Community News May 2018

May 2018 Bron Afon Community Housing • Investing in People, Homes and Communities • Edition 30

Community

news

Changing rooms,

Our new Corporate Plan What’s in store for the next five years.

changing lives Helping tenants to live independently in their home

Your repairs:

who’s responsible?

Find out on pages 6 and 7

Blooming marvellous!

Enter our garden competition.

Details on page 15

If you would prefer to be sent Community News in an email, large print, braille, audio, Welsh or any other language, then please let us know.

The magazine for tenants, leaseholders and Members of Bron Afon Community Housing

In our own words...

May 2018 Bron Afon Community Housing Edition 30

Community News

“It's made life 100% easier for us.”

If I had to choose a phrase that sums up how best we can improve our services it would be “by working together.”

With this in mind, I want to thank all those who shared with us their thoughts and ideas about the kind of organisation Bron Afon should be. The result is our new Corporate Plan, which sets out our aims for the next five years. You’ll find a summary of the plan on pages 8 and 9.

Our involvement team works closely with local groups to help and encourage them to make changes in their communities. On pages 14 and 15, you can read about some of the projects the team has supported in recent months. If you’d like to get involved, please get in touch with them.

We’re thinking about changing our repairs service to make appointments more convenient for you but we’d like to hear you views about it. Find out more about this on page 7.

Best wishes Alan Brunt chief executive

It’s Bron Afon’s tenth year and we have all kinds of great activities lined up for you to take part in to help us celebrate. We’ve listed them all on page 12. Please get in touch if you’re interested in any of them.

Got a story?

A taster of

what’s inside Building homes, improving lives Help with Universal Credit

p4

p5

Garden competition p15

If you have a story or photo for this magazine please let us know. Maybe you have a tip you want to share or a letter on an interesting subject?

You can tell us your news in lots of ways.

Call Vicki Morgan-Curtis

on 01633 620 110 Email communitynews@bronafon.org.uk Write Bron Afon Community Housing Limited, Tŷ Bron Afon, William Brown Close, Llantarnam Industrial Park, Cwmbran, Torfaen NP44 3AB Via our website www.bronafon.org.uk

A fyddech cystal a gofyn os hoffech unrhyw ran o’n gwybodaeth yn Gymraeg, Gallwch wneud hynny drwy ymweld â ni neu ysgrifennu atom yn y cyfeiriad isod neu drwy ffonio 01633 620 111.

Os yw’n well gennych siarad â ni drwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg gallwn drefnu i siaradwr Cymraeg fod yn bresennol mewn apwyntiad.

Page 2

/bronafon /bronafon /bronafonvideos Cover stars: Bron Afon tenants, Wendy and Keeley Ivin.

Wendy Ivin is a Bron Afon tenant from Cwmbran. Her nine-yearold daughter, Keeley, has severe disabilities that make it difficult for her to live a normal life.

Wendy said: “Keeley needs attention 24 hours a day. Until recently, I would have to get out of bed, run downstairs to start her medications and feed, run back upstairs to make sure she was okay, run back down to carry on, then run back up. By the time I’d finished around 4am, I was wide awake and never got a good night’s sleep.

“Verity and Natalie from Bron Afon’s adaptations team visited us to talk about our options. We decided it was important we stay in the house, surrounded by family and friends and not have the upheaval of moving away from support. They suggested a selfcontained pod with a bedroom and wet room would be the best idea.

“The difference it’s made is amazing. I don’t have to change Keeley in front of anyone in my living room. It’s saved her dignity. It’s made life 100% easier for us.

“A patio will be fitted soon. It’ll give Keeley a choice to go inside or outside, which she’s never been able to have before.

“Now, I can get out of bed, see Keeley while I’m preparing her medications and feed and see she’s okay. It’s just changed our lives completely.”

If you are a disabled person and would like to find out how our adaptations team could help you, please get in touch.

