Scottish Borders Housing Association summer newsletter

NEWS Summer edition 2020

Here For You - Delivering Tenant Services During Covid-19 If you would like a copy of this document in larger print, or would like to receive the text of the document in a Jeśli chcieliby Państwo otrzymać kopię niniejszego dokumentu w formacie dużym drukiem lub w innym języku, prosimy zadzwonić pod numer 01750 724444 ‫ أو ﻛﻨﺖ ﺗﺮﻏﺐ ﰲ ﺗﻠ ّﻘ‬،‫إذا ﻛﻨﺖ ﺗﺮﻳﺪ ﻧﺴﺨ ًﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻫﺬه اﻟﻮﺛﻴﻘﺔ ﺑﺨﻂ ﻃﺒﺎﻋﺔ أﻛﱪ‬ 01750 724444 ‫ﺑﺎﻟﺮﻗﻢ‬

www.sbha.org.uk

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In this edition Supporting you

p.3-4

Keeping you safe

p.5-7

Tenant engagement

p.8-9

How are we doing?

p.10

www.sbha.org.uk

www.sbto.org.uk

13/07/2020 17:43:55

Welcome!

UNIVERSAL CREDIT IN THIS EDITION

Welcome to the Summer Tenants Newsletter. What a strange time it's been! I know that many of you will have missed your family and friends during lockdown and hope that you all remain safe and well.

With restrictions lifting, this newletter provides information on how SBHA is getting full services going again.

We welcome our newest ­members to SBTO, George and Linda Gilchrist, who joined earlier this year.

Firstly, can I say thank you to everyone for playing your part by following the Scottish Government guidelines during the pandemic.

Julia Mulloy, SBHA's Chief Executive

It certaining has been a rapidly ­changing time for us all and, difficult as it is, we have all had to adjust our lives to reduce the transmission of ­COVID-19.

Here at SBHA, like many businesses, we have had to adapt the way we work in order to protect your health and wellbeing and that of our team.

Listening to the Government message to Stay at Home, we ­suspended the delivery of some of our non-essential services We also say goodbye to Alison such as non-emergency repairs, home improvement work and Notman, who retired after many the letting of homes. This was a very difficult but necessary ­decision, so thank you for your understanding and support to years at the helm of Tenant help us play our part in keeping you and our team safe.

Participation with SBTO and SBHA, and we welcome the Our team has worked hard and embraced new ways of working new Tenant Engagement and to keep all essential services running for you in a safe way. ­ Communication Team.

I have been overwhelmed by their dedication and commitment You can contact the Team on and share with you my thanks to them all.

01750 724444. We warmly encourage you to get involved there are lots of ways to do so. Thankfully, with the reduction in the spread of the virus and the easing of national restrictions, we can now start to re-introduce these services and we are pleased to be bringing you news of We would like to encourage how we plan to do so in this edition of the newsletter. everyone to stay safe, and to look out for their neighbours.

While we know it may be some time before we reach our 'new By working together and helping each other, we can get normal', please be assured that we are here for you and your through this very uncertain time safety remains our paramount concern. for all of us.

REMEMBERING ANN Tracey Glover, Co-Chair and on behalf of the Editorial Panel

We were very saddened to hear of the recent passing of Ann Knight, Tenant and former Board member of SBHA. Ann served on SBHA's Board for a number of years and was a well-known active member of the Burnfoot ­community in Hawick, latterly serving as Chair of the Community Council. A truly remarkable woman who will be fondly remembered. On behalf of the Board and all at SBHA, we send our condolences to Ann's family.

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SUPPORTING TENANTS Here for you

As you are aware, to help keep you and our team safe, time. However, we are still here to help!

Fortunately, our investment in modern technology over recent years, has enabled our team to work from home- keeping in contact with you, answering your We have been working hard to engage with our most vulnerable and shielded Tenants to check you are safe contact with those of you who have requested it.

If you have any concerns about your tenancy or if you are worried about a neighbour or anyone else then please let us know and we will try to help. phases, opening initially to a small number of team members. We will look to restart home visits as the lifting of restrictions allows. When we do arrange a home visit, we will call you in advance to let you know that we are on our way and remind you of any precautions that may need to be taken.

