Octavia Summer 2023 Resident Update

Summer 2023

Resident update Service updates and important information for residents

Octavia Resident Update

Edition 1

Message from the CEO Welcome to our first digital Resident Update. We have embraced a fully digital, email distribution of our regular news update for residents to make it both more accessible to you and more environmentally friendly. We hope you like it.

We can still provide a printed copy for anyone who requires it. Please let us know if you would like one to be posted to you.

In this edition, you can find out about how we can help with the cost of living and other essential support needs, as well as important fire safety updates and how to contact us for feedback or to make a complaint about our service.

We are keen to know what you think about our new Resident Update. Please email your feedback to update@octavia.org.uk

New Board Chair I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our new Group Chair, Stephen Jack, who joined us in April. Stephen took over the role from Sandeep Katwala, who provided us with strategic direction and support during his six-year term with us, for which we are very grateful.

Stephen is an experienced chair, with a 30-year executive career as a Finance Director and Chief Finance Officer in financial services.

The Board and Executive Team have warmly welcomed Stephen, and we look forward to working with him as we continue to develop our services and build on our achievements.

You can find out more about him on our website: www.octavia.org.uk Resident Update

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Talking to residents Calls will take place between Mondays and Fridays from 10am to 8pm (10am - 6pm Saturdays). The survey will take around 10 minutes. Please try to find the time to answer the call and use the opportunity to tell us what you think about Octavia as your landlord.

We will be contacting residents in July to get your views on our services

The STAR Survey is a standard survey which is used across UK housing organisations, so we can compare our results with other social housing providers.

Your views about our services are important to us. They help us to shape our services and make improvements.

This month (July) we will be contacting a number of randomly selected tenants by telephone to invite them to share their views about Octavia as part of our Tenant (STAR) Survey. We are working with a market research company called Acuity to do this. They specialise in social housing resident consultation.

Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey Later this year we will be carrying out another survey with all residents (tenants and shared owners) based on the new national Tenant Satisfaction Measures introduced by the Regulator of Social Housing.

If you are contacted If you are telephoned, the call from Acuity will register as being from ‘Brighton: 01273 093939’.

We will let you know more about when this will take place closer to the time.

SANDRA SKEETE, OCTAVIA CEO

Your views are important. Help us to improve our services.

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Fire safety Important information about fire doors Fire doors are specially designed safety doors that help contain fire or smoke.

Fire doors are an important precaution in case of a fire, as they stop fire and smoke from spreading from one part of a building to another.

They are an essential part of a building’s fire safety measures.

If you live in a flat, the door to your home is a fire door. All internal doors in communal areas, including cupboards, are also fire doors.

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What fire doors do Fire doors save lives and prevent further damage to the building and its contents. They help keep escape routes, such as corridors, clear from fire and smoke and they contain fire in the area where it started, allowing time for the fire service to attend and manage the fire.

It is vital that all fire doors in your building are kept closed at all times when they are not in use. They must not be left open under any circumstances.

Fire doors in your building must be kept closed. Please report any damage to fire doors to us.

The door to your home, and other fire doors in your building, should close securely by themselves.

It is important that: • all fire doors in your building are fully closed when not in use • the door to your home closes properly • you never tamper with, or try and adjust, a fire door or its closing device.

Report any damage to a fire door in your building, such as a door not closing properly, to us as soon as possible.

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Fly tipping Don’t let it slide We want our residents to live in a safe and rubbish free environment. We are aware that fly-tipping is a problem around some of our homes. We are asking our residents to be vigilant about reporting any incidents of people fly-tipping at our schemes.

Fly tipping can affect the cost of the services we provide to you to maintain your home. You can report any incidents of fly tipping to your local council through this website: www.gov.uk/report-flytipping or by clicking the button below.

Please keep all communal areas clear of personal belongings Personal items left in communal areas will be removed and disposed of, often without warning. This ensures that residents are free and safe from any obstructions or fire hazards in the communal areas.

Please help us by storing all personal belongings inside your home and not in communal corridors and other spaces you share with your neighbours.

If you are concerned about anything to do with fire safety in your building, please contact us.

You can call us on 020 8354 5500 or email us at: info@octavia.org.uk@octavia.org.uk.

Fire Risk Assessments We carry out fire risk assessments periodically to highlight any actions required to keep residents safe. This includes inspecting all fire safety equipment, including fire doors, and carrying out repairs and upgrades where required.

