DEVELOPMENT N EWS

Our development at Carrick Street in Ayr’s town centre (below left) is progressing well and will welcome the first tenants in the summer! If you’ve passed by recently, you’ll have noticed most of the scaffolding has now been removed and you can see the emergence of a fantastic looking building with spectacular views across to Arran from the fourth and fifth floor roof terrace gardens. Kitchen fitting continues and flat layouts are taking shape with plenty of light coming in through the large triple glazed windows. Despite difficult market conditions, we continue to assess opportunities for development and will keep tenants updated.

We were delighted to open our development in Troon in November last year. The project consists of 52 houses and flats.

Ayrshire housing were fortunate to secure £1,642 in November last year via the Scottish Government’s Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund. We have used the funding to host a ‘Cosy Space’ every Wednesday afternoon between 2pm and 4pm in our community space “The Local” which is adjacent to our main office. Our doors are open not only to our tenants, but also to the wider community. Our ‘Wednesday Warmer Club’ has really started to take off. We have held several themed afternoons including a Burns Supper, a Pancake Day and a Valentine’s Day afternoon tea as well as weekly catch ups with tea, coffee and a sweet treat on offer. We have also secured an additional £3,600 to allow us to continue to host our Wednesday Warmer Club until the end of the year.

Please keep an eye out on our Facebook page and leaflets about upcoming events. Also don’t forget to call Shonya on 01292 880120 to book a space as these are limited!

We will be carrying out a review of our Repairs and Maintenance policy later this year so we will be looking for your feedback on the service. We will write to all our tenants with details of the review in due course.

During the last year we have continued to be affected by material shortages and faced increasing costs from our contractors. However, we have been working hard to ensure that our investment programmes have continued.

This year’s programme has consisted of the following updates:

72 roof renewals, to the value of £580,000.

64 new kitchens to the value of £260,000.

53 new bathrooms to the value of £160,000.

29 properties have benefited from improved energy efficiency with installation of modern cavity wall insulation, to the value of £85,000.

1,000 properties have benefited from electrical safety testing and remedial works to the value of £159,000.

We recognise that dampness and mould can be a worrying issue for our tenants and so we have produced an information leaflet which provides some helpful tips on how to cut down on condensation and therefore dampness in your property. The leaflet is available on our website, www.ayrshirehousing.org.uk or you can request a copy from the office by calling 01292 880120.

Our annual pet and garden competitions are now open! All you need to do to enter is upload a photo of your pet or garden and you could win a £50 voucher for a local pet shop or National Garden Centre voucher. Here is last year’s winner of the pet competition, Teddy proudly sporting his first prize rosette!

Here at Ayrshire Housing we love to see photos of your pets. We know how special our furry (and sometimes non-furry) friends are. If you think your pet deserves to win a prize you can upload a photo of them to your My Home account. https://www.ayrshirehousing.org.uk/your-home/ You can also email our PurR guru Ruby (top right) on: ruby@ayrshirehousing.org.uk. Remember to include your pet’s name, age, breed and any interesting facts about them as well as your name and contact details! Only one pet may be entered per household. Categories in this year’s pet competition are: dogs, puppies, cats, kittens and other. Our garden competition is also open. Whether you have a large garden or even just a window box, we’d love to hear from you. Our top prize is a £50 National Garden Centre voucher. Categories are: private garden, shared garden and window box. To enter you can upload a photo of your garden and contact details to your My Home Portal (details above) or email them to: info@ayrshirehousing.org.uk.

Closing date for entries to both competitions: Friday 4 August 2023