For over three years, Bron Afon tenant Demi Clements, 26, has had to cope with a lot of health problems.

Demi said: “I’m always in pain. I find it hard to walk, my body swells and I have sensitivity to light.

Until recently, I had to rely on my husband to do a lot of things others take for granted, such as helping me into the bath, washing my hair and getting me dressed.

“One time, I had a bad fall getting out of the bath.

If my mum hadn’t come to my rescue, I don’t know what would’ve happened.

“Verity and Karen from Bron Afon’s adaptations team did an assessment. Now I’ve got a wet room. It means everything. I can have a shower when I want. My husband still helps me to wash my hair but I don’t have to worry about the stress of falling.

“Bron Afon were amazing. I couldn’t fault the team - they were constantly working and were very friendly.

“It’s also freed up my family’s time and means I can have some independence.”

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Building homes, improving lives Providing 450 homes over the next five years is a priority in our Corporate Plan. Our building work across Torfaen is well underway and so far, we’ve handed over the keys of 20 fantastic new homes to local tenants.

Here’s an update of some of our latest developments:

Blenheim Road, Cwmbran: Joanne Grovell

was over the moon with her new home. She said: “I can’t thank Bron Afon enough. It’s a new start for me and my family.” Funding for the homes on this site was provided by Welsh Government’s Social Housing Grant.

Joanne with Neil Edwards, our director of resources

Elmhurst Close, Trevethin: Luke was looking

forward to living in his brand new flat. He said: “It’s given me a sense of security.” Funding was provided by Welsh Government’s Social Housing Grant and Housing Finance Grant.

Luke with Neil Edwards, Gaynor Hawkins, community manager, Steve Jones, senior construction surveyor and Annette Jones, property administrator.

Ty Rosser Gwyn, Garndiffaith: Thanks to

funding from Welsh Government’s Innovative Housing Programme, we’re building 12 energy efficient and environmentally friendly new homes for people under 35.

Councillor David Daniels, executive member for communities, housing and anti poverty, Councillor Giles Davies and Nick Jenkins, regional business development manager from developers Engie with staff from Engie, Torfaen Council and Bron Afon on site at Ty Rosser Gwyn.

Interested in buying or renting a new home in Torfaen?

Here’s your chance with Help2Ownplus We are building brand new, two and three bedroom homes that will be available to buy (shared equity) or rent at below open market rents.

To be suitable for the Help2Ownplus scheme, there are certain conditions you’ll need to meet. Some of these conditions are: • t o buy a home, you must be able to raise a mortgage and you’ll need a 5% deposit of the market value of the property.

• to rent, you must be working and earning between £15,000 and £30,000 per annum.

You can find out more by going to: www.torfaenhomes.co.uk or email: Help_to_own@bronafon.org.uk Page 4

Talk to us about Universal Credit Our trained staff can help you with: • Getting online and the Verify process • How much rent you need to pay each month • Setting up My Account to help you keep an eye on your rent balance

• Getting a job • Rent payment options

Drop into our office in Llantarnam for our free, weekly sessions for expert advice and guidance.

• Job Club: every Wednesday from 1pm-3pm.

• Support with Universal Credit: every Friday from 2pm-4pm.

Get in touch

Call us on: 01633 620 111 Email us: enquiries@bronafon.org.uk Message us on Facebook or Twitter: /bronafon

Rent increase - make sure you tell the DWP

If you claim Universal Credit, you must make sure you let the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) know about your April rent increase. We are not allowed to do this on your behalf. You can contact the DWP on 0800 328 5644.

If you’re not sure about your new rent payment, please get in touch with us.

If you are not on Universal Credit and get Housing Benefit to help pay your rent, we will notify Torfaen Council but you are responsible for making sure your claim with them has been updated. To let the Housing Benefit team know of any changes, please contact them on 01495 766430 or 01495 766570.

Don’t risk your tenancy Recently, we’ve had an increase in reported incidents of violence and aggression towards our staff and contractors.

