Residents News
| SPRING 2025
Going green
Read more about our environmental policy and what it means for your neighbourhood
Page 12-13
Dates for your diary
Our Contact Centre will be closed over the upcoming bank holidays.
If you have an emergency or routine repair, please call 0800 542 8904. This ‘call-out’ number is available 24 hours a day.
If you smell gas, please call National Gas Emergency on 0800 111 999 immediately. Isolate the meter to make safe where necessary and open windows to ventilate your home.
Resident Events
Our Community Engagement Team is hosting a series of upcoming resident drop-ins and events in local areas. These gatherings are a great opportunity to meet your Neighbourhood Manager, connect with fellow residents, or discuss any concerns with our team.
Friday, March 28th | 11:00 – 13:00
Face-to-Face Drop-In at Wingrave Community Centre (Church St, Wingrave, Aylesbury HP22 4PE) Join us for tea, cake, and conversation!
Tuesday, April 1st | 18:00 – 19:30
Neuroinclusive Talk by Mel Francis –Held at our offices.
A session that explores the importance of creating inclusive spaces for neurodivergent individuals. Mel Francis, a passionate advocate for neurodiversity, breaks down key concepts such as autism, ADHD, and other cognitive differences, highlighting the strengths and challenges neurodivergent people experience in everyday life. Whether you’re new to the concept of neurodiversity or looking to deepen your understanding, this talk offers valuable insights for everyone.
Thursday, April 17th | 10:00 – 12:00
We’ll be attending the Community Café and Foodbank Morning at St. Peter’s Church in Quarrendon. Stop by for a chat!
If you’d like to attend any of these events, share feedback, or request a visit from our team in your area, please email us at hello@fairhive.co.uk
Get Involved
All planned dates, including Resident Forum meetings where you can share your thoughts and get involved, are listed on our events calendar. Check it out on our website: www.fairhive.co.uk/events
Follow us on social media for the latest updates.
Dear Resident
It is great to be able to take this opportunity to introduce myself and our Sustainability Team here at Fairhive. In this issue of Residents News, we have included a key update about our progress over the last few years and what we are excited to work on as part of our new five year strategy that is launching very soon. You can read more on pages 12-13 about our Warm Home Improvements Programme, what our latest SHIFT report (the sustainability standard for the housing sector) shows, and how to get involved as a Sustainability Champion.
We also have our regular update from the Resident Forum, over on page 6. Read more about our resident drop-in events and hear from forum members who have attended community events either to ask their own questions or to support as resident volunteers.
Hear from our Executive Directors on pages 4-5 where Matthew and the team reintroduce themselves and share a little about what they are most looking forward to in our new Corporate Strategy (20252030). We’ve also included some useful updates in this issue about our Tenants Satisfaction Measures and Business Continuity Processes which we feel is important to share with all our residents and stakeholders.
There is plenty packed into this issue so I hope you enjoy reading more about our business updates and Sustainability goals alongside the usual helpful articles. Don’t forget to check out our upcoming events and dates for your diary, or find our note from Estate Services on page 15 for a reminder about grass cutting as we move into the warmer months.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful spring and enjoy all the new buds on the trees and bulbs popping out. Keep an eye out on our social media pages and on the ‘News’ section of our website for more updates about what we are working on in our community to make positive change for the local and global environment. I look forward to seeing you at one of our resident events soon!
Cecily Church Head of Environmental Sustainability
Planning for the next five years – hear more from our Execs!
Matthew Applegate
Chief
Executive
Matthew has been Chief Executive since the organisation formed in 2006.
He has worked within the housing sector for over 30 years and previously held a variety of senior executive roles including Chief Executive, Finance Director and Company Secretary. He has also held Non-Executive Board Member and Committee Chair roles at other housing associations.
Matthew is a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has taken part in various panels and forums within the sector that has influenced policy development and its implementation. He is a qualified accountant and early in his career worked as an auditor at an accountancy firm.
“Our new Corporate Strategy is an exciting opportunity to set out the great plans that we have for the next five years and with your help, maintain our position as a top-performing housing association.”
Julie Porter Executive Director of Development
Julie joined the organisation in January 2020, right at the start of our last 5 year Corporate Strategy, to lead our programme of developing new homes.
