EE iving FR www.linstone.co.uk The Newsletter for Linstone Residents Winter 2014 Visit our website Our website now has more content than ever and is easier to access! Would you like to: • Report a repair • Make a payment • Search for a property • Apply for housing • Get in touch You can now do this, and more, on our recently refreshed website which is even easier to use. Use our request a repair module to request any non-emergency repairs, use the make a payment section to make online payments 24/7, view a selection of available properties in our new property module and apply for housing by submitting an online request. Our website has also been resized for mobile content, includes more publications and video content and links directly with our twitter account. It is also quick and easy to register to receive our newsletters, which enables us to communicate more effectively with you. Gary Dalziel, Director of Finance and Corporate services said: “We are delighted with the work carried out over the summer to refresh what we believe was already was one of the best websites of any housing association. We are sure that this will increase our website use and provide a high quality and interesting site full of content”. See our updated website at www.linstone.co.uk Follow us on Twitter @LinstoneHousing Coming soon: Add us on Facebook Linstone Housing Peace of mind this Christmas - don’t forget to pay your rent! The festive season is upon us with pressure on the family budget growing. We remind you not to lose sight of the importance of paying your rent. We understand the difficulties our tenants face over the Christmas period with pressure to buy expensive presents, putting extra strain on finances. While it may be tempting to overspend, this may lead to additional stress in the New Year when presents bought on expensive credit deals have to be paid for and essential bills land on the door mat. Paying your rent can sometimes fall off your “to do” list with gifts, decorations and Christmas dinner to think about, which is why we are giving a gentle reminder. Stay up to date with your rent, and enjoy the festive season. Paying your rent must be your priority – if you don’t pay you could lose your home. There are lots of easy ways to pay – online, over the telephone, Direct Debit, PayPoint or at the Post Office. We have a wide range of support available and are more than happy to help. Please get in touch with the Income Team if you are experiencing any difficulties with paying your rent, telephone 01505 384120, email incometeam@linstone.co.uk, or request a call back by texting CALLINC to 07779 172172. Opening hours over the holiday period Friday 19th 9.00am – 12.30pm th Wednesday 24 9.00am - 1.30pm Thursday 25th CLOSED th Friday 26 CLOSED Monday 29th CLOSED th Tuesday 30 9.00am – 4.30pm Wednesday 31st 9.00am – 1.30pm st Thursday 1 CLOSED Friday 2ndCLOSED Monday 5th CLOSED The office will re-open Tuesday 6th January 9.00am – 4.30pm Emergency repairs contact numbers To be used in event of an emergency only – you will be charged if a contractor is called out to a nonemergency repair. You will be advised by the call centre if it is considered an emergency or not. Gas central heating or hot water James Frew 01294 468113 General repairs MITIE 0845 600 8624 Gas leak or escape Transco 0800 111 999 In event of a non-emergency repair, visit our website and request a repair. Our staff will process your request upon returning to the office. Making a difference Our major refurbishment programme is approaching completion at Brown Street, Paisley. The £1.2 million regeneration project has brought 16 empty tenement flats back into use, helping to breathe a new life into the west end of Paisley. The two blocks of traditional tenement flats have been upgraded with new roofs and a secure door entry system. Each of the one and two bedroom flats have also benefited from a brand new kitchen, bathroom and new windows. The properties had lain empty for 10 years and were acquired from Renfrewshire Council. With funding secured, the redevelopment work began in February, with Crudens as the main contractor. The refurbishment of the first eight flats at number 16 Brown Street are now complete and were quickly let and the new tenants very pleased with their new homes. Some of our tenants have commented on how spacious, affordable and well-laid-out the flats are. They are impressed with the high quality of finish in both the kitchens and bathrooms which now have built in showers. The flats at 18 Brown Street are due for completion in December and the new tenants will be in before Christmas. David Adam, Director of housing and Property services said: “This was an exceptional opportunity for us to add some good quality traditional housing to our stock and create attractive homes in a location which is adjacent to our existing stock.” We’ve got a plan! Linstone is reviewing its current business plan 2012-15 and we are now looking at what we want to achieve between now and 2018. At the heart of our current business plan we sought to improve our services, manage our finances, develop our people, work in partnership and improve our homes and communities. We are pleased we have achieved what we set out to do across the majority of each of these five areas: Improving services – we have improved performance across most areas including tenancy sustainment, reduction of debt and better empty-house management. Managing our finances – we have continued to manage our finance to ensure we have enough money available to complete significant investment works. Developing our people – over the period we have reviewed our staff structure; an increased number of staff have completed further education; we have enhanced the skills of the Management Committee; and, sought to employ trainees and apprenticeships wherever possible. Working in partnership – Connect4Renfrewshire brings together a range of voluntary agencies, and by working with our partners we have improved the lives of those residents engaging with the services. Our partnership with Eon and Renfrewshire Council has helped secure significant funding to improve the energy efficiency of your homes. Improving our homes – introducing the new Estates Services employed directly by the association, continued investment in our properties (particularly in relation to ECO works), refurbishment of Brown Street amongst other initiatives have helped ensure we have delivered on this strategic objective. Over the next few months we will identify what we wish to achieve over the next few years and will be seeking your feedback on these priority areas. We have a number of groups we consult with on a range of topics, and if you want to find out more about these groups please contact Rachel Common at our office. An Inspector calls We are thrilled that the Care Inspectorate has awarded us top marks following their �spot check’ in July 2014 at our Newton Street and Farrier court complexes. The Care Inspectorate, who regulates care services in Scotland, reviewed our quality of care, the services our staff deliver, the support we provide and the overall management of our sheltered housing services. Following the visits of our Newton Street and Farrier Court complexes, we were awarded Grade 5 or �Very good’ for: 3 Quality of Care and Support 3 Quality of Staffing 3 Quality of Management This is an improvement on last year’s �Grade 4 – Good’ grades in the same areas. This falls within our continuous improvement ethos and reflects the hard work carried out by our Scheme Managers, Margaret Baillie and Anne McAlinden in particular. If you are interested in living in one of our sheltered housing properties please call Ed or Donna on 01505 382383, who will be happy to provide any advice or assistance you may need. Connect4Renfreshire Do you, or someone you know, need: • energy advice to tackle fuel bills and fuel debt • financial skills training and budgeting advice • advice on welfare rights • financial literacy support • access to recycled furniture and household goods Connect4Renfrewshire can help! Connect4Renfrewshire was created to respond to Welfare Reform changes and the challenges it presents to our residents that are experiencing financial hardship. Since December 2013 the successful project has Join us and get crafting! had over 500 referrals. For example, one of our tenants couldn’t afford food, electricity or Are you aged 60+?* gas. Our officer arranged a FoodBank voucher and an emergency energy Why not join Craft Café, a free adviser arranged credit to both meters. drop in arts programme? With support of Connect4Renfrewshire It’s a place to take part in arts and craft the tenant applied for a £1500 grant activities, enjoy a cup of tea and have a chat to cover a variety of household needs. in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Connect4Renfrewshire then provided ongoing advice and support. Drop in for an hour or stay the whole day! Another tenant asked Connect4Renfrewshire * If you are younger than 60 years of age, for advice on how to clear his fuel bill debt, please call to discuss eligibility. who helped him to set up payment plans Johnstone – 7 Farrier Court, Johnstone, for both gas and electricity. They also made PA5 8AQ him aware of the Warm Home Discount for Paisley – 20 Newton St, Paisley, PA1 2RP winter usage. He said: “I am very glad to have found out about Connect4Renfrewshire and Barrhead – 113 Main St, Barrhead, G78 1SB the services available. Once I started to deal For more information, please call: 07976623552 with Connect4Renfrewshire, I was so relieved – or email: amwilson@impactarts.co.uk things progressed well and trouble free.” How are we doing? Scottish Socia Here at Linstone we are committed to l Housing Charter Repo rt continually improving our customer 2013/14 service and we welcome and encourage your feedback. By responding to our satisfaction surveys you are providing us with the information we need to improve. If you are not happy with any aspect of our service, then please do let us know. We gather information on our performance and report this as part of the Scottish Social Housing Charter. A copy of our first report was sent to our tenants at the end of November, and is available to download from our website ow.ly/ EUSZD It is now down to us to get behind the facts and figures and find solutions to the issues you have raised. An action plan has been developed and addresses in particular repairs, complaints handling and neighbourhood issues. You have also told us we must improve our communications with you, our tenants and residents. We will be working hard to find the best way forward and hope you will see marked improvements in the near future. Thumbs up from the housing regulator Linstone compares well against other housing associations in Scotland! Each year all housing associations are obliged to report on their performance against the criteria set out in the Scottish Social Housing Charter. The Scottish Housing Regulator then collates these returns and produces a report which evaluates the performance of housing associations across Scotland in relation to these charter outcomes. You will have recently received a copy of this report in the post. In the majority of areas Linstone compares favourably against the Scottish average, in particular: • Our weekly rent charge is below the Scottish average • Tenant satisfaction in most areas is either slightly above or slightly below the Scottish average • The average time we take to complete both emergency and nonemergency repairs is significantly better than the Scottish average As well as this landlord report which provides detail of our performing during the year, you have also recently been sent our report