significantly, and targets relating to Anti-Social Behaviour are being met.
l The impact of welfare reforms on our residents have not been as great as expected. However, it was noted that the Government’s aim to encourage people to downsize has mainly been unsuccessful. Even when people want to downsize there are not enough suitable homes for them to downsize to.
l The changes to the Housing department were outlined. These will replace the generic housing officer role and introduce specialist teams. The new structure will be in place from April 2015. See page 5 for more information.
l Proposals for reviewing Newlon’s resident involvement strategy were discussed. These included ideas such as an annual informal event to give views about services and meet other residents; opportunities to shadow staff to better understand Newlon’s work; and being asked for feedback by contractors after a repair job.
Have your say about resident involvement and you could win one of twenty £25 gift vouchers!Why not spend a few minutes letting us know what you think about the ways you can get involved in how Newlon is run and you could kick off the New Year with a £25 Gift Voucher for a shop of your choice!
Between now and the end of January you can take part in our short survey on resident involvement and anyone who responds will be entered into our prize draw. There will be twenty prizes of £25.
It’s quick and easy to take part:The survey only takes a few minutes and you can choose the most convenient way to complete it.
You can do it online at www.newlon.org.uk/involvement.
You can do it over the phone by calling Judith Perry on 020 7613 6892.
You can complete it by email – by emailing [email protected] and asking for a copy of the survey.
We can even send it to you in the post along with a reply paid envelope – call Judith on 020 7613 6892 , email her, or write to Judith Perry, Resident Involvement Officer, Newlon House, 4 Daneland Walk, London, N17 9FE, to ask for a paper copy of the survey.
What is resident involvement? There are lots of ways you can get involved in how Newlon is run and the way we provide services to residents. These include:
l Being a member of our Residents’ Forum.
l Joining a Scrutiny Panel.
l Joining our Residents’ Services Committee.
l Becoming an estate inspector.
l Taking part in surveys about our services.
l Writing for newsletters.
l Focus groups.
l Mystery shopping.
l Taking part in community fun days and events.
l Involvement with our community regeneration partner, Newlon Fusion.
By taking part in the survey you can let us know which of these things are the most important to you, what you think of the ways you can get involved and whether we can help you get more involved if you have work, travel or childcare commitments.
Get involved with the Residents’ Forum.Our Residents’ Forum is one of the most important ways you can get involved with Newlon. The Forum is looking for new members who can bring enthusiasm and commitment. You will be consulted about how Newlon can improve its services, and represent residents at the highest level. In addition access to training is provided. Find out more by contacting Judith Perry – [email protected] or 020 7613 6892.
Residents’ ForumMartin Hughes, Chair writes:
Call answering has improved significantly, and targets relating to Anti-Social Behaviour are being met.
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It was exciting to meet so many of our residents at the Newlon in the community event we held at the Round Chapel in Hackney on 30th October. Around 70 people enjoyed the day and were able to meet with Newlon staff to talk about housing matters and resident involvement opportunities.
Newlon Fusion promoted employment, volunteering and training projects, and were busy signing up residents. Those who signed up were invited to our Hale Village offices for an in-depth one-to-one appointment.
Newlon Fusion also promoted their new Energy Saving smartphone app, which provides advice to help you reduce your energy consumption and cut your bills.
This annual event aims to strengthen local community spirit and we hope to meet even more of you at next year’s event and at the community days we will be holding in other boroughs soon.
Great turn-out for Hackney community day!
Meet the Building Services Team
The last of the teams we are profiling is the Building Services Team led by Stefan St Hilaire-Brown. The team’s other members include Mark Atkins, Homaune Islam, Rhodd Reeves and Sylvester Joseph.
The team is responsible for managing most service contracts related to looking after the communal parts of our buildings. This includes lifts, fire alarms, door entry systems and water services. The team are also responsible for ensuring any works satisfy minimum standards.
Their remit covers resident safety issues. In the case of gas and fire safety they check that residents’ homes and shared areas conform to related regulations and facilities are in good working order. They also manage water safety – overseeing the testing of the quality of water being delivered to residents’ properties if it goes via a central pump or tank system, to ensure it poses no health risks.
In the Spring newsletter we introduced our new Property Services Department and in each issue since we have let you know more about the teams within it.