Please be aware that during fire door inspections in your building, our contractors may request access to your home.

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Repairs Reporting a repair

Damp and mould

We operate a 24/7 telephone service for emergency repairs. If you need to report a repair that is an emergency, call us straight away on 020 8354 5500.

If you are experiencing a problem with condensation, damp or mould, we can help.

To find out what you can do to prevent damp or mould in your home watch this video.

If you call after 5pm Monday to Friday, on a public holiday or during the weekend, we operate an emergency only repairs service which you can still access on this number.

Visit our website for more information.

Follow the instructions in the message and your call will be automatically transferred to our emergency out-of-hours service.

You can report any non-urgent repair:

Please note, if an operative is sent out to you and they find it is not an emergency, you will be recharged for the cost of the visit.

between 9.30am and 4.30am, Monday to Friday, at: info@octavia.org.uk, or by calling: 020 8354 5500.

Report urgent repairs at any time on 020 8354 5500.

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Don’t suffer in silence We can help

Domestic abuse is against the law and is a criminal offence

Domestic abuse can be one of the most difficult types of situations to talk about and to escape from. Abuse is not always physical violence. It can be sexual, financial, psychological, or emotional abuse and includes:

Domestic abuse affects women and men and can occur between current or former intimate partners or abuse from family members. Abuse caused by family members can include forced marriage, abuse relating to gender identity or sexuality, and so-called honour-based violence.

• Controlling behaviours – designed to dominate another person, or make them dependent on the abuser, by isolating them from sources of support.

Examples include depriving the person of their independence and means of escape or regulating their everyday behaviour.

It can be difficult to understand if a relationship is abusive, or for someone who is being abused to realise what’s happening to them. It’s also hard for a person to know what to do when they are experiencing domestic abuse.

We work jointly with specialist, confidential services that can support you if you are dealing with abuse – whether you have left your abuser or not. Our work centres around helping to keep those being abused safe. For more information see: www.octaviahousing.org.uk/domestic-abuse

• Coercive behaviour – such as assault, threats, humiliation, intimidation or other abuse used to harm, punish or frighten someone.

We are here to help - If you, or someone you know, is

experiencing domestic abuse, contact us on 020 8354 5500. We will arrange to talk to you about your situation and together with you, come up with a plan of action to help.

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Meeting up for coffee Widen your social circle with an octavia coffee group We run a number of social groups to enable adults to meet new people in their community. They are free to attend and designed to connect people for friendly conversation and fun.

If you are over 50 and would like to meet people in your local area, we would love to see you at our community coffee events.

You can join us by coming to one of our group meetings at any of the following locations and times:

“What I really like is the fact that everything is really relaxed and you can speak when you like and just mingle.”

Coffee afternoon at the reed Where: The Reed, 28 Convent Gardens, London W11 1NH. Close to Ladbrook Grove station When: Mondays 2pm to 3.30pm Coffee morning Where: Starbucks coffee shop 24-32 Kilburn High Rd, North Maida Vale, London NW6 5UA. Close to Kilburn Park Station and Kilburn Highroad Station.

When: Mondays 11am to 12.30pm

If you would like more information about joining our social activities for older people, please contact:

Marriott coffee afternoon Where: Marriot Hotel 134 George St, London W1H 5DN. Close to Marble Arch and Edgware Road station stations.

When: 2.30pm to 4pm Friday Afternoon.

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meenaxi.chavda@octavia.org.uk or call us on 07341 489839.

All over 50s are welcome.

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Got it covered?

It’s important to feel safe and secure in your home. But are you prepared for a situation where your possessions are damaged or stolen?

As your landlord, Octavia does not insure your personal possessions against any kind of damage, loss or theft. This applies even to damage caused by an accident outside of your home, such as from a water leak in the building or from a neighbouring property, or a flood.

Octavia has partnered with the National Housing Federation to offer Housing Contents Insurance for social housing tenants at a competitive price. The product is called ‘My Home’ and you can find out more about it by looking at: www.thistlemyhome.co.uk, or by calling them on 0345 450 7288.

To give yourself peace of mind, it is important that you insure your valuable belongings against accidental damage and other household risks. Home Contents Insurance can cover furniture, carpets and kitchen appliances, as well as jewellery and electrical equipment.

Though rare, incidents like this can be really upsetting, and if your possessions are not insured, it can be even more distressing to cover the cost of replacing them.