"Just a quick message to say thank you so much for the phone call today. I am on 12 week shielding so this kind of contact is great - thank you so much."

Tenant, Hawick

01750 724444

enquiries@sbha.org.uk

www.sbha.org.uk

SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES

We have still been out and about delivering essential support in communities during the pandemic, working with Community Hubs, Resilience Groups and other volunteers who have dedicated their time to helping others.

This has included delivering much needed food, other household essentials and children's craft parcels to homes. SBHA's painter, Iain Lees is pictured here (and on the front cover with Langlee Early Years Centre Manager, Charlene Barrie) making his deliveries.

If you need help with food parcels, or other support, please contact us on 01750 724444. in Hawick and Galashiels, and will consult with you on this later in the summer.

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HELP WITH MONEY We appreciate that for many of you, the current situation will be causing concern and challenges in managing not only ­personal and family circumstances but also financial worries.

Our Financial Inclusion Team has continued to provide advice and support during the pandemic, helping around 600 households, providing support to access benefits and manage incomes.

If you are having difficulties, please get in touch. ­ SBHA's Financial Inclusion Team Barry Wood and Debbie Mzee

Are you experiencing a drop in income?

Do you need help with accessing benefits for the first time?

The Financial Inclusion Team are here to Contact the Team: help. tel: 01750 724444 or email: enquiries@sbha.org.uk

"I couldn't work due to coronavirus and had to apply for benefits for the first time with the help of SBHA. It’s important, particularly for older people who might not be used to being online, to know that SBHA can help like this."

Tenant, Peebles

Paying Your Rent It is really important you maintain your rent payments. If you are struggling to pay, please contact us as soon as possible and we will support you as best we can. You can continue to pay your rent in many ways including: • • • • •

direct debit over the phone using credit or debit card online at allpay.net on our website via your MySBHA app

YOUR RENT - KEEPING YOU INFORMED Thank you to all of you who provided us with your views during our rent consultation during the winter. We received over 262 responses and 77% of you advised that you feel the rent you pay is value for money.

Listening to your views, SBHA's Board of Management agreed to i ncrease rents by 2.5% from April 2020, moving to the lower CPI linked rents and away from the higher rate of RPI applied in previous years which would have seen rents rise by 3.1%.

We wrote to all Tenants to let you know how much your rent will be this year. The increase was needed to ensure we can continue to invest and improve your homes and neighbourhoods while keeping rents affordable.

Carly Stewart, Director of Finance

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KEEPING YOU SAFE YOUR REPAIRS SERVICE We have continued to carry out emergency and urgent repairs during the lockdown period.

As restrictions are now easing, we are currently reviewing the non-emergency repairs reported to us prior to lockdown and are making contact to carry out these repairs where it is safe to do so. As you will appreciate, we have a considerable backlog to get through so we thank you for your patience and understanding while we do so.

If you feel that your original repair request is now an emergency, something that may cause injury, or damage to your home, then please let us know as quickly as possible.

If you have a repair, please contact us and we will advise you on the next steps. We may ask you to send us a photo or video, if you are able to do so, to help us to diagnose the repair. It may take us slightly longer to get round to carrying out the work due to ensuring that your safety and that of our team is maintained.

We ask that if your repair is not an emergency, where possible, you report this using email or via our website so that we can keep our phone lines clear for those with an emergency.

IF YOUR REPAIR IS AN EMERGENCY, PLEASE CALL 0800 0193 222 IF YOU SMELL GAS OR SUSPECT A GAS LEAK, PLEASE CALL 0800 111 999 IMMEDIATELY. From the end of July, you will be able to report repairs again using the MySBHA app.

SBHA's Plumber/Gas Fitter, Alan Gray

Working together to keep safe 1. When you call to book a repair we will ask you about the health of the ­people in your household.

2. Our team will call ahead before the appointment to make sure there have been no changes to health.

3. When we come to your home, please remain in another room and leave doors and windows open to ­ventilate the area while the repair is being carried out.