We have a zero tolerance approach towards this kind of behaviour. Everyone has the right to work in an environment free from verbal abuse, intimidation and threats of violence.

It’s crucial for staff to feel safe within the local community for them to effectively and efficiently carry out their job. This includes feeling comfortable to work with tenants in their home. However, if our staff experience any aggressive behaviour, the support they provide may be withdrawn, which will affect the service we are able to deliver.

We know most of our tenants live quietly in their homes but if an incident occurs where a tenant is violent or aggressive, we will take formal action.

Repairs

Who’s responsible?

As your landlord, we want you to be happy in your home. We are responsible for maintaining and carrying out most of the repairs in your home but there are some things we expect you to take care of.

On the next two pages, we’ve highlighted some of the common repairs problems you tell us about and who’s responsible for them. You’ll find a full check list of repairs responsibilities on our website along with some handy “how to” videos.

Go to: bronafon.org.uk Who is responsible?

Repair

Additional information

Bron Afon

Broken glass/glazing You are responsible for the glass/ glazing in any windows, doors or porches in your home. If one of your windows is smashed, we will come and board it up to make it secure. If you are the victim of crime and your home has been damaged, you must report it to the police and ask for a crime number.

Please make sure you tell us the crime number when you report the damage. But we may still charge you for the work.

Drain blockages

If you call us out and the blockage was caused by something you should not have put down the sink, bath or toilet, you will be charged the cost of the job.

- Blockages can sometimes be the responsibility of Welsh Water if the problem is in the main drain.

- Find tips on clearing blockages yourself in our Repairs Handbook on our website: www.bronafon.org.uk - Call Welsh Water on 0800 085 3968 and get their advice if the blockage is outside your home.

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4

Kitchen cupboard doors Page 6

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You are responsible for your appliances such as your cooker.

We are only responsible for heating we have installed.

Repair

Additional information

Bron Afon

You

Light fittings installed by us

We are responsible for the fittings but you are responsible for changing the bulbs.

Lost keys / locked out of your home

We will not replace any locks or help you get back into your home. If you have lost your keys or left them inside your home you will need to call out your own locksmith. We may carry out this service but you will be recharged.

4

Pest infestations for example wasp nests and rodents.

If there is a defect in your home that is allowing pests to get in we will carry out a repair but it is your responsibility to remove the pest infestation.

4

Radiators

We are only responsible for the maintenance of radiators. We will not remove or refit a radiator if it needs to be done because you are decorating your home.

4

4

Help us to provide a repairs service that’s best for everyone

Garden maintenance including trees and hedges Gas boilers/heating and hot water systems

You

Who is responsible?

4

4

At the moment, there are three timescale categories for our repairs service: • Emergency - attend within one working day • Urgent - attend within three days • Routine - attend within 30 days

We are finding the three day category doesn’t always provide the best service for our customers, so our idea is to move to a system that will offer a choice of convenient appointments and will also help us to finish repair jobs on the first visit.

We’ve already talked with some of you about this. So far, people would prefer a mutually suitable appointment time to have their repairs done but we’re still keen to hear from more of you to find out if you think this would work. All you have to do is email community.involvement@bronafon.org.uk or call us on 01633 620 111 and ask to speak to one of the community involvement team.

Page 7

The next five years Thanks to everyone who helped us decide what our priorities should be up until 2023. Our new Corporate Plan sets out the organisation we want to be and the areas of work that we think are most important over the coming years.

Our vision statement Bron Afon’s ambition is to create flourishing communities in our part of Wales, where everyone has a quality home to live in and where people who need it are supported and encouraged.

In 2023, led by our members, Bron Afon:

• will be an agile, effective and efficient business,

delivering the services our tenants and customers need; • will provide a powerful voice and a trusted presence for those who need us; • and will have built hundreds of new homes and created thousands of life changing opportunities.

“

We have set some challenging targets for our Corporate Plan.