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Communal cleaning review
Some of you completed surveys in the summer, whilst others attended the cleaning consultation meeting held in November.
We reported on the survey results in the last Newlon News. Below is a snapshot of the items that were discussed during the consultation meeting. We will use your feedback to drive improvements.
Communicationl Many residents are too busy to read the cleaning
specifications on noticeboards. These should be made available on the internet and a summary put on the communal noticeboards in the hallways.
l There should be a website residents can use to report cleaning issues.
l There should be an anonymous online form to report people who dump rubbish.
l Residents should be informed when deep cleaning is to take place.
l More information should be available on the explanations for the grading of a block or scheme following an estate inspection.
Enforcementl There should be tougher enforcement against residents
who dump rubbish.
l Residents should be informed when we take action against perpetrators.
Cleaning contractorsl Contact details for contractors should be made available so
residents can get in touch directly.
l Contractor employment opportunities should be advertised.
The communal cleaning review has reached phase two. So far the review has helped us to check the level of service provided and with re-tendering our contracts.
We are setting up a new Estate Services Team in April 2015 which will develop strategies based on the results of this review. The full review will be completed by the end of 2015, and we will be report on this in due course.
Sometimes we like to email or text you with updates on services, or to let you know about things like communal works that affect you. With nearly 8,000 homes and 25,000 residents these are often the best ways for us to contact you.
As well as Newlon Housing Trust, the Newlon Group includes Newlon Fusion, our community regeneration charity and Outward, our care and support partner. Both Newlon Fusion and Outward provide services for Newlon residents and there may be occasions when they would like to email or text you.
Newlon Fusion work to help our residents find employment, support them to be digitally skilled, help people to live sustainable lifestyles, and run a range of community events and community centres. We provide updates on the activities they run in each newsletter.
Outward provide care and support for people who need additional help in their lives. They also sometimes offer work, volunteering or apprenticeship opportunities to residents.
If you would like to opt out of receiving emails or texts from Newlon Fusion or Outward you should email [email protected]. Please let us know whether you would like to opt out from emails, texts or both and whether you would like to opt out from being contacted by Newlon Fusion, Outward or both. Alternatively write to Kal Webb, Newlon Data Protection, Newlon House, 4 Daneland Walk, London, N17 9FE.
If you have already completed our recent survey on this subject there is no need to contact to us again. Please allow two weeks from contacting us for our records to be updated.
We are committed to keeping any personal information you provide us safe and secure in accordance with the Data Protection Act. We will only share information across the Newlon Group if you have not opted out of being contacted by Newlon Fusion or Outward.
Data Protectionand using your information
We would like to thank our residents who took part in the communal cleaning review.
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Up until now we have had a traditional model of housing management with Housing Management Officers responsible for looking after patches of homes and managing a wide range of housing and tenancy issues. This could include dealing with transfer requests, chasing up repairs or investigating Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB).
Over time this approach has become less practical and it has become clear that in some areas we needed specialist teams to deal with enquiries. For example, two years ago we introduced a specialist ASB team and satisfaction with the way we manage ASB has improved significantly.
Some jobs such as re-letting homes that become empty are managed across teams. This has made the process for ending tenancies, ensuring homes are ready for new occupants and re-letting them more complex than it should be. Last year we introduced a specialist Lettings team to oversee this process and now we are letting and re-letting homes more quickly.
Where we have introduced specialist teams, performance and residents’ satisfaction has increased, we are therefore moving from having Housing Management Officers to specialist teams for all services we provide.
How will this affect me?The main difference is that you won’t be able to contact an individual Housing Management Officer as that role will no longer exist.
If you need to contact us, you can call, email or report an issue online and your request will be handled at the first point of contact by our Service Centre team or passed to a member of a specialist team. We are increasing the numbers of staff in our Service Centre and providing an extensive programme of training so that they are skilled to deal with all enquiries and will have the time and knowledge to ensure they are handled in the most effective way.
You will always be able to speak to a person if you want to and it will still be possible to arrange appointments to come to our offices.
The majority of services will be covered by our 2-ten service standard - we will always provide an initial response to your request within two working days and respond to it fully within ten. Exceptions will only be where there is an enhanced standard for a service, or if complex works such as major repairs are required.