4. We will use a range of personal ­protective equipment (PPE) and hygiene ­measures suitable for the task and for your ­circumstances.

Thank you for co-operation!

GAS SERVICING We want to ensure you remain safe in your home so our gas contractor, PH Jones, has continued to carry out gas safety checks throughout the lockdown period. This complies with Scottish Government guidance.

It is important that you provide access to your home to complete this saftey work. The engineers have been provided with (PPE) and training to enable them to safely carry out work inside your home whilst c­ omplying with the guidelines around social distancing and safety ­measures.

If you are self-isolating or shielding, please contact us to let us know. We want to reassure you that your safety is important to us and if you have any concerns or queries, please contact us on 01750 724444.

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IMPROVEMENTS GETTING INVOLVED TO YOUR - SBTO HOME We had to suspend our planned upgrade work, including the replacement of new kitchens and bathrooms, during lockdown to comply with government restrictions.

We have however been able to continue with some essential work, such as fire and electrical safety checks, to help keep you safe and some external painting that is essential to the fabric of the building.

Now that restrictions are beginning to ease, we have started some other external work where this can be carried out with social distancing. We are also planning to re-introduce our planned upgrade works and are in the process of contacting everyone who has had work delayed or was due to have planned work carried out this year, to discuss access arrangements and advise how we will carry out this work safely.

IN YOUR AREA We have been able to continue some but not all of our ­estate ­services during lockdown.

Although our grounds maintenance schedule was initially suspended, we have been able to carry out grass cutting of ­areas we own around our shared blocks. This has provided much ­needed access to outside space during lockdown for households and families living in these areas, We are pleased to confirm that we are now providing a full grounds maintenance service, while continuing to observe appropriate safety measures.

Our Factoring Service has continued cleaning communal ­stairwells where this service is provided and we have carried out enhanced sanitising treatment in the shared areas within our amenity housing schemes.

Now that restrictions are easing, our Community Teams are getting back out and about, carrying out socially distanced estate visits. While it may be a while before we can invite you to join us in person on estate walkabouts, we are looking at new ways to invite you to take part such as via ­video-link. Get in touch with your local Neighbourhood Housing Officer if you are interested in ­taking part or have any concerns or suggestions for improvement of your neighbourhood.

TENANT SURVEY PRIZE DRAW WINNER Winner of the prize draw for taking part the in last round of our Tenant Survey carried out on our behalf by BMG Research is Kirsty Mitchell (pictured with her adoreable son, Ewan, receiving her £100 voucher from our Neighbourhood Maintenance Surveyor, Duncan Combe).

Thank you to everyone who took part in the survey. We are using your feedback to improve how we deliver services.

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KEEPING YOU SAFE WHEN YOU MOVE We are pleased to confirm that, following the recent easing of restictions on moving, we have now restarted our full letting service and advertising our empty homes.

If we made you an offer of a new home prior to lockdown, we will soon be in contact with you to let you know when your new home will be ready for you to move into.

It is taking us a bit longer to get homes ready for letting due to the social distancing and ensuring we comply with safety ­measures when carrying out this work and we ask that you remain patient for a little while longer while we do this. House viewings may be offered to you by video-link by your Neighbourhood Housing Officer for safety and where it is possible to do so.

NEED TO TALK? This has been a difficult time for many people, and it's important to know that you are not alone.

Below is a list of some useful contacts of agencies and charities that are here to help.

Community Assistance Hubs - if you're shielding and need help with groceries and other essentials, call 0300 100 1800 Helpline for elderly people - call Age Scotland for coronavirus help, advice or simply a friendly voice on 0800 12 44 222 Domestic abuse helpline - for confidential advice and support, call Scotland's National ­Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0800 027 1234, or locally, call the Domestic Abuse Advocacy Support Service on 01835 825 024 Mental health helpline - if you're feeling low, stressed or anxious, call Breathing Space Scotland on 0800 83 85 87 Scottish National Helpline - for those who are shielding and need additional support call 0800 111 4000 Rape Crisis Scotland - confidential help and support for anyone who has suffered sexual violence 08088 01 03 02 Financial advice - find a range of advice and resources at moneyadviceservice.org.uk, or call 0800 138 7777 Childline - advice and support for children and young people on 0800 1111, or go to childline.org.uk If you are online, the NHS Borders website www.nhsborders.scot.nhs.uk provides other ­useful information about a range of support services available both locally and ­nationally.