on the Scottish Social Housing Charter. We are keen to receive feedback on this and if you have any comments on the layout or content please contact us. Lord Lieutenant opens Linstone’s new office Mr. Guy Clark HM Lord-Lieutenant for Renfrewshire and Mrs Nanette J Reid BEM Chairperson, performed the official opening of Linstone Housing’s new purpose-built office on Thursday 9th October. The well-attended event was a great opportunity for all business partners who aided in the build to see the completion of the building at 17 Bridge Street, Linwood which is the new hub of Linstone’s operation. Adele Fraser, CEO commented: “This is an ideal location for us, at the heart of the community. People can come into the office when using the other town centre facilities such as Tesco, the health centre, library and the Tweedie hall. There are good transport links and plenty of parking. Our offices provide a really important front for the organisation and are genuinely a much better place in which to assist with the real issues and challenges that many of our clients face. Linstone has gone from renting within a deserted and old fashioned shopping centre to our new wholly owned office with much lower long term running costs, in a vibrant town centre which will help the association to continue to grow.” Linstone has produced a short video telling the story about our new office move which can be viewed at www.linstone.co.uk/linstone-housingvideos. ECO project right on track! As we near the end of the first year of our £10 million pound External Wall Insulation (EWI) programme, we are pleased with the overall feedback from our tenants and owners. The programme, the largest EWI project for a Scottish Housing Association, attracted around £5 million funding from E.ON energy, supplemented by a £3 million investment from Linstone, along with just over £1.5 million funding for owners’ costs from the Scottish Government. This huge investment is reducing our tenants’ and owners’ heating bills, as well as improving the look of these properties, making them more desirable and increasing their value. Good news for us and owners. In the New Year, we will be starting on the external wall insulation of the two multi storey flats in Linwood town centre. This will enhance an already improved area following our new office and the Tesco store. Other areas due to commence shortly include Corseford and Spateston. Linstone in running for top award We were delighted to be runners-up in the Excellence in Environmental Sustainability category at the Chartered Institute of Housing’s Excellence Awards last month. The award, open to all housing associations in Scotland, recognises projects which address the environmental impact of their housing stock and take action to tackle fuel poverty. We were pleased the judges recognised the outstanding progress we have made in our ECO programme. Our £10 million programme is the largest ’external wall insulation’ project of any Housing Association in Scotland. Linstone has contributed around £3 million of our own funds with additional funding from E.ON, SSE and the Scottish Government through HEEPS (Home Energy Efficiency Programme Scotland). Our homes with external wall insulation benefit from up to 25% reduction in heating bills, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and are significantly more attractive than before. Residents are also being offered support and advice through our Connect4Renfrewshire project (see page 3). Our Director of Housing and Property Services, David Adam said: “We understand providing well insulated homes is crucial in helping to reduce our residents’ fuel bills and were delighted to have been shortlisted for this award which recognises our commitment and the investment we have made in this area. Be ready for the winter weather Protect your home and avoid emergency repairs this winter, by following our advice to help you stay warm and dry. • Know how to turn off your water, gas and electricity – you may need to do this in an emergency • If you notice leaking taps or pipes, please report these to our team as leaks can cause pipes to freeze Through-the-night precautions During the night the temperature is likely to drop. In very cold weather we recommend that you keep your central heating on at a low setting. Un-occupied properties If you are planning to leave the house un-occupied for a holiday or a few nights overnight stay with friends or family, call our team and we will arrange for your heating and water systems to be drained and re-filled on your return. This will reduce the possibility of pipes bursting due to extreme cold temperatures. For more advice please telephone 01505 382383 or email repairs@ linstone.co.uk. Condensation During winter month’s condensation can be more of an issue for householders however, in the short term each morning dry windows and sills with a dry cloth. Every day the average household releases around 16 pints of moisture into the air in the home creating condensation. The following will help reduce condensation • Close doors and open windows to provide ventilation when cooking • Keep lids on saucepans when cooking • Keep bathroom doors closed when bathing, and open windows afterwards • Do not dry clothes on radiators, unless ventilation is increased • Pull wardrobes and furniture away from walls, and keep tops of wardrobes clear, to allow air to circulate For more advice on condensation prevention please telephone 01505 382383 or email repairs@linstone.co.uk. www. @Lins toneH ousin g linston e.co.u k Linstone Housing Association, 17 Bridge Street, Linwood, PA3 3DB. Tel: 01505 382383 Email: general@linstone.co.uk Web: linstone.co.uk Register of Friendly Societies No.2524R(S). Scottish Housing Regulator Registered No. HEP 299. Recognised as a Scottish Charity No. SCO 27454
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