C ra w ley H o m e s' te n a n t n ew s lett e r
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Season’s greetings
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, all of us at Crawley Homes wish you peace, joy, and happiness now and throughout the coming year. We’d also like to thank all our tenants and residents who completed a survey or joined an engagement event in 2025. Your feedback is invaluable in helping us improve the services we provide and we look forward to hearing from you in 2026.
Crawley Homes’ Tenants Conference Limited spaces Booking required
Saturday 24 January, 10am to 3pm Crowne Plaza Hotel, Langley Drive, Crawley RH11 7SX
It’s free to attend with lunch provided. Conference starts at 10am. Please be on time and ready for a prompt 10 a.m. start. Allow yourself plenty of time to get there and to get yourself tea and coffee beforehand. This will be served from 9.15am. We’ve had great interest and we will contact everyone who has booked a place in January to confirm their attendance.
What’s it all about? We’re planning the content of the conference now, with presentations, workshops, and discussions, with the chance to share your views and ask questions. Meet tenants, staff and local partners and explore our information stands. If you have anything you think we need to consider for the conference let us know, the contact details are below. Interested in coming? • scan the QR code below and complete the booking form • email tenantparticipation@crawley.gov.uk • call 01293 438257 or 07393 761666
Christmas opening hours The Town Hall will close at 1pm on Christmas Eve and reopen on 2 January.
Repairs Emergency repairs for council tenants can be reported during this time by calling 01293 438000. Non-urgent repairs can be reported online.
Rent payments These can be made online or via our automated telephone payment line on 01293 438312. For information on other council services, please visit crawley.gov.uk or check our Facebook page.
Emails and voicemails We’ll respond to any emails and voicemails from you once we get back to work in January. This may take a few days, but we will get in touch if a reply is needed. Please make sure you report emergency repairs by telephone.
Stock condition surveys Our surveys help to keep your homes safe, secure, healthy, and well maintained. They let us plan our maintenance and investment programmes, so our homes meet the Decent Homes Standard. Thanks to everyone who has given us access to their home for the survey. We are now looking at ways to let you know the results of your survey so you are clear what happens next if work is required. We are pleased to confirm that we have completed 5,000 surveys to date which is giving us excellent information about the condition of our stock and both minor repairs required now and works that will need to be built into our planned works programme. If the survey has suggested that a part of your home is coming to the end of its life e.g roof, kitchen or bathroom, and will need replacing, this will be added to a future work programme over the next few years and will be prioritised based on the necessity of the work.
What is the Decent Homes Standard? The Decent Homes Standard is a set of minimum quality rules for social housing introduced in 2006, to make sure homes are safe, warm, and in good condition for tenants. To be considered “decent,” a home must meet four simple criteria: • meets the current statutory minimum standard – no serious hazards (e.g. structural risks, fire dangers) • is in a reasonable state of repair – key features (roof, windows, heating) are in good condition • has reasonably modern facilities and services e.g. proper kitchen and bathroom • provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort – sufficient insulation and heating (linked to energy standards)
Component lifespans Every component in a home, for example roofs, boilers, windows and kitchens has a lifespan, meaning the expected time before it needs replacement or major repair. These lifespans are defined in the current standard. For example: • roofs: 30 to 60 years • windows: 20 to 30 years • boiler: 10 to 15 years We use our stock condition surveys to track these lifespans and the condition of the component parts.
Changes to the Decent Homes Standard The government is currently consulting on some aspects of the Decent Homes standard as it was last updated 20 years ago. The consultation has closed, but they are considering if an updated standard should include no age limits for key features, protection from damp and mould, thermal comfort and energy efficiency and additional measures (e.g. floor coverings, home security). You can find out more about the consultation online. Visit gov.uk/government/consultations and search for Decent Homes. We’ll let you know what the new standard is when the changes are announced.
Energy efficiency works If your home is going to have specific energy efficiency works, we will do another survey of your home, this is in addition to the stock condition survey as it will pick up extra information on the thermal properties of your home.
Keep your Housing Benefit details up-to-date If you’re receiving State Pension and have more than £10,000 in savings or current accounts, it’s important to let us know. This helps us make sure your benefit is calculated correctly and avoids any overpayments. Also, if you receive a private or occupational pension, please tell us each year when it increases. Even small changes can affect your entitlement, and we want to make sure everything is right for you. Important: If your total savings or capital go over £16,000, your Housing Benefit will stop completely. This includes money in bank accounts, savings, and certain types of
investments. Please let us know straight away if this applies to you. It matters because it: • helps us support you fairly • prevents any future repayment worries • keeps your records accurate and up-to-date The Benefits team is available to answer queries, and process claims on working days between 8.30am and 4.30pm. Call 01293 438000 to report your changes.
Awaab’s Law – a new law for social housing Everyone deserves a home that is safe, secure and well maintained. A new social housing law, known as Awaab’s Law, came into effect on 27 October, and means social landlords, both council and housing associations must investigate and fix emergency and significant hazards within strict timeframes when an issue has been reported. This new law is named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who tragically died after prolonged exposure to mould in his home. Awaab’s Law aims to make sure no one else has the same experience and to make sure social landlords fix serious problems quickly.
What issues are covered under Awaab’s Law?