She has worked in housing development in several roles for over 30 years; beginning her career with a private housebuilder before going on to work for a number of regional and national housing associations.
“Our objective for growth within the new strategy is to maximise our delivery of affordable and sustainable new homes that meet the needs of our residents, both in terms of quality and location.”
Go behind the scenes with our Executive Leadership Team (ELT) who have been planning everything that will make up our new five year plan. Alongside our Board members, Involved Residents, employees, and stakeholders, the team are getting ready to launch the new Corporate Strategy later this year.
Dean Gill
Executive Director of Operations
Dean has over 30 years of experience working with housing associations, local authorities, councils, and several related private sector businesses.
He joined the organisation in July 2010 to lead a number of teams including Repairs, Maintenance and Asset Management. He now also leads the Tenancy Services, Independent Living, Homeownership and Facilities teams.
“Our new 5 year Corporate Strategy has been developed in conjunction with residents. We have listened to what you told us and we will continue to listen and engage with you to shape the services we deliver to meet your needs. We will keep investing in our existing homes and neighbourhoods to contribute to a sustainable future, providing modern, safe, and efficient homes to make a positive environmental impact in our communities.”
Izabela Falinska
Executive Director of Finance and Resources
Izabela joined the organisation in May 2021 and her responsibilities include Finance, IT and Governance. Her focus is to ensure that we maintain strong governance and financial metrics, with ample potential for growth. Previously Izabela held the position of Director of Finance Services at Stonewater Limited where she was responsible for the consolidation of finance functions and financial systems following the merger of three organisations.
“Our new strategy reflects how we can maximise the value we provide to our residents in a challenging operating environment. We set out a range of ambitious targets and deliverables which reflect the Board’s current priorities and insight from residents.”
A message from your Resident Forum
Come to one of our resident drop-ins and have a friendly chat with other residents and Fairhive employees over a cuppa, maybe a slice of pizza or some cake!
There are many benefits from attending one of our drop-ins, such as:
• You can share your experiences as a resident
• Learn more about Fairhive’s services and how they can support you
• Share your ideas on how you would like to improve your community
• Make new friends and ask questions
• Raise a complaint and give feedback
• Get help and advice on issues concerning you and your home, this includes raising a repair and asking about permissions or upgrades. We would love you to join us at any of the friendly drop-in events, get to meet us and the Community Engagement Team.
Dates and locations of drop-ins can be found on the events calendar at fairhive.co.uk/events.
From your Resident Forum
“I chatted to all the Fairhive employees who showed genuine interest to make me feel valued and included, and were immediately able to point me in the right direction for any queries I had as a new resident.” - a resident
“I left the drop-in feeling hopeful and confident in my new landlord. I felt excited, positive and optimistic for what the future could bring as a resident and as a new Resident Forum member. I felt listened to, respected and appreciated.” - a Resident Forum member
“The residents who attended seemed to be very happy with the information they gained from just popping along. There was also the opportunity to meet with Fairhive employees and other residents. Mike and I let them know that we were volunteers, and were able to answer residents’ questions. I found it to be an interesting evening.” - a resident volunteer
Our complaints and compliments performance
Customer Satisfaction for Complaints:
51.61% of residents surveyed between October and December 2024, told us they were satisfied with the handling of their complaint.
There is still a lot of work to do and we now have a dedicated Complaint Co-Ordinator in place who is responsible for resolving complaints and staying in touch with you throughout the process. Many of our respondents are telling us about their experience when they requested a service and rightfully so. We want to make sure that if things go wrong, you are confident
and comfortable to talk to us about your complaint and that you feel we will listen to you, treat you with respect and put things right. It is this experience we refer to when we ask for feedback on how we handled your complaint. So, when you answer this question, think about your experience after you told us things went wrong and how we treated you.
You can raise a complaint in one of the following ways:
• By phoning us on 01296 732600
• Via the website www.fairhive.co.uk
• By e-mailing complaintsgeneral@fairhive.co.uk
Between April and December of 2024 compared to the same period the previous year:
Total
Total number of compliments received
During this period, there were over 35,000 face-to-face resident interactions across Repairs, Lettings, Tenancy visits, Occupancy checks, and Caretaker visits including contractors.