When are the changes starting?The new way of working will be launched in April 2015 and we will write to all residents in March to update and let you know any changes in how to contact us. Our main contact number will continue to be 020 7613 8080, but there may be changes to email addresses. There will also be information on our website www.newlon.org.uk and in the Spring Newsletter.
What are the new teams and what will they do?Service CentreOur Service Centre will be your first point of contact for a wide range of housing and repair related customer service requests, including mutual exchange and transfer requests. The Service Centre will also deliver our approach for looking after vulnerable residents. Our recently created Service Resolution team which deals with complaints is based in the Service Centre.
LettingsOur Lettings team will be responsible for ensuring the quick occupancy of new and empty homes and managing everything to do with beginning and ending tenancies.
EnforcementThe Enforcement team will lead on dealing with ASB and will also deliver an additional range of administrative and legal solutions to deal with breaches or potential breaches of tenancy. This will include proactive work to detect and prevent tenancy fraud.
Quality Our Quality Team will oversee policy, procedure and standards, and approve any changes to working practices. They will ensure our processes are followed and standards met by carrying out regular checks and reporting compliance. They will also oversee our resident involvement programme.
Estate ManagementThis team will be responsible for ensuring the quality of the environment on our estates, and managing estate inspections, contracts for estate services, the concierge service and setting service charge budgets.
They will be supported by an increased role for the concierge service, which will have the capacity to cover all of our homes, providing a swift response to residents’ reports about local issues. The service will be able to cover evenings and weekends and will carry out inspections and patrols for areas where we have street properties as well as estates.
Income and Short-Term Intermediate Rent (STIR)The role of the Income team who work on all aspects of rent payments and collections and the STIR team, who manage our specialist Key Worker accommodation, will remain unchanged.
New teams to improveservices from April 2015We aim to provide our residents with high quality affordable homes and an excellent level of service at all times. As we have grown and the types of housing we provide have become more varied and complex it has become clear we need to change the way we work to meet these aims.
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Dates for your diaryActivities at the John Scurr Community Centre
Activities at the Barnsbury Community Centre
What? When?
Lunch Club Wednesdays & Fridays, 12pm-2pm
Women’s exercise sessions
Wednesdays & Fridays, 9.30am-10.30am
Rainbow Hamlets - drop in advice service for LGBT community
Wednesdays, 6pm-8pm
Karate classes Saturdays, 1.30pm-2.30pm
Women’s ICT drop-In sessions
Fridays, 10am-12pm
Yoga classes Mondays, 6.30pm-7.30pm & Thursdays, 6.15pm-7.15pm
Community Believe – helping adults with learning difficulties
Mondays & Tuesdays, 10am-2pm
KalKaal Somali Homework Club
Saturdays, 10am-1pm
Parents and toddlers group
Tuesdays, 10.30am-12pm
Women’s Computer Club with ASDAN Entry Level 1
Thursday, 29th January 2015, 10am-1pm
What? When?
Tiddley Tots Nursery Weekdays, 9am-6pm
Premier Results health & fitness classes
Mondays, Tuesdays & Thursdays 10am-11am, and Thursdays & Fridays 5pm-6pm
Barnsbury Youth Forum
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 7pm-9pm
Health and Fitness Forum
First Wednesday of the month, 10am-11am
Volunteers’ Roundtable
Wednesdays, 10am-3pm
Lunch Club Thursdays, 12pm-1pm
Crochet, arts and crafts
Thursdays, 2pm-4pm
Jumu’ah prayers Fridays, 1pm-2pm
Yoga classes Mondays & Wednesdays, 1pm-2pm
Starting in January: Women’s Computer ClubThis is a female-led, friendly and informal club for women with little or no IT experience, which aims to teach basic computer skills and build confidence. It also offers the option of training to get an ASDAN ‘Focus’ qualification.
It starts Thursday, 29th Jan 2015, 10am, at John Scurr Community Centre.
For more information please call 020 7790 3113 or email Jane at [email protected] or Zakia at [email protected].
Train in work in adult social careBarnsbury Community Centre is holding free accredited training: a BTEC Level 1 Award in Preparing to Work in Adult Social Care. This qualification is ideal for people looking to go into health care work who have little or no background in the sector, to help gain entry level positions.