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TENANT ENGAGEMENT & COMMUNICATION Fond Farewells!

After a distinguished career with SBHA, we bid a fond farewell to Alison Notman, our Tenant Participation Manager, who retired in May. A familiar face, Alison joined SBHA in 2003 and has worked tirelessly over the years in tenant participation, receiving national recognition for her work in 2016 when she was awarded the TPAS (Scotland) SBTO Joint Chair Tracey Glover says: "Alison will be very much missed by SBTO members and all the Tenants she’s worked with over the years. Have a lovely retirement Alison – you’ve earned it!”

Also retiring is Linda Wood, Committee Administrator. Linda may be known to many of you for her work in organising SBHA's AGM. She also designed and produced Tenant publications for over 15 years.

As both look back over their years with SBHA, they can rightly be proud of all they have achieved and both will be missed by all.

Warm Welcome!

We are sure you will join us in wishing both a happy and healthy retirement!

During the Summer, we plan to:

 Support SBTO in their

consultative and scrutiny role

 Help new Tenants get online digital and self-service  Promote options your views are heard by  Ensure carrying out Tenant satisfaction surveys

Tenant Engagement & Community Team Catherine Beattie, Jennifer McRobbie and Louise McNeilage

you informed by  Keep improving the newsletter and

We recognise that now even more so, it is very important that we keep you informed and updated of our response to the rapidly changing situation and the services we provide.

engagement in our  Support communities with our teams

our digital communications

We have therefore created a Tenant Engagement & Communication Team who will work together over the next few months to keep you informed. The Team has vast experience in communications and supporting tenants to get involved - and may be familiar faces to you as all are existing team members of SBHA. They will work during the next few months to ensure you recieve regular updates on services; work with SBTO and expand ways for you to get involved.

Contact the Team: email enquiries@sbha.org.uk or call 01750 724444.

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BLOOMING MARVELLOUS! The SBTO annual Tenants' gardening competition is back!

During these extraordinary times, there is no better time to connect with nature and grow your own blooms and produce - great for your health and wellbeing.

Get creative with window boxes and hanging baskets and, as the children are off school, why not get them involved!

Enter our annual gardening competition and let others appreciate your efforts.

This year there are three categories: Best Garden; Best Container Garden and, for the first time, Best Window Box. The overall winner will receive the Eric Kelly Memorial Trophy and there will be a £50 garden voucher for each winner.

All entries must reach us by 31st August 2020 - take photographs or videos of your gardens and email them to jmcrobbie@sbha.org.uk.

If you do not have email, please let us know and we can arrange with you for someone to visit your garden to take a picture. Judging will be carried out digitally by a Tenant panel and will take place in the first week of September.

Happy Gardening!

Angela Sulo, Tenant and member of SBTO.

NEW SBTO MEMBERS

TENANT SURVEY BMG Research is ­currently carrying out our Tenant survey on our behalf.

You may receive a phone call from them, inviting you to take part in a phone or email survey. These are not used for marketing purposes and your responses are used by us to help us improve.

Remember - as a Tenant living in ­Scotland, it is your right to have your say on your ­landlord's decision-making and we ­encourage you to get involved and take part in these surveys. Your views are ­anonymous to SBHA, but, if you do not wish to take part, you can opt out. If you have any queries, please contact Catherine ­Beattie, Corporate Manager cbeattie@sbha.org.uk

The SBTO would like to welcome new members George and Linda Gilchrist who joined SBTO earlier this year.

George said: “I decided to join the SBTO as I've been a Tenant for almost 20 years and I'm ­interested to find out more how SBHA delivers our services and how Tenants can work with them to try and improve services”.

