SHARE:  

54North Homes Customer Bulletin - November 2023

Welcome to our November Customer Bulletin – a chance to keep you updated about our latest news and activity.


It's hard to believe that next month it will be a year since York Housing Association and Leeds & Yorkshire Housing Association came together to form 54North Homes. It's certainly been a busy year and we'd like to thank you all for your support and patience whilst we have integrated our teams and processes.


We have recently written to you with a copy of our Annual Report - our first as 54North Homes. This gives an overview of our activity and performance over the last year, as well as outlining our forthcoming plans to improve our service to you.


Communicating and involving you, our customers, is key and these Customer Bulletins are a chance for us to share our latest activity and update you about our plans. 



If you would like to receive this Customer Bulletin in another language or format, please let us know. Or if you have any feedback or suggestions about content you would like to see in future bulletins, please contact: georgina.thompson@54northhomes.co.uk

Our team


We have recently welcomed a number of new colleagues to our team including some entirely new roles, such as a Customer Experience Manager and Sustainability Officer, reflecting our priorities for the organisation going forward. We will introduce you to some of these colleagues in future Customer Bulletins. 

 

We have also sent you all a letter (with your Annual Report) outlining who your local contacts are where you live, including your Housing Officer and Income Officer. They will be able to help you with advice and support during your tenancy and will normally be your point of contact should you have any questions or issues that need resolving.


Get involved


Customers are at the heart of everything we do, and we would love more of you to share your feedback with us and get involved in shaping and improving the services we provide. 

 

You can get involved in many ways: online, from the comfort of your home or taking part in friendly get togethers. We recently sent out a dedicated email about this which you can read here. If you are interested in getting involved, you can contact our Customer Experience Team: Abida Jamil and David Bracewell, on: 07841 431662 or email: connectwith54north@54northhomes.co.uk

Please be alert for any signs of condensation and damp


As we enter the winter months, we would ask you to be particularly alert to any signs of condensation or damp in your home. The air inside our homes tends to retain more moisture during the colder months, as we naturally keep our windows shut to not let precious heat out, and are more likely to dry clothes inside, take hot baths etc. which all produce more moisture.  


We have created an information leaflet showing preventative steps you can take which you can read by clicking here. One of the pieces of advice is to keep your home at a low, constant heat over winter. We do recognise that heating your home can be expensive; if you are struggling to manage your rent and bills, please contact us as soon as possible and ask to speak to one of our Income Officers or Money Matters Advisor, as they will be able to help you. 


We would urge you to always report any instances of damp or general repairs to us as soon as possible by contacting our Customer Services Team on Tel: 0345 5211993 or by emailing: dampmould@54northhomes.co.uk 

There is nothing more important than you and your family's safety. We want to work with you to resolve any problems and will send out a surveyor to understand the cause and how we can rectify it.  

54North Homes in Bloom winners


We were delighted to hand over the prizes to the very worthy winners of our 54North Homes in Bloom competition.



The standard was once again exceptionally high and we have been truly inspired by the green fingered talents of so many of our customers.

Concrete in the news.......


Many of you will have seen reports in the media recently of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in schools which has caused concern due to the failure of the product in a small number of incidences. It is a type of concrete which was used for building roofs and walls between 1950s-1980s. It is not thought to have been widely used in social housing, but as a precaution, we have been testing our blocks that were built during that time. The test does not require access into your homes: instead our engineer drills small holes in communal areas to take samples for checking. The testing is almost complete and so far, no RAAC has been found.  

Our Customer Support Fund


Helping you to thrive in your homes and communities is really important to us.

Our 54North Homes Customer Support Fund now is open for customers that feel they are struggling financially to apply to. With no lengthy application forms, we want this to be a simple way to receive a small amount of top-up support. Recent help we've given has included supermarket shopping vouchers, purchasing white goods and smart phones/tablets to help people access the internet.



If you feel you may benefit from this, please get in touch with our Customer Service Team on: 0345 5211993 or send an email to: hello@54northhomes.co.uk 

54North Homes | Tel: 0345 521 1993 | Email: hello@54northhomes.co.uk

Visit our website

Facebook  Twitter  Instagram