At any point you can contact the Ombudsman as well if you have a complaint about us. Their contact details are: Housing Ombudsman – 0300 111 3000 | www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk
Some of the key learnings we’ve taken from complaints this year are:
You said:
We need to improve on the quality of works
We’re doing:
• We’ve increased the number of post-work inspections to check that the quality meets our standards for both our Operatives and Contractors.
You said: You’re waiting too long for repairs to be completed
We’re doing:
• We are now regularly monitoring outstanding works including where we need further visits to ensure we complete works as quickly as possible.
You said:
We need to take damp and mould seriously
We’re doing:
• We have dedicated resources to handle damp and mould cases which includes pre- and post-inspections and better working between teams so we can attend to the problems in faster timescales, and treat the root cause rather than the symptoms.
To raise a complaint or leave feedback please visit our website (www.fairhive.co.uk/making-a-complaint) or give us a call.
Waiting to hear about a damp and mould repair? Don’t get taken in by targeted scams
Here’s what you can do
Condensation and mould are naturally more common throughout the wet weather months, from September to March, and we often see a rise in damp and mould inspection appointments with our Repairs Team. If you have noticed mould in your home and raised it with us, our team will come to your home to assess what is the best way to treat the problem and help manage the possible causes. Sometimes the root cause isn’t immediately clear and we will take the time to work with you to manage the issue and prevent mould from continuing to grow. If you have any questions, please ask a member of our team or get in touch with us via email or phone.
Unfortunately, we have been made aware of scammers trying to contact residents about damp and mould disrepair claims and promising to win them court cases or help with compensation claims. The main goal of these companies, or individuals, will be to profit from any claim you make through them and these claims can waste a lot of time and money for us that we would much rather spend fixing the original issue and working with you directly. This is why we want to raise awareness of phone scammers and housing disrepairs companies that may knock on your door. It is always worth questioning anyone claiming to win a case for you, check with us first if you have been approached by an external company regarding a repairs claim, and avoid signing any documents they present, as you may be liable for fees if you change your mind later on.
instead Get in touch with us. If you already have a damp and mould repair ticket with us but you’re either unhappy with the service or feel that we haven’t kept you informed of the action we are taking to resolve the issue, you can choose how you would like to proceed:
• Contact us and ask for an update. Our Contact Centre Team will be able to look into the repair ticket for you and see if there are any ongoing actions you may not be aware of.
• If you are registered on My HomeHub you can check the progress of the repair on your account.
• If you are still not happy with our level of service, you can raise a complaint. By going through our complaints process, you will be able to raise any concerns you have and your complaint will be fully investigated and responded to by a lead member of our Repairs Team.
- Call our Contact Centre: 01296 732600
- Email our Complaints Team: complaintsgeneral@fairhive.co.uk
- Find out more about our complaints process on our website (www.fairhive.co.uk/ compliments-and-complaints).
• Please note you can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service at any point during the complaint process. They are independent and can offer impartial advice.
- Call the Housing Ombudsman: 0300 111 3000
- Email: info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
- Post: Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET
Encouraging wildlife in our Communities
Our Caretaking Team recently got involved in an initiative to support local wildlife and protect biodiversity within our Independent Living Schemes. Drawing inspiration from a recent employee volunteer day at Tiggywinkles Animal Hospital, the project included rehoming hedgehog houses, installing bird boxes, and setting up bug hotels across several schemes.
The aim was to create safe habitats for various species such as birds, and pollinators like bees. These efforts are particularly important for vulnerable species such as hedgehogs, which rely on dedicated spaces to nest and hibernate during colder months. Similarly, bug hotels offer vital shelter for bees, whose pollination work is essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems. Beyond protecting wildlife, these activities have enhanced green spaces, creating peaceful areas for residents to enjoy.
This resourcefulness also revealed how wildlife can develop community connections and deepen our appreciation for nature. One resident shared a touching story about a hedgehog family living in his garden, lovingly cared for by him and his grandchildren.
