Fun in the sun

YOUR LOCAL MAGAZINE FROM WELLINGBOROUGH HOMES

AUTUMN 2012

Record numbers of families enjoyed

a fabulous time at our annual fun day Handyperson Servicepage 6

A fresh new look

page 3

Add us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ wellingboroughhomesFollow us on Twitter: @wellingboroughhomes

Fresh New Look 03

Keep Up to Date 03

Fun in the Sun 04

Home Sweet Home 06

Handyperson Service 06

Meet Julie 07

Benefits Shake Up 08

FAQs 09

Inside this Issue

Page 2 | Well Informed | Autumn 2012 Page 3

Fresh new look for staffMembers of our customer services and supported living teams have colourful new uniforms after we decided to refresh their look.

We wanted to update the style and colour of their outfits, as the style of their previous navy blue uniforms was five years old.

In consultation with tenants and staff, we came up with a number of styles and colours for them to choose from – and the resulting uniforms have had the thumbs-up from our teams.

Mo Baker, Head of Customer Support Services, said: “After five years, we thought it was time for a change, but we also needed to make sure the uniforms were practical and comfortable for staff as they go about their work.”

The new uniforms comprise black trousers or a skirt, a choice of teal, fuchsia or black top, a black jumper or cardigan, with optional tie or scarf.

Keep up to date onlineSee My Data has been created to give you 24-hour secure access to your housing information online.

You can use the service to view your rent or leaseholder account statement and any repairs you have reported.

How do I use the service?

To use See My Data you must be a Wellingborough Homes tenant or leaseholder and have access to the internet. The service is free but you will need to register to use it.

As security is paramount, you can only gain entry to the system if you enter all your log-in data correctly and you will only be able to see information relating to your own tenancy/leaseholder account.

How do I register?

Simply click on the “See My Data” link on our website, under the “Rents and Benefits” section, and follow the on-screen instructions for registering online. You will be required to submit the following details:

• Payment reference number • Name and address • Date of birth • Favourite word

Once this information has been verified by Wellingborough Homes we will forward your log-in details by post or email, depending on which you have specified.

We’d like to know your views

on the 2012 Annual Report...

You will have received a feedback

form with this newsletter for you

to fill in or alternatively go to

www.wellingboroughhomes.org

Will the Bedroom Tax affect you?From April 2013, the Government will introduce changes to housing benefit, commonly known as the bedroom tax. From this date, families of working age who under-occupy their property will have their housing benefit cut by 14% for one spare bedroom and 25% for two or more spare bedrooms. Please check the rules below to see if these changes will affect you. Please note that you may have your housing benefit cut even if you use and believe you need the bedrooms in your home!

The rules that will apply to housing benefit are:

• One bedroom for the tenant and their partner

• One bedroom for anyone aged 16 or over (such as a grown up child) or a couple over 16

• Anyone under 16 is expected to share a bedroom with someone of the same gender

• Anyone under 10 is expected to share a bedroom with someone else under 10, regardless of gender

• Foster children do not count as part of the household for benefit purposes

• Where there is shared custody of a child, where the child lives will be based on whoever receives the child benefit.

• One spare room is allowed for a disabled tenant or partner who needs a non-resident overnight carer

• Under occupation rules do not apply to people of state retirement age.

How much will I lose?

The amount you may lose will depend on your rent, for instance if your rent is £85 per week the cut in housing benefit could be either £11.90 if you have one spare bedroom or £21.25 per week if you have two or more spare bedrooms.

If you have any worries about the bedroom tax, or think you might be affected, please contact us immediately on (01933) 234450 or visit the FISH shop at 2A Cambridge Street or call (01933) 278248 for advice on the options available to you.

Need a garage?

Garages available HERE...

from Wellingborough Homes

from as little as

£7 a week

Call us today on

01933 234450

“Each year our fun day attracts more and more people, so we look forward to an even bigger and better, action-packed event next year.”

Page 4 | Well Informed | Autumn 2012 Page 5

Record numbers of families enjoyed a fabulous day of music, dance and other entertainment at our annual fun day this autumn.Over 1,000 people – including Wellingborough Mayor Councillor Ken Harrington – turned out for the event, now in its fifth year, outside our Thompson Court offices on 15th September.

In keeping with the day’s theme – “One World” – we had a diverse range of cultural entertainment on offer, including food from around the globe.

