Your Home spring 2016

Home YOUR

News for Islington Council residents and homeowners www.islington.gov.uk/housing

CONTENTS

2 / Supporting residents

Spring 2016

4 / Community news

6 / Housing news

A new lease of life for old furniture

8/ Noticeboard and diary dates An exciting new project called The Loop has been set up on the Andover Estate to help reduce flytipping and give furniture and white goods a new lease of life.

The Loop offers free doorstep collection to all residents on Andover Estate to repair and revamp old items.

These are then sold on to residents at affordable prices from the Bright Sparks shop on Seven Sisters Road.

Rachel Grasby, Estate Reuse Coordinator at The Andover Loop, said: “This is a great way to tackle the root causes of fly-tipping, and reduce the number of re-useable items going to landfill. I’m really looking forward to working with residents to transform some of the unwanted items into unique, affordable furniture that residents are proud to have in their homes. We’ll also be offering free workshops and training to residents so that they can gain new skills in refurbishing and up-cycling, and we’re always looking for keen volunteers, no experience necessary.”

Rachel Grasby and an ‘up-cycled’ chair

See great dance shows all year round for £3 We’ve teamed up with Sadler’s Wells theatre to offer our residents tickets to a range of amazing shows at the great price of just £3! If you’ve not been to the theatre before, simply get in touch with us and we can organise £3 tickets for four different shows each year.

Contact tamara.awarieta@ islington.gov.uk or call 020 7527 5148 for more information.

The project is part of the Londonwide REPURPOSE project, delivered

by Groundwork London and the London Community Resource Network.

For more information, please visit www.theloops.london or email andover.reuse@ groundwork.org.uk to arrange a collection.

Supporting residents

Giving something back In this edition of Your Home, we speak to Domingos Coxi, who has taken a range of resident training courses, and has since volunteered for several organisations and found work as a social inclusion assistant…

Why did you enrol on the courses and how did you find out about them?

I was already in full time employment, but I was looking for a change. I really wanted to give back and do something more meaningful, make a difference and enjoy what I was doing. To help me on the way, I took a community engagement course with Islington Council, and then I completed an accredited course in improving housing services. I also volunteered at St Luke’s Community Centre, and became a member of the Housing Services Repairs Reference Group.

What does your new job involve, and are you enjoying it?

My current role is in resident involvement, events and communication for housing and local government. I am definitely enjoying it as I get to interact with people from diverse backgrounds

and age groups, and use the different skills I have picked up through volunteering at charities, trusts, and the council. Giving back to your community in any way possible is one of the most satisfying, selfless and fulfilling things a person can ever do.

What would you say to other residents who are thinking of taking a training course?

Go for it! These courses are free of charge so you have nothing to lose. You will learn and gain new skills and it could open doors you wouldn’t expect. Take a chance as there are opportunities right in front of you.

To find out more about the range of courses available, go to www.islington.gov.uk/acl call 020 7527 4079 or email nalini.trivedi@islington.gov.uk

Are you a leaseholder who rents out your property?

Islington Lettings is a social lettings agency run by Islington Council. Let us remove the hassle for you – we offer great value compared to high street estate agents, and there are no hidden costs. Are you tempted by a £750 letting fee and 5% management fee? Want us to find and vet your tenants?

How does guaranteed rent, no set up fees or ongoing legal and renewal fees sound? And we will even cover your void periods and rent arrears, collect your rent, organise repairs and deal with tenancy issues for you.

We can do all this and more.

Call 020 7527 4200 or go to islingtonlettings.org.uk to find out more.

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Are you paying too much?

Residents using prepayment meters can end up paying more for energy than those who use other payment methods. The Citizens Advice Bureau estimates that prepayment meter users pay on average £226 more for their energy a year.

Find out more and how to reduce the costs by watching our videos at www.islington.gov.uk/ prepaymentmeters

Rent a garage Did you know that estate garages can be rented for storage purposes?

You don’t need to own a car to rent a garage and at just under £20 a week, they offer an affordable and more convenient alternative to private storage facilities. So if you are having a clear out and want somewhere nearby to store spare items, please contact your local Area Housing Office.

www.islington.gov.uk

Don’t miss out – get online!

There is so much you can do online, from communicating with friends and family to shopping and getting information. You can also save money with voucher codes and price comparison websites. You can keep track of your finances with online banking, and pay your rent and council tax via Islington Council’s My eAccount.