People • 85% of tenants satisfied that Bron Afon listens to their views and acts on them.

• 90% say it’s easy to do business with us.

Homes • Providing 450 homes.

• 100% of our homes will meet a new Bron Afon Homes Standard.

Communities • 90% tenants will say their local area is clean and tidy.

• 2,000 people each year will tell us their resilience and wellbeing has improved.

Alan Brunt chief executive

Andrew Lawrence chair of the board

Our business • Higher than 15% operating margin.

• Higher than 80% staff satisfaction (with employer).

Get a copy

We will work tirelessly to continue to prove the value of Bron Afon not just to its customers, but also to the wider community.

”

Our values Our values are important to us and guide how we work. They were developed with our members, staff and partners. You won’t just see them on our walls and website. You will feel them whenever you are involved with us.

We will make lots of decisions over the next five years to make this Corporate Plan a success but our values will stay the same. Not one word of them will change. They will help make sure our decisions are the right ones. They are REAL. Respect We value everyone, and treat all fairly, politely, with dignity and respect.

Engage We are proud to be owned by the community. We support and involve others in shaping what we do to make lives better.

Ambition We bring passion, creativity and commitment to what we do and want to be the best. We take pride in our work and celebrate successes.

Listen We listen to understand what’s important. We are caring, responsive and open to change and improvement.

Page 8

Our targets

Visit bronafon.org.uk to download a copy.

Email enquiries@bronafon.org.uk and we will reply with a copy.

Call 01633 620 111.

Gwyneira Clark, former executive member for housing, planning and public protection, said: “It was the best decision that residents took ten years ago to transfer, although it was quite hair-raising for me at that time with some residents.

“Tenants of Bron Afon have certainly benefited through the decision to transfer the housing stock and it’s exciting to see that you are now on the ladder of new build.”

Our members, staff and Board have worked together to develop this plan. Over 100 members joined us at our Mutual Futures meeting in March where we launched the plan, talked about what we will be doing over the next five years and how we will measure our progress and success.

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One for all and all for one Our Equality and Diversity Reference group is committed to making our services fair and equal for everyone. Here’s what we’ve been doing to make this happen:

• Getting to know you better: finding out more about you helps us improve our services, for

example, you may need longer to answer the door or you may need information we send you in large print. We’re still keen to hear from you if you’ve not filled in our tenant profiling survey, so give us a call on 01633 620 111 and we’ll do the rest.

• We’ve changed our settings on Twitter to help make our news more accessible for blind users.

• We’ve considered the impact on our We’re looking for more tenants to communities before we’ve made decisions. This helps make sure we join us on the group, so if you have don’t unintentionally discriminate or an interest in equality and diversity disadvantage particular groups of people. and would like to know how to get • Members of the group now have an involved, call Helen Bevan-Jones, awareness of dementia and the impact of equality and diversity advisor, on welfare reform on our tenants.

01633 620 111.

This Is Your Board Board members: Stephen Lodge, Brian Jones, Joanne Oak, Patrick Harkness, Mandy Eddolls, David Michael, Bethan Evans, Andrew Lawrence, Jessica Powell, Craig Nowell, Allan Giles and Veronica Crick.

Our Corporate Plan 2018-2023 “This is a really exciting time for Bron Afon.

As we celebrate our achievements over the last ten years, we also recognise there’s much more we can do to improve the lives of people living in Torfaen. Our ambition is to create life-changing opportunities for our communities and places where people are proud to live.

“We’ve recently launched our new Corporate Plan for 2018-2023, which sets out how we plan to achieve this. You’ll find a summary of it in the centre pages. The plan is ambitious and if we’re going to succeed, we’ll need everyone’s support. We already have hundreds of volunteers who give up their time freely to support the work we do and the Board is extremely grateful for the contribution they make to Bron Afon’s success.