We’re excited to involve more residents in supporting wildlife in their communities. Through our Independent Living Schemes or the Nurture Your Neighbourhood project, there are many opportunities to enhance green spaces, create animal habitats, and improve local biodiversity.
If you’re interested in joining these efforts, our Estate Services Team would love to hear from you. Visit our website to learn more about the team and the Nurture Your Neighbourhood scheme.
Getting to know you – update on our Resident Census Project
As mentioned in the last issue of Residents News, we have launched our ‘Getting to Know You’ project. This initiative aims to ensure we have the most up-to-date information about you, and your household. By understanding more about our residents, we can tailor our services to better meet your needs.
The project is progressing well, with our employees actively reaching out to residents. If you haven’t heard from us yet, please expect to in the coming weeks. We would like to extend our gratitude to everyone who has already participated. If you have been contacted by a team member but haven’t responded yet, please do so by the end of March 2025. For those we do not hear from, we will conduct follow-up visits over the next few months.
As a token of our appreciation, all participants will be entered into a prize draw to win one of four £200 Love2Shop vouchers. The lucky winners will be contacted in April 2025*
Employee volunteering in action
As part of our ongoing commitment to giving back to the community, we encourage every employee to participate in one of our quarterly volunteering days. As a housing landlord, this strengthens our connections with our community and partners, encourages teamwork and a sense of purpose among our employees, and allows us to make a meaningful impact beyond our workplace. Our employees have already given back in a variety of ways:
• Some volunteered at Tiggywinkles, a local wildlife hospital, where they built hedgehog houses to aid in wildlife conservation efforts.
• Others worked with the RSPCA, our Employee Chosen Charity of the Year, socialising with kittens and contributing to their vital work.
• We also partnered with Vineyard Church and Storehouse, where we host our weekly Community Hub, to help clear a large area of overgrowth and prepare the space for a new communal garden. One of our volunteers shared, “We not only packed multiple boxes of Food Bank packages for the most vulnerable households, but we also cleared an area that had remained untouched for a very long time. This will now allow the Vineyard to set up a garden that will benefit many people who visit the centre.”
So far, 104 of our employees have volunteered across multiple different charities. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. For example, the RSPCA Blackberry Farm Team said, “Thank you to you and your team for the amazing work you did during your group volunteering day.”
We’re excited to continue this initiative and involve even more of our passionate team members in making a difference. If you have any suggestions for charities our employees can volunteer with this year, we’d love to hear from you!
Whether it’s a cause close to your heart or one you’ve seen doing great work, we welcome your ideas. Email our Communications Team at hello@fairhive.co.uk if you have a recommendation.
Please note, we focus on volunteering with registered charities or community projects that benefit large communities.
Business Continuity at Fairhive
We have developed a series of plans and guidelines that help us meet unexpected and challenging situations, and yet still allow us to deliver critical services that are key to our stakeholders, including our residents.
Example incidents include things like, a pandemic; a cyber-attack; a ransomware demand; and loss of a building or loss of key supplier(s). These incidents would have an impact on the way we deliver our services and it’s therefore important that we manage them, to minimise any disruption.
To develop our plans, employees from across the company looked at what we do, where we do it, and the resources we need to ensure, that during an incident, we can still deliver our services effectively. Our Business Continuity Plan (BCP) also details how an incident is
reported, escalated, and responded to, to ensure departments can continue to operate.
One of the key elements to Business Continuity is communication. Ensuring stakeholders are kept up to date is an important part of our Communications Team’s responsibility and during an incident this becomes even more essential. During a crisis, the team reprioritise to allow them to focus on both internal and external communications to ensure residents and key stakeholders are kept informed at all times.
We recently shared our approach to Business Continuity with our Resident Forum, which was positively received. They were keen to ensure that we had considered a wide range of incidents, including for example environmental impacts, as well as wanting assurance that residents would be regularly communicated with, as appropriate. We confirmed both of these points and understand that, as well as responding to an incident, communication is a key priority. For more information on our approach to Business Continuity, please visit fairhive.co.uk/business-continuity.