And with Universal Credit coming soon, make sure you are online and ready!

Across Islington there are a number of different places to get online and learn IT skills, including libraries, community centres, job centres and the local college.

For further information and to find your local training provider, call 020 7527 5782, email acl@islington. gov.uk or visit www. islington.gov.uk/acl

Cutting down on ASB New footie sessions

New footie sessions Arsenal in the Community has started two new football sessions: yy Football for girls under 18 with a disability takes place at William Tyndale School football pitch on Fridays, 7-8pm. yy Football for amputees takes place at Arsenal Hub every other week on Tuesday, 3-4.30pm.

Islington Council’s anti-social behavior team recently obtained injunctions against three individuals in the borough who had a history of drug use and prostitution. The injunction prohibits these individuals from entering several locations in the borough and lasts for a period of two years.

The best way to report anti-social behavior is online at www.islington. gov.uk/asb.

More information about the sessions and other sport and activity for disabled people is at www.allinislington.org.uk 3

Community news

Sanders Way

Flex those green fingers!

Interested in gardening but don’t have your own garden?

Want to grow your own food but live upstairs? If the answers are yes, then why not form a gardening club?

G

ardening clubs are a wonderful way of getting to know your neighbours and bringing people together on your estate. You can look after an individual flower bed, or you can set up a community garden. You can also grow food as well as plant shrubs and flowers.

Community and Service Development Officers

Sanders Way gardening club has been the hard work of some really keen residents who wanted to have an open space they could enjoy and mingle with their neighbours. The club started off planting up boxes and planters, and then worked with the council to get some money to develop a food growing area. This space has really encouraged community spirit and for residents to get involved.

2016 Find out more about this year’s Islington In Bloom competition in the main IslingtonLife magazine Sanders Way came third in Islington in Bloom, and people have commented that the area now resembles a little village.

If you want to improve the appearance of your communal gardens, or get involved with their maintenance at whatever level, please contact your local Community and Service Development Officer.

Holland Walk Area (covering, Hillrise, Tollington, Junction and St George’s wards) – Pamela Aristokle, 020 7527 7471 or pamela.aristokle@ilsington.gov.uk St John Street Area (covering St Peter’s, Clerkenwell and Bunhill wards) – Val Barnes, 020 7527 6259 or val.barnes@islington.gov.uk Upper Street North Area (covering Finsbury Park and Highbury West wards) – Chris Donovan, 020 7527 5379 or chris.donovan@islington.gov.uk Upper Street South Area (covering Mildmay, Canonbury and Highbury East wards) – Steve White, 020 7527 5378 or steve.white@islington.gov.uk Upper Street West Area (covering Holloway, Caledonian, Barnsbury and St Mary’s wards) – Jerry Hill, 020 7527 1847 or jerry.hill@islington.gov.uk

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www.islington.gov.uk

The bigger picture FREE

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Over 100 residents enjoyed a free trip to the cinema to watch the comedy classic The Odd Couple.

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83 Upper Street , Lo ndon, N1 0NP Book yo ur place now. Co on: ntact Ta mara Aw 020 7527 arieta tamara.aw 5148 arieta@islin www.isling gton.gov .uk ton.gov.u k/residentt raining

The Cinema Club for the over 60s was organised by the council’s housing team. Guests were welcomed by volunteers and offered refreshments before settling down to watch the classic Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau film at Screen on the Green on Upper Street.

Get arty on the Cally Road!

Project One Zero is a non-profit community arts organisation based on Caledonian Road just next door to the Cally Pitch. The group provides exhibition space and runs art workshops and non-art events for the local community.

There are free creative workshops within the community where people can drop-in, giving an opportunity to those who may not otherwise visit an art gallery to pop in and maybe pick up a paintbrush, try a bit of stencil cutting, needlework or photography.

Everyone is welcome – find out more at projectonezero.com

Following the film, a raffle was organised, with prizes generously donated by a range of local businesses. And before the afternoon ended, organisers surprised one lucky resident, Minell Harris, with a colourful bouquet of flowers and a chorus of Happy Birthday to celebrate her special day.

Glenda Daniel and Joan Dudley have attended all our events and were also presented with gifts for bringing their friends along.

To find out when the next event will be, please call Tamara on 020 7527 5148 or email tamara.awarieta@islington.gov.uk

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what are your options?