The line-up included music from local reggae band Skalanders, a tea dance and displays of traditional Indian, Afghan and belly dancing.

There were also circus skills and balloon making demonstrations by the “Stilt Man”, face painting, henna hand painting and games such as Splat the Rat and Giant Jenga.

A wide array of food was served up in the Tithe Barn, including cream teas, Caribbean dishes, Indian delicacies and a hog roast.

Visitors also got the chance to learn more about Wellingborough Homes and our partners with stalls offering information and advice on a range of subjects from housing to training, community support to money management.

Dave Willis, Chief Executive of Wellingborough Homes, said: “Everyone had a fabulous time and thoroughly enjoyed the wonderfully diverse choice of activities on offer, which aimed to reflect the cultural mix of Wellingborough.”

“It was a lovely, sunny day and crowds of people flocked to enjoy themselves. Our annual fun day is a great opportunity for us to meet local people, as well as raising awareness of our work and community services.

“Each year our fun day attracts more and more people, so we look forward to an even bigger and better, action-packed event next year.”

Record crowds enjoy fun in the sun

Page 6 | Well Informed | Autumn 2012 Page 7

Meet Julie...Julie Flinn has recently joined Wellingborough Homes as our new Neighbourhood Manager. Here, she tells us a little about herself.

What is your background? I’m originally from Teesside and have worked in housing management for 12 years with various housing associations and local authorities in the North East. For the last year, I have worked for a training company, sharing my knowledge and experience to help people gain housing qualifications.

What does your new role involve? I manage a large team of neighbourhood staff and our main work involves managing rent arrears, letting empty properties and dealing with customer issues.

How have you settled in? It is very busy so my feet haven’t touched the ground, but I love it. I am enjoying the work and my colleagues are a really friendly bunch – they have been wonderful. I also went out on the estates during my first two weeks so tenants could get to know me as well.

What are your aims? We need to make sure we are working consistently and providing the best customer service we can, while improving performance – such as bringing down rent arrears.

What do you do in your spare time? I love hula hooping! I’ve been going to classes for a year – it is a great way to keep fit and have fun.

HOME SWEET HOMETenants wanting to move house should find it easier thanks to our new home swapping scheme.We have teamed up with HomeSwapper, the UK’s leading house exchange provider, so you have free access to this national mutual exchange service.

There are three simple steps:

1 Go to www.homeswapper.co.uk

2 Log on and register

3 Say what type of home you are looking for

Then HomeSwapper does the rest, matching your application to those who are looking for swaps.

The service also includes e-mails sent to each registered applicant

every Tuesday and Thursday and text messages every two weeks.

Since launching the scheme at the end of August, there have been 128 applications which are all live on our system and ready to swap.

We have had 33 tenants complete a mutual exchange of their homes in the last 12 months.

Daniel Newton, from Kingsway, and Stacey McGinley, from Hemmingwell, swapped their three-bedroom houses recently, after getting permission from ourselves.

Daniel said: “We both wanted to move house to be nearer our families and it has worked really well.

“We are both really happy with the move and the whole process was pretty quick – it was sorted out within about six weeks.”

The happiest time of the year?Most of us try our best to forget money worries in the run–up to Christmas but overspending causes severe debt problems. We spend up to our limit on credit and store cards, take out overdrafts or fall prey to the payday loans companies with sky-high interest rates.

And one of the main reasons it happens is because people won’t talk to their families about money.

How many parents sit down and talk to their children about how much life actually costs? Most parents try to shield their children from their money worries. And this reaches its peak in the weeks before Christmas.

So if you really want to avoid overspending this Christmas, try this before you do anything else:

• Sit down with a cup of tea and work out how much you need to spend each month on day to day living - things like your rent or mortgage, regular bills like heating and light, food, council tax, the cost of getting to work, insurances and loan repayments.

• Take all of that expenditure away from your monthly income, to see how much you have left at the end of the month for non-essentials.

• Then add up all the non-essential things you already spend money on each month such as social outings, subscriptions, downloads, takeaways... Now see what you actually have left at the end of the month.

• Then call a family Christmas council, so you can all decide together how much you can afford, where you can save money, and what presents people would really like to have.