Our steps to becoming an anti-racist organisation
At Fairhive, we have continuously promoted the principles of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, as demonstrated by our achievement of becoming Disability Confident Leaders in the Buckinghamshire area. We are committed to taking the next step in creating communities, homes, and workplaces that are safe and welcoming for everyone. That’s why we have joined, the Social Housing Anti-Racism Pledge (SHARP).
What is SHARP?
The Social Housing Anti-Racism Pledge, developed by the BME London Landlords group in collaboration with The Housing Diversity Network, urges all registered social landlords to adopt an anti-racist stance by implementing a clear policy affirming their commitment to being anti-racist.
We are currently in the process of developing a core statement and action plan. In the upcoming months, we will share our core statement, provide updates on our initiatives, and outline the changes we are implementing. Most importantly, we will be inviting you to share your thoughts and actively participate in our efforts to becoming a truly fair housing provider and workplace.
Big steps toward sustainable housing solutions
As we look ahead to the launch of our new five year Corporate Strategy, Environmental Sustainability remains as one of our key strategic objectives and underlines how we carry out all our work from building new homes and providing more efficient energy solutions for residents, to our procurement process and office recycling schemes.
What have we been working on?
Over the past few years our team have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to secure government funding and launch our Warm Home Improvements Programme. This project is centred on the Government commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2050 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to help combat the effects of climate change. You may have heard of a national scheme called the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, a Government programme that we have successully applied to for funding, which has allowed us to work on practical and positive interventions aimed at improving the energy efficiency of our lower EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) scoring properties. You can find out more about this project and find recent updates on our website: fairhive.co.uk/shdf.
We have already put this funding to good use and have taken a targeted approach to enable us to make the most impact and meet Government requirements for the SHDF scheme. Works completed to date include:
• Installing renewable energy systems, such as air source heat pumps, in new build homes and existing properties where suitable. Investing in solar panels, energy diverters, and energy storage units. These use solar power to heat water in tanks that will help to reduce demand on gas or electricity.
• Installing external wall insulation as part of a retrofit energy efficient system.
• Providing free radiator reflectors for residents to reduce heat loss.
We have also been working closely with our contractors and local agencies, such as the Energy Doctors, to provide free advice and practical tips for energy saving all year round. Stay tuned to our website and social media for more updates and to find out when we are hosting resident drop-in events where you can come along and speak to a member of the team!
We’ve updated our Environmental Sustainability Policy
In 2024, we updated our corporate framework that covers how all aspects of sustainability are interconnected and what business changes are necessary to meet our key priorities. You can read our full policy document on our website (fairhive.co.uk/environmental-sustainabilitypolicy) where we go into more depth about our sustainability principles:
• Resident-focused, we must deliver benefits for residents and minimise disruption.
• Employee-driven, everyone internally has a role to play and must be equipped with the skills and knowledge required to take responsibility.
• Collaborative, our work must be aligned across departments and with our chosen suppliers and partners.
• Evidence-based, all projects must be monitored to gauge whether they have worked; continual learning process and improvements made based on experience. These guiding principles align our Environmental Sustainability Policy with our current objectives and the plan we are building for the next five years. Our new Corporate Strategy, including our new objectives for Sustainability and ongoing priorities in this area, will be launching very soon. You can find out more on our website this Spring and in our next issue of Residents News.
How do we measure how sustainable we are?
As a Social Housing Landlord, we produce a SHIFT Report which is recognised across the Housing sector and allows us to be measured against other Housing Associations in assessing our carbon footprint as a whole organisation. The work that goes into this report also provides us with crucial data to show where we are performing well and where further work needs to be done to improve our environmental impact. This measurement is taken across various areas of the business including emissions produced as a result of maintaining and heating existing homes, construction and development, employee facilities, resident engagement, supply chain and strategy and management.
We produced our first report for 2023-2024 and scored a very high Silver which is encouraging and shows there is still more to be done to improve our impact on our local and global environment. This year (2024-2025) we’re going for Gold!
Areas where we are making positive change as shown in the report include: our office energy and water use which is already very low; our electric fleet vehicles help to reduce emissions from road travel and are used by our Operatives and Housing teams whilst visiting residents’ homes.