If you are homeless or threatened with homelessne

All properties that people on the Housing Register Housing We wantnews to be realistic about your chances of being 2014/15 bid for were let for 150 points or more. Here are the average number of points, and the lowest housed/rehoused number of points that each property size was let for between 1 April-30 September 2015: What’s the best housing option for you?

Many people have told us that if they realised how long the wait for We want to be realistic about your chances of be,Many they would beinghousing housed orwould rehoused. people havehave told considered other options 162privately, us that if theythey knewfirst how long the wait for housing 152 when applied – like swapping homes, renting would be, they would have considered other Average Studio flat and downsizing. number options when they first applied – like swapping Lowest number of points

of points homes, renting privately or downsizing.

There is lots of information about your housing options on our website:

Between April-September 2015, all properties that people on the Housing Register bid for were let for 150 points or more. Not many properties become for letting year - last year we let justtenant: www.islington.gov.uk/movinghome If you arevacant a council oreach Housing Association 1,200 properties, housing only 6% of people on the Housing Register.

Lowest Average number One-bed Only half of these had more than one bedroom.

If you areproperties not a council tenant: www.islington.gov.uk/findingahome of points number flat of points We aimIftoyou meetare the housing needs of those people most in need, but homeless or threatened with homelessness: www.islington.gov.uk/homeless we urge our residents to consider all their options.

All properties that people on the Housing Register The graphic on the right shows the average number bid for were let for 150 points or more. Here 2014/15 of points, and the lowest number of points that each arelet thefor average number of points, property size was between 1 April andand 30the lowest number of points that each property size was let for September 2015 between 1 April-30 September 2015:

Two-bed flat

If you are a council or Housing Association tenant you can find out more about your housing options at www.islington.gov.uk/movinghome

162

Average Studio flat If you are homeless or threatened with homelessness, go to number www.islington.gov.uk/homeless of points

Government policy changes are likely to restrict the number of properties available to let each year. We want to carry on letting as many homes as we can to people in need, so we are building new council homes, supporting tenants to mutual exchange withLowest others, and Average number freeing up family-sized One-bed homes by supporting tenants to downsize. of points number flat

227

Are you affected by the bedroom tax?

In December 2015, the government published a review of the bedroom tax.

The review found that 78 percent of claimants who were still affected after two years of the policy were regularly running out of money by the end of the week or month.

If you find that you are regularly running out of money because of the bedroom tax, you could choose to move somewhere smaller. We

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Three-bed flat

295

226

Average number of points

Average number of points

297

150

of points

150

255

152 Lowest number of points

227

Four-beds or more

Average number of points

Lowest number of points

169 Lowest number of points

215 Lowest number of points

offer tenants support and incentives to move to a smaller, more affordable, home. As well as meaning that you will no longer be affected by the bedroom tax, a smaller home should be cheaper to heat and easier to manage.

For more information contact us on 020 7527 4140 and choose option 3, email rehousing@islington.gov.uk, or visit www.islington.gov.uk/movinghome

www.islington.gov.uk

New laws around council housing are coming The government is planning to pass new laws soon which could mean some big changes for council tenants in the future. Even though nothing has been finalised yet, we wanted to let you know about some of these changes. yy Pay to stay – The amount of rent people pay will be decided by their household income. This means it’s likely that all tenants will need to provide information to the council about their income. This is likely to start from April 2017. yy Fixed-term tenancies – The council will not be able to offer homes for life to new tenants, but will instead offer fixed term tenancies for 2-5 years, which will be reviewed towards the end of the tenancy. We have not been given a date for when this is likely to start. yy Selling expensive council housing – The council will be forced to sell many properties which cost over a certain amount when their current tenants leave. This means the council will end up with fewer properties for council tenants to live in.

We have not been given a date for when this is likely to start.

None of these have been agreed yet. Islington Council along with many other councils is opposing all of these changes. The Housing Bill is going through Parliament at the moment. Once we know exactly what the changes are and how they will affect our tenants, we will make sure that you get the information, advice and support you need.

Council tenants can now request housing repairs online Council tenants can now request all non-emergency repairs 24/7 through the council website. We have involved tenants in the design of the form to make sure that it is as easy to use as possible. We show you some pictures and ask simple questions to understand the problem, then we let you know what you should do next – including booking an appointment yourself for some repairs. If you need a repair, give it a try at www.islington.gov.uk/repairs

Insurance – good to know If you have made changes to your property, you must inform the council. Failure to do so may result in your insurance no longer being valid and claims not met.