• See if together you can think of different ways of affording things:

- a Christmas present could be a promise of a treat that you can save up for;

- if a teenager wants a new phone, perhaps you’ll agree to pay half the monthly payment if (and when) they get a Saturday job to pay the rest;

- parents and grandparents could join budgets together to buy something the children want;

- be creative – make vouchers for things the children will appreciate, like an extra hour on their bedtime or an increase in their pocket money;

- think about things that family members will need later in the year - new summer sports kit, for instance.

This way everyone - parents, children, grandparents - can agree just how much you are going to spend on Christmas. And if you’ve all agreed, there’s a better chance you’ll stick to it.

Every family is different and the answers to keeping Christmas spending under control will be different too. But being open with your family, writing down the budget and working out a plan together is one way of promising yourselves the best present of all - a debt-free New Year.

If you are struggling with your debts, contact a free, independent debt advice charity such as Debt Advice Foundation. Their helpline is 0800 043 40 50, or you can go to www.debtadvicefoundation.org

Handy service to help tenantsTenants over the age of 50 can now get help with DIY jobs around their home thanks to our new handyperson service.

If you struggle with jobs such as hanging curtains or pictures, decorating, putting up shelves or assembling flat-pack furniture, our team can help.

We have joined forces with two other organisations to deliver the service – Serve, which offers support to older residents, and Care and Repair, based at Spire Homes, which provides help to disabled and older people in the area.

Louise Allen, our Support Services Development Manager, said: “The service has only just been launched but a number of people have already taken advantage of it.

“It aims to help tenants who need small DIY jobs doing but who cannot do them themselves, perhaps because they are frail or disabled.

“Instead of having to find someone to do the work, which may be quite expensive, you can just phone us and we will sort it out for you. The service makes such jobs affordable and also gives you the peace of mind that you will be using reputable, reliable and trustworthy tradespeople.”

John and Ann Williams were among the first tenants to benefit from our new Handyperson Service.

John, aged 72, said: “The walls and ceiling in our kitchen and hallway needed re-painting but, because I suffer from arthritis, I just can’t do that sort of thing now.

“We heard about this service and I got in touch with Wellingborough Homes, who got it all sorted for us.

“The chap who came to do the work was prompt, polite and friendly. It took him four hours to do – which was what was quoted for – and he did a brilliant job of it. I’m really pleased and would definitely recommend the service to others.”

To find out more, call our Customer Service Centre on 01933 234450.

Page 8 | Well Informed | Autumn 2012

Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat happens if I wish to terminate my tenancy and I still have arrears?

We require four weeks’ notice and the completion of a Notice to Quit form should you wish to terminate your tenancy. The notice runs from a Monday to Sunday and you are required to give four full weeks’ notice.

On receiving the form, your Tenancy Support Officer will contact you to arrange a time to make a visit to your property to discuss the termination of your tenancy.

During this discussion a number of areas will be covered, including the reason for termination, your forwarding address, to discuss any arrears you may have on your account and to check that your home is in good repair.

Any arrears will need to be paid in addition to the rent for the four-week notice period. Your Tenancy Support Officer will make a signed agreement with you for payments that you can reasonably afford towards these arrears. This agreement will need to be continued when the tenancy ends and you vacate the property.

When the four-week notice period ends and the tenancy expires, the agreement will then be monitored by our Former Tenant Arrears Officer who will ensure the payments you make are of the agreed amount and frequency. They will send you a letter when you have successfully cleared the arrears.

If the agreement is not continued and payments are missed or not made at all, the Former Tenant Arrears Officer will try to contact you to discuss the missed payment(s). If contact cannot be made or payments continue to be missed, we may pass your account to a debt collection agency to recover the arrears on our behalf, which could have a negative effect on your credit rating.

In addition, it is important to note that leaving arrears on your former tenancy will affect your ability to find social housing in the future.

Obviously, any action mentioned above is considered a last resort and we will make every effort to give you the opportunity to clear any arrears owed.

If you would like this magazine translated please contact us on 01933 234450 or call into the offices. Copies can also be made available in large print, Braille or on audio CD on request.

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Opening hours Monday 8.30am to 5pm Tuesday 8.30am to 5pm Wednesday 8.30am to 5pm Thursday 10am to 5pm Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm

Wellingborough Homes, Thompson Court, 9f Silver Street, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire NN8 1BQ

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Christmas opening hours December 24th closed at 3.30pm December 25th to 27th closed December 31st closed 3.30pm January 1st closed