“I’m also pleased to announce that following our recruitment campaign last year, we were able to appoint four new Board members:

Your views on how we are doing

Your views help us improve our customer service. We like to ask a few questions after you’ve had a service from us to check what you thought. Here are your views from 1 March to 1 April this year.

Overall Satisfaction

59

3

Satisfaction with the time taken to resolve your request Did we do what we said we would do?

How well did we keep you informed?

Was your query answered?

55

?

52

4

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5

8

0 7

1

4 0

4

52

5

2

0

4

*

55

5

2

0

4

**

67 people asked - 10 people did not answer *4 did not answer **1 did not answer

Right to Buy abolished in Wales

Bethan Evans, Joanne Oak, Stephen Lodge and Craig Nowell. They all bring a wide range of skills and experience to the Board. You’ll find more information about them on our website.

“We’re also in the process of appointing a new tenant Board member, who will join us in September. There’s been a lot of interest in the role and I would like to thank everyone who’s come along to the open evenings.

More information on the appointment of the tenant Board member will be available over the summer months.

“I’m looking forward to working together over the next five years as I know together, we’ll make a big difference. We’ll continue to ask for your views and to update you on the progress we’re making to make sure our decisions are the right ones and to enable us to achieve the future we want for Torfaen.”

Best wishes Andrew Lawrence

The Welsh Government has decided to end the Right to Buy and Right to Acquire for all council and housing association tenants on 26 January 2019. It means from this date, Bron Afon tenants will no longer be able to apply to buy their homes.

There’s an information booklet on our website, which explains more. The back page has a useful section about where to get further information.

“The Board has some great members, who all contribute to healthy discussions. I was very interested to hear their views when I observed one of the recent Board meetings. As an active member of the Tenant Services Forum, I’m looking forward to working closely with Board on the new corporate plan.” Teresa Barter.

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2008-2018

We are ten years old!

To celebrate, we’ll be running all kinds of activities throughout the year for everyone to join in. Here’s a rundown of some of the great things we have planned.

Photo competition

Torfaen is an amazing place. What are the things that make you proud of this area?

Grab a camera or use your mobile phone and snap a pic for our photo competition.

The winning pics will be published on our website and framed in our office. Send your photos with your name and phone number to 10@bronafon.org.uk or 07772 677551 by 1 July.

The rocks

Look out for our ten rocks painted with the Bron Afon logo hidden across Torfaen.

Finders must contact us to win a voucher for our café, Bron Appétit.

Plant ten trees

Let’s mark ten years with ten new trees in Torfaen. Email 10@bronafon.org.uk or call / text 07772 677551 if you want to help plant the saplings or have a suggested place of where a tree can be planted.

Nominate a good neighbour

Nice and simple. If you have a fab neighbour or know of an outstanding resident then let us know why and they could win a hamper. Simply tell us who they are and why you think they should win in no more than 200 words. Send nominations and your name and number to 10@bronafon.org.uk or talk to one of the involvement team before 1 July.

Donate to a food bank

Bring in a tin of food, unwanted school uniform or a household item and we will sort out a donation to a local food bank and charity to help people in need. The collection points will be behind reception at head office throughout the year.

The 10th birthday bake-off

Get busy in your kitchen and cook us a birthday cake. The most creative cake with a 10th anniversary theme will be crowned champion. Cakes need to be dropped off by 11am on 8 June.

A time capsule

Staff and residents will be contributing to our time capsule. So bring us the one thing that you think should go in the capsule that represents Bron Afon, our communities or a fantastic experience for this year. Remember to keep things small so we can fit as many things as possible in. Leave your item and your name and number with the involvement team at our office in Llantarnam by 1 August.

We encourage everyone to test their smoke alarms every week.

For fire safety advice, follow Neville Brown, our senior tenchincal officer, on @TheNevBrown

Home contents insurance

Could you afford to replace everything you own in your home?

What would happen if your belongings were damaged by a fire?

Contents insurance gives you peace of mind. Get £9,000 of cover from 90p per week.