There is more information about home contents insurance for tenants and homeowners on our website: www.octaviahousing.org.uk/insurance

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Cost of living Struggling to meet essential household bills?

With household bills remaining high everyone is dealing with a reduced budget to cover the basics. We are aware that some people are worrying about how to make difficult choices, like paying for food or going without heating and hot water.

enough food, get in touch with us. You can talk to us in confidence about accessing support locally.

We are here to help - call 020 8354 5500

If you are struggling to pay your essential home bills, talk to us about it - we can provide support and advice with things like:

Money and benefits advice line

• helping you to access benefits you are entitled to • paying essential bills or buying food

We have an advice line to support residents who may be facing financial difficulty. The service is designed to provide targeted support for residents seeking help to manage money and maximise their income.

• being worried about getting into rent arrears, or at risk of losing your home.

Are you in need of extra support?

If you are looking for help with financial worries or benefits concerns, call our Advice Line to find out how we can help.

This is a very challenging time for many people and some people may be needing extra support.

If needed, we can arrange a longer, followup appointment with someone from our Financial Resilience team for further support.

If you are struggling to pay your essential household bills, or with being able to buy

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Find out more about this service here: octaviahousing.org.uk/advice-line/support

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Complaints

How to make a complaint about our service We take complaints about our services very seriously.

We are committed to providing all of our residents with an exemplary service. While we always strive to be reliable, responsive, respectful and resourceful, occasionally we may not meet our customers’ expectations.

When things go wrong, we welcome the opportunity to listen to your concerns so that we can respond consistently, fairly and sensitively.

To find out how to make a complaint, visit: www.octaviahousing.org.uk/complaints

How you can make a complaint

We welcome feedback on our services, whether you are a tenant or shared owner resident, or someone affected by our work in any other way.

Ways you can make a complaint: • online using our web form • by phone: 020 8354 5500 • in person at one of our offices • by email to complaints@octavia.org.uk • through an advocate (with your written consent)

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Resident Panel update Thank you to everyone who showed an interest in joining our new Resident Panel.

We were delighted with the number of residents who put themselves forward to be considered.

A selection panel of three Octavia residents and two Octavia officers appointed six new resident members.

Our new Resident Panel members have now joined the seven existing members to form our new panel, and they have already been busy with: • looking into Octavia’s performance data • sharing their ideas for improving value for money • monitoring Octavia’s approach to dealing with damp and mould, and being consulted on proposed policy changes • being consulted on changes to our Pest Control Policy • monitoring the development of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy • holding Octavia to account on issues around the rent cap and service charge increases.

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Be an Octavia ‘mystery shopper’ We take our customer satisfaction very seriously and we are looking for residents to become mystery shoppers.

You will need to come along to a briefing session at our head office at Emily House, 202-208 Kensal Road, London, W10 5BN before you start. As a mystery shopper, you will record the tasks you undertake. This will take around one hour of your time over the course of a month and in return you will receive £30 worth of shopping vouchers for each excercise you support.

As a mystery shopper you can help measure how well we deliver our customer service.

This can be done through telephone calls or by email from the comfort of your home.

The feedback you provide will be used by us to improve our services.

If you are interested in becoming an Octavia mystery shopper and would like to know more about what is involved, email us at be.involved@octavia.org.uk.

You can help measure how well we deliver our services.

Email: be.involved@octavia.org.uk to find out more.

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@Base Sizzling summer of fun with Base Youth Club Base Youth Club are holding their Summer Programme 2023 from July 24 to August 25.

All activities are free to attend for young people aged 10 to 16 but you do need to register as a member and book your space to avoid disappointment.

For more information email: conor.lynch@octavia.org.uk or text 07985 692369.

See octaviafoundation.org.uk/base Resident Update

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Give us your feedback

Let us know what you think of the Resident Update at: update@octavia.org.uk Please contact us if you need any part of this information in Braille, on audio tape or explained in a different language.

Opt for Octavia’s digital updates

Ask the Customer Contact Team to get your Resident Updates via email Repairs: 020 8354 5500 (including emergency out-of-hours) Complaints: www.octaviahousing.org.uk/complaints Contact Team: 020 8354 5500 info@octavia.org.uk www.octaviahousing.org.uk Octavia Emily House 202-208 Kensal Road London W10 5BN Resident Update

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