Report a repair/problem in your home Call 01293 438111 Complete our online form on crawley.gov.uk/repairs Email housing.repairs@crawley.gov.uk Normal office hours for Crawley Repairs Team are Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm. Outside of office hours the number above is for emergency repairs only.
Emergency hazards Issues that pose an immediate and significant risk of harm to your health (e.g. dangerous electrical faults, damaged external doors or windows, and major leaks). These must be investigated and made safe within 24 hours of us being made aware.
Dangerous damp and mould Where damp and mould poses a significant risk of harm to your health and safety, it must be investigated within 10 working days and then must be made safe within a further five working days. We already have existing processes in place to manage emergency repairs, hazards and damp and mould. These new rules will strengthen our approach.
Report the problem If you have a problem with your home, particularly if you think it may pose a risk to your health and safety, report it to us straight away. We will consider the issue and determine if it is covered by Awaab’s Law and if we think it is we will get in touch with you within the new timeframes. For anything covered by Awaabs Law, we must take into account your circumstances when assessing the problem. Make sure you tell us how the problem is impacting your household when reporting an issue. If we consider the problem is not covered by Awaabs Law we will use our standard repair response times to tackle the issue. More on our repair timescales can be found online at crawley.gov.uk/repairs
Working together Awaabs Law sets clear obligations for us to meet, but tackling damp and mould isn’t just about us taking action. We are clear it is not reasonable to blame damp and mould in the home on lifestyle. Some things such as cooking, bathing, washing and drying laundry just add to indoor moisture. We need to consider how existing ventilation, heating and energy efficiency may contribute to the problem as well. However, we will want to work with you to make sure you are making the best of your home. To help you make small, reasonable adjustments in what you do, to help reduce condensation and the risk of damp and mould. Working together with you will mean we can tackle any building issues, and you can get the best from your home.
Condensation Tips on tackling condensation can be be found at crawley.gov.uk/damp
Winter ready Temperatures have dipped, it gets dark early, and there has even been a bit of snow! Winter is here but are you ready?
Know where to turn your water off
Top tips for winter wellbeing
Knowing this will help if you get a water leak in your home. Turn the stop cock on and off regularly to make sure it is not seized up, if it is report it to us.
Eat, drink and keep active Try to make sure that you have hot meals and drinks regularly throughout the day and keep active in the home if you can. Keep warm You should keep your home warm enough to keep you and your home healthy. Setting your heating to at least 18ºc in winter poses minimal risk to your health when you are wearing suitable clothing and there’s less risk of your home becoming damp. If you feel cold, using several layers of clothes should be warmer than just one layer and don’t forget your head, wearing a hat will keep it warm. Priority Services Registers You may be able to get free help and treated as a priority customer if there is a power cut or problems with your gas or water supply. Why not sign up if you are of state pension age, disabled, have a chronic illness or a visual or hearing impairment, use medical equipment reliant on electricity or water or live with children under five. Everyone has different needs so contact your distributor to discuss your needs. Find out more about The Priority Services Register (PSR) at thepsr.co.uk Contact your gas, electricity and water distributor to join their Priority Service Register. In Crawley the electricity distributor is UKPower Networks and if you don’t have access to the internet, you can call them on 0800 169 9970 to sign up. For gas the distributor is Southern Gas Networks (SGN) and their PSR line is 0800 912 1700.
Power cuts If your home has no power, check the consumer unit (fuse box) to make sure all the circuits (switches) are on. Check with your neighbours or call 105 to check if there is a power cut in your area.
Get financial support It’s worthwhile finding out if you are claiming all you are entitled to. There are a range of additional benefits for the winter: Winter Fuel Payment – If you were born before 22 September 1959. If you are eligible for this, you will have had your letter to tell you and probably the payment too. Find out more at gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment Warm Home Discount Scheme – This helps low-income and vulnerable households with energy costs. Participating energy companies will be providing a discount on the electricity bill of certain customers. You’ll get a letter from the DWP, between late October 2025 and early January 2026 if you’re eligible for the scheme. More information on this can be found at gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme Cold Weather Payment – This is made during periods of very cold weather, to help pay for extra heating costs. The average temperature where you live must be recorded or forecast below 0°c for seven days in a row. You may be eligible if you get certain benefits. More on this can be found at gov.uk/cold-weather-payment
Help with money worries The extra costs of winter and the holiday season can stretch budgets. If you want to find out more information on a range of benefits, how to claim them and other support available, the councils web page crawley.gov.uk/moneyworries is a great place to start. You can also get help from Citizens Advice at advicewestsussex.org.uk or call 0808 278 7969. If you are struggling to pay your rent, talk to your housing officer we may be able to refer you to our Financial Inclusion team, who can work with you to look at your finances and make sure you are getting all the help you can.
Useful contact numbers Crawley Repairs team 01293 438111 housing.repairs@crawley.gov.uk crawley.gov.uk/repairs
Anti-Social Behaviour team 01293 438438 asb@crawley.gov.uk crawley.gov.uk/asb
Crawley Homes Housing Officers 01293 438000 crawley.gov.uk/housingofficers
Neighbourhood Services 01293 438772 neighbourhood.services@crawley.gov.uk
Contact Centre 01293 438000 comments@crawley.gov.uk If you or someone you know would like help to understand this newsletter, please email tenantparticipation@crawley.gov.uk or call 01293 438257.