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HOW ARE WE DOING? Performance update - figures for end of financial year 2019-2020 Average time to complete emergency repairs

1hr 45 mins

1 hr 48 mins

2019-2020

2018-2019

Average time to complete nonemergency repairs

6.3 days

6.7 days

2019-2020

2018-2019

You said, we did You said...

We did...

We need more and better information about Planned Works taking place in our homes.

•

Tenants are given 2 weeks' written notice of works starting, plus a phone call 48 hours before, and a text message 24 hours before Tenants on heating contract now get a comprehensive info pack.

•

Call handling

2019-2020 Sept to Dec 2019 Calls received in the year

Calls resolved at first point of contact

98.35

2019-2020

2018-2019

78% of you feel that SBHA is good at keeping you informed (down from 81% last year)

65,545

65,508

86%

55%

Average days to re-let empty homes

Percentage collected of rent due

98.22

2018-2019

40

46

2019-2020

2018-2019

Tenant satisfaction 75% of you are satisfied with opportunities to participate (up from 71%)

81% of you are satisfied with a repair you’ve had in the last 12 months (up from 80%)

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STRATEGIC PUZZLE PRIZEPLAN PAGE 2020 AND BEYOND Our 5 Year Plan

Although we are currently focussed on getting our services back up and running as lockdown restrictions ease, we remain committed to delivering our 2020-25 Strategic Plan which outlines our aims for the next 5 years. The plan was developed in consultation with Scottish Borders Tenants Organsiation and stakeholders who helped shape our vision for the next 5 years.

Below is a summary of the key projects contained within the plan. You can also find a copy of the plan on our website.

Great Places

One Team

Resilient Business

Affordable Warmth & Homes fit for 2040 • Meeting high standards and making use of new technology to make sure that everyone has a comfortable, warm home that's affordable to heat.

Developing the Talent Pool • Investing in learning and career pathways, looking for new ways to attract and keep the best people to drive forward the projects in the new plan.

Financial Capacity • Ensuring that we have funding in place, now and into the future, to allow us to deliver our ambitious plans.

Adapting homes to meet need • increase the supply of homes accessible for people who use a wheelchair.

Equipping the Team Culture • Broadening the skill-sets of our people, making sure that they have the skills to meet future challenges.

Digital Resilience • Modernising our IT systems to improve both efficiency and security.

Smart Investment Choices Mainstream New Build • Increase our contribution to new housing in the Borders.

Courageous Collaboration • Looking for partnerships with other agencies who can help us develop our offer to Tenants and communities.

Governance Ready • Making sure that Supporting Employability we are ready to • Helping people meet the to get ready for challenges of work, through new regulations. supporting training and work experience.

Great Customer Experience Transformed Outcomes & the SBHA Offer • Improving Tenant satisfaction through focusing on continuous improvement in customer services.

Reducing Inequality & Personalising Services • Developing services tailored to the individual and their needs.

The Channel Shift • Supporting everyone to make the choice to use digital services.

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PUZZLES PAGE Can you find the hidden summer-related words in the puzzle?

Words may be vertical, horizontal, diagonal, backwards, forwards, up or down!

BBQ POOL BEACH POPSICLE CAMPING SAND FUN SUMMER HOT SUN SUNGLASSES ICE CREAM JUMP SWIM KITE SWING PICNIC VACATION PLAY Solutions to the Christmas wordsearch.

Find Felix!

Felix has a great view today but where is he?

Send us your entries - we'll choose one completed crossword and one correct ‘Find Felix’, which will each win a £10 One4All voucher.

Send to SBHA, South Bridge House, Whinfield Road, Selkirk TD7 5DT Talk to us!

If you wish to see anything covered in future newsletters, want to leave some feedback on this newsletter, or are interested in learning more about SBTO and how you can get involved, please contact Catherine Beattie, Corporate Manager, on 01750 724444.

And remember - we're going digital, but if you would like to continue receiving paper copies of our newsletters, just let us know.

12 Registered as a Scottish Charity - No. SC030751

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