90p

10,000 steps Can you commit to get fitter by walking 10,000 steps a day? However you choose to count your steps, we’re keen to hear your stories. Call, email us or send us a private message on Facebook and tell us how you’re getting on!

If you’re interested in any of the activities, please contact us via email: 10@bronafon.org.uk or text / call 07772 677551.

Keep an eye out for dates and more details on our Facebook page, Twitter feed and on our website. We will also keep you informed in Community News.

T S

A few minutes spent doing a simple check can give an early warning sign of fire - and could save lives.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service offers a FREE fire safety check on your home, carried out by firefighters from your local fire station.

You can arrange a check in lots of ways: Phone: 0800 169 1234 • Email: cfs@southwales-fire.gov.uk • Text: 07756 847 123 Fill out a registration form on: www.southwales-fire.gov.uk

T Y E

We will hold action days across our communities for staff and residents to join in a range of activities to make a difference together. So join us out and about and take part in something different to your day to day tasks.

DA

Action days

per week

£9,000

Email us on enquiries@bronafon.org.uk or call 01633 620 111 to get an application pack. /bronafon /bronafon

If you’re over 60, you can get £6,000 of cover for 60p per week.

Page 13

Mutual respect.

Mutual support.

Mutual learning.

Mutual goals.

We're better together!

Since the last edition, our members have been busy working with us on a range of projects and activities. Together, we have developed various policies and service changes as well as delivered some great community initiatives and events. Here’s a flavour of what’s been going on over the last few months.

Fairfield United Football Club

Money Solutions policy

We’ve been supporting Fairfield United FC to look at funding. They are now through the first stage of Tesco’s “Bags of Help” community grant scheme.

They have a Eva Clarke votes for box in Tesco in Fairfiled United FC Pontypool, where the public can vote for them to receive one of three prizes of either £4000, £2000 or £1000. We’d like to wish them good luck!

We worked with our members to develop our rent collection policy and how we support those who are struggling. The policy is now based on the members’ suggestions, which are to support people and to prevent debt happening, to communicate efficiently, be fair, firm and transparent, take action where needed and be adaptable in our approach.

Craft Club

Members’ Academy - a chance to learn new things

Members and residents got together recently to make twiddle mitts and twiddle blankets out of ribbons, wool and buttons to help keep people with dementia occupied and stay calm. The craft club was such a success we’re making it a regular event, so let us know if you’d like to take part.

Grant scheme The latest round saw applications from some fantastic projects. We’re pleased to have awarded a total of £6,000 in grants to 18 local groups. We are proud to support them in the fabulous work that they do.

Bron Afon Community Grant Fund Monitoring and Evaluation - Grants over £100 One of the conditions linked to your grant is that you let us know how you spent the money and the benefits it brought to your community.

This is really easy to do and to help you out we have included some tips.

If you have any questions please contact the Community Involvement Team on 01633 620 111 or email community.involvement@bronafon.org.uk You can email your form to community.involvement@bronafon.org.uk or post to it to Afon Community Trust, Tŷ Bron Afon, William Brown Close, Llantarnam Industrial Park, Cwmbran, NP44 3AB Please make sure that all supporting documents, such as photos, are clearly labelled.

Grant ref no Name of your organisation / group Address Postcode Telephone number Contact name Email Amount of grant received £ Please give a short description of what the grant was for: Has the whole grant been spent on what you intended to spend it on?

Yes No (please be aware that if the answer is NO, the grant may have to be returned) Have you enclosed copies of receipts and invoices of what you have spent the funding on? Yes No (please be aware that if the answer is NO, we may ask for more information or evidence of what the funding has been spent on)

Hate Crime policy Members have been talking to us about what’s important for us to do when dealing with hate crimes. Their suggestions have helped us develop our new policy, which will be presented to the Board in July.

Our new Members’ Academy offers a range of free workshops and online courses on a range of topics. From risk assessing community events to running a meeting, there’s something to suit everyone. If you’re interested and want to know more, please get in touch.