To join you must be over 18, unemployed and claiming benefits. You also need English and Maths at Entry Level 3, reviewed on the assessment day.
Assessment day: 21st January 2015 at 2pm.
Course Dates: 3rd - 20th February 2015.
Course duration: 9 Days.
To find out more call 020 7833 2525 or email [email protected].
What’s on at the Engine Room?The Engine Room in Hale Village, 109 -110 Vickers Court, N17 9FT, has plenty of events going on, including:
l Art club on Mondays.
l Messy play for under fives on Tuesdays.
l English language classes for speakers of other languages (ESOL).
l Pop-up café.
To find out about times and other events call 020 8808 5490.
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Our performance
Stock Condition SurveysIt is vital we have up to date information about our homes and so each year we survey a proportion (around a fifth) of our housing stock. We assess the condition of our properties to decide what and when future repair and improvement works may be needed.
Our surveys are used as the basis for developing future maintenance programmes. This ensures we concentrate resources on the right improvements at the right time.
This graph shows our current progress towards our target of completing 1,200 surveys in the 2014-15 financial year. We are making steady progress, with over 500 surveys having being completed between the start of April to the end of October.
Stock improvement programmeWe use the results of our surveys to make a decision about the works required to our properties. As well as ensuring they meet the Decent Homes Standard we also seek to improve the energy efficiency of our homes, to make them more environmentally friendly and affordable to heat.
When we identify the need to carry out works to a property, such as fitting new kitchens, residents are contacted to discuss timeframes and choices.
This graph outlines the number of homes we have improved under the stock improvement programme each month. Close to 200 were completed by the end of October, so we are well on the way to hit our target of 250 before next April.
Cyclical worksWe carry out external decoration and repair works to our properties on a rolling programme. Examples can include painting and repairs to exterior windows and doors, roofing works and the decoration of communal areas such as stairways and corridors.
All of our homes should have work done every five to seven years, depending on their condition. Residents are contacted to advise them of the works we plan to carry out to their homes.
This graph shows how many homes have been improved under the cyclical programme each month so far this financial year. With 549 successfully completed, we are on course to meet our target of 749 by April 2015.
Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
200
0
400
600
800
1000
1200
Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
50
0
100
150
200
250
Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0
Stock Improvement and Cyclical WorksWe are committed to ensuring our homes are in good condition and as a minimum we ensure they meet the government’s Decent Homes Standard. We are now working to bring our homes to an even higher level.
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Kids’ corner!
Newlon House, 4 Daneland Walk, Hale Village, London, N17 9FE Telephone: 020 7613 8080
Email (general enquiries): [email protected] Email (repairs): [email protected]
www.newlon.org.uk
Newlon Housing Trust is a charitable Housing Association
If you would like to visit our offices and need assistance with access please call us on 020 7613 8080.If you have difficulty reading this newsletter or require a different format please contact us on 020 7613 8091.
Below are 10 words which are all to do with Christmas, but the letters are not in the right order. See if you can unscramble them!
Write for your newsletter!This is your newsletter – so why not write for it? We are looking for ideas and articles from residents of all ages. If we publish your article we will send you £20 in vouchers of your choice! All you need to do is send your article to Kieran Hurley, Newlon House, 4 Daneland Walk, Hale Village, London, N17 9FE or e-mail it to [email protected]. Don’t forget to include your name, address and telephone number so we can get in touch with you. To make your article even more interesting why not send us a picture as well?
Please email your answers to [email protected], with the words Kids’ Quiz in the title, along with your name, age and address. Or you can post them to Newlon News Kids Quiz, Newlon House, Hale Village, London, N17 9FE. You can enter the quiz if you are aged 12 or under. Answers must be received by Friday, 30th January 2015.
All correct entries will go into a draw, and two lucky winners will get a £15 gift card or equivalent in vouchers for a high street or online store of your choice.
Winner!Congratulations to Shuab from Islington, who won the Boxtrolls quiz in the last newsletter and is the lucky winner of a £15 gift card.
1) SNATA CULAS
2) RNEEEDIR
3) SOWN
4) SEGLIH
5) TERE
6) EEVLS
7) TRKEUY
8) CIHOR
9) PNDUDIG
10) GTORTO