As recommended by the report outcomes, we have a number of areas to focus on such as: improving the EPC bands of homes (bringing all homes up to EPC C); increasing opportunities for resident engagement so that you can play more of an active role in our sustainable future. We’ve already kicked-off an exciting new opportunity to get involved through our Resident Sustainability Champions Programme, read on to find out more!
Become a Sustainability Champion!
We’re looking for passionate individuals to help us identify new and innovative ways to ‘get-greener’ in our local community. From working on our policy changes and making an impact on what actions we take as a landlord, to helping us encourage more people in our neighbourhoods to make sustainable choices, our Resident Sustainability Champions will be at the centre of our efforts to deliver the next five year (and beyond) plan for Sustainability at Fairhive.
We want to hear from you and involvement in our champion group is flexible. Whether you have the time to commit to regular meetings or you want to have your say online and stay up to date with our Sustainability Team, we welcome you to get in touch and see how this opportunity could work for you.
If you would like to get involved and help us to become a more sustainable leader in your community then contact our Sustainability Team energy@fairhive.co.uk or call 01296 732600 and ask about Resident Sustainability Champions.
Introducing our Intensive Housing Management Team
We have made some changes to what we, until recently, called our AHM Team but they are still providing the same excellent service. Now known as Intensive Housing Management (IHM), this service is for residents who need additional guidance and help via in-person visits from our friendly team. Our goal is to assist residents in sustaining their tenancy and to remain living independently in their homes.
Our Intensive Support Officers visit residents on a monthly basis to ensure they are managing their tenancy and will assist with any tenancy related problem they require help with. They can work with you to assist with a variety of concerns, including: completing grants applications, hoarding support, dealing with official letters or health referrals, managing repairs (working with other teams across the
an extensive range of support groups and ensure you are directed to the most relevant agency for your specific needs.
There is a weekly charge for this service (£7.24) which is benefit eligible if you apply. If you have already signed-up to this service or have been assessed as needing intensive housing support, your service will not change and you’ll still qualify for the support you have been receiving.
If you are a resident at one of our schemes you will already be subscribed to this service as part of your tenancy. If you know anyone that may benefit from this service, please obtain their consent before referring them to us. Any resident can refer themselves by getting in touch with our Contact Centre. To find out more about our Intensive Housing Management service, or to request a visit to discuss how we can help you, please email: contact@fairhive.co.uk, or give us a call on
Grass cutting over the upcoming months
As the weather warms up, our grass cutting services will begin so here’s what you can expect.
We aim to cut the grass in our communal areas every 2-3 weeks, however this might be longer if there has been significant rainfall or other unexpected issues that impact service delivery. Our grass cutting months are typically March to October but we may continue outside of these months if it is safe and practical to do so.
We operate using a “cut and drop” service which means communal grass clippings are not removed but are left on the surface.
At Independent Living Schemes we provide a ‘cut and collect’ service where grass clippings are collected by the mower and taken away.
We will provide updates on our grass cutting service on our website: fairhive.co.uk/estate-services.
If you were previously a Buckinghamshire Housing Association resident, then your grounds maintenance will be carried out by John O’ Connor. For our other residents, Idverde will carry out your grass cutting.
Calling All Green Thumbs
Are you working on your garden for summer? Whether it’s a colourful flowerbed, a veggie patch, or a creative balcony garden, we want to see it!
Our Great Gardens Competition is here to celebrate your gardening skills. This is your chance to showcase your hard work and creativity while inspiring others to get involved in making our communities greener and more vibrant.
Who can enter?
All Fairhive residents are welcome to enter! No matter the size of your outdoor or indoor space, every effort counts. The opening date for entries is Monday, 14th April 2025 and the closing date will be Sunday, 15th June 2025.
Visit our website (fairhive.co.uk/estate-services on how to enter later this year and find tips and inspiration.
TIME!
£50 VOUCHER
Return with your name and address to Puzzle Time, c/o The Communications Team, Fairfax House, 69 Buckingham Street, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP20 2NJ. The closing date for the entry draw is 18th April 2025 and the winner will receive a £50 voucher and have their name published in the next edition of Residents News!
We are pleased to announce the winner of our Residents News Winter Issue 62 Puzzle is Jean Johnston. Congratulations and we hope you enjoy the shopping voucher.