Community group network event We hosted an event where local groups and champions had the chance to come together and share ideas and experiences of the fantastic work they’ve been doing in their communities.

It was a great event - one member said it was, “very informative and a room full of helpful friendly people.” We’ll be hosting another event in a few months’ time, so if you’re interested in joining in, just contact the community involvement team.

Coming soon: Bron Afon Standard

How we carry out our repairs

We now have a new Corporate Plan and with that we want to develop a new standard for how we work in your homes. We will be working with our members to find out what is important and what this standard should look like. If you want to get involved, please let us know.

On page 7, we’ve told you how we’ve been working with tenants to review the timescales for getting work done and how we can improve our appointment system.

We want this process to be customer-friendly, so we look forward to hearing your views.

New tenancy agreements The UK Government will be introducing a new look tenancy agreement that all tenants will have, no matter who their landlord is.

They will be called “contracts” and will make it easier for everyone to know what their rights and responsibilities are when renting a home in Wales. Together with our tenants, we’ll be feeding in suggestions to the UK Government on what this should look like.

If you’re interested in being involved, please let us know.

We are always looking for people to get involved in developing and improving our services. If you’re interested, get in touch for more information. Call our community involvement team on 01633 620 111, email community.involvement@bronafon.org.uk or register through My Account.

Is your garden

blooming marvellous?

Why not show it off in our free gardening competition?

It’s free and open to anyone living in Torfaen.

You don’t have to be a Monty Don or Charlie Dimmock to enter - we just want people to get involved, have a go and have some fun into the bargain.

Get an entry form by emailing Helen Clutterbuck, community involvement officer, at community.involvement@bronafon.org.uk Entries are open from Monday 21 May and will close on Monday 11 June, so get out in your garden and grow something great!

Page 15

Just for leaseholders Less paper in your bill Most of you will notice there is less paper in service charge bills this April. The essential parts are still in there - your invoice, your rights and obligations and your ground rent demand (if applicable) - but you can still ask for other information we’ve usually sent out (for example, summary of responsive repairs). All you need to do is email leasehold@bronafon.org.uk or give the team a call on 01633 620 111. Insurance remains with Zurich, so the policy number and claim information is the same as last year but if you would like a copy of the summary of cover, you’ll find it on our website: bronafon.org.uk/service-charges/

Help us to improve our leasehold service Last year, we made our website more interactive by creating ways for you to tell us how satisfied you are with the leasehold service and to give us your up to date details.

These two things, along with opportunities for more involvement, help us shape and improve services, so why not take a few minutes to visit our website: bronafon.org.uk/leaseholders to find out more?

Reviewing the leaseholder charging policy We will be reviewing this policy in May/June and would welcome your involvement. If you have a spare couple of hours and would like to help review the policy, please contact the leasehold team by email: leasehold@bronafon.org.uk or telephone 01633 620 111 to let us know you’re interested.

Meet Tom, our new leasehold officer We’ve welcomed a new arrival to the team, Tom Moore. Tom started last November to replace Kevin Fuller, so some of you will have already had the opportunity to speak with him. You can call Tom on 01633 620 232 or email tom.moore@bronafon.org.uk

Your service charges remember to pay or call All service charges invoices have been issued on time again this year. Remember, they must be paid within 30 days but if you are struggling, give us a call so our leasehold team can help you by setting up a Direct Debit to spread the cost. If you don’t pay or don’t set up a Direct Debit with the team within 30 days, we’ll have to take recovery action. We now charge £30 for sending recovery letters, which is added to your service charge account.

May 2018 Bron Afon Community Housing Edition 30

“Being part of one of the forums at Bron Afon is really insightful and it feels great being part of discussions and helping the organisation to make decisions. We discuss all sorts of topics that are relevant to tenants, residents, leaseholders and communities as a whole.”

Diane Brain