You need to let us know: yy if you have had an extension built yy if your home is used for any business purposes (other than clerical) yy if the property is no longer in a good state of repair yy if you have let, part let or sub-let your property to tenants yy if you or any person living in your home, has ever been convicted or received a police caution or has any prosecution pending for any criminal offence involving arson, fraud or theft.

If your property is left unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days, the following Insured Risks will be excluded: yy Malicious damage yy Escape of water from any fixed tank, fishtank, pipe or appliance and damage caused by bursting or freezing yy Theft or attempted theft.

Please refer to your Statement of Policy Cover for full details.

A better service for you The council wants to know what our residents think about our repairs and gas maintenance services. If we get things wrong we will work to put them right and learn from mistakes so we can continue to make improvements to our services.

To help us check how we are doing, we work with an independent research company called Kwest Research, which telephones residents that have recently had a repair to ask them some questions. So if you have recently had some work done, you may receive a call from Kwest. We really appreciate the time you give to answer their questions.

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NoticeboardTenants’ and Residents’ panels Upper Street North Panel

TBC

Helping improve our housing service

Upper Street South Panel

Islington Housing Services set up the Service Review Group (SRG) to make sure our services are improved for the benefit of tenants and leaseholders. Last year, residents told the SRG that learning from and responding to complaints was a key area for review. Its aim was to improve the way that we deal with complaints, as well as looking at the things we do well.

Members of the group carried out a variety of tasks to enable them to develop their recommendations, including telephone mystery shopping, arranging meetings, speaking to staff and looking at specific cases. The review is now complete an action plan has been developed to support the recommendations.

TBC

Upper Street West Panel

Elthorne Panel

Whittington Panel

St . John Street Panel

Have your say!

Help to improve the way housing services are delivered in your area by becoming a member of the Repairs or Leasehold Reference group!

Tenants and leaseholders who live in homes directly managed by the council are being sought for the two groups.

Members of the groups provide an important resident perspective on the work carried out by the Property Services Division and the Home Ownership Team. They put forward ideas to make changes and improvements to services.

The Repairs Reference group have in the past year been consulted on the changes to the repairs priorities, on damp and condensation and the layout of the online repairs pages. Future topics will include looking at gas repair priorities and the role of surveyors and their role and interaction with residents We have just recently set up the leasehold reference group and require more members and future topics will include service charges including notification, layout and value for money.

Get involved! Email nalini.trivedi@islington.gov.uk or phone 020 7527 4079.

Islington Town Hall, Uppe r Street, N1 2UD TBC Westbourne Community Centre, Roman Way, N7 8RD Monday 21 March Monday 23 May 7-8.30pm Holland Walk Area Hous ing Office, 85-88 Holland Walk, N19 3XS Wednesday 16 March Wednesday 15 June 7pm with refreshments from 6.45pm Hilldrop Community Ce ntre, Community Lane, N7 0J E Tuesday 22 March Tuesday 23 May 7pm with refreshments from 6.45pm Tompion Community Ce ntre, 40 Percival Street, EC1 Wednesday 13 April Wednesday 25 May 7-9pm

www.islington.gov.uk

For enquiries please contac t: christopher.donovan@ islington.gov.uk or 020 7527 5379 For enquiries please contac t: steve.white@islington. gov.uk or 020 7527 5378 For enquiries please contac t: christopher.donovan@ islington.gov.uk or 020 7527 5379 For enquiries please contac t: pamela.aristokle@ islington.gov.uk or 020 7527 7471

For enquiries please contac t: pamela.aristokle@ islington.gov.uk or 020 7527 7471 For enquiries please contac t: val.barnes@islington.go v. uk or 020 7527 6259

Responding to and learning from complaints review are: recommendations The review is now complete, the main What works yy The number of complaints to the Housing Service are reducing yy The number of upheld complaints are reducing yy Learning in the main is being implemented yy Officers were found to be courteous during telephone calls yy There were some good examples of written responses that dealt with issues in an empathetic and polite manner, with appropriate apologies

What can be improved yy Develop a Complaints Customer Care Pack which all staff are trained on, so they can be more empathetic, polite and apologise when things go wrong. yy Monitor staff performance against the Complaints Customer Care standards yy Make the complaints pages on the council’s website more accessible yy A sample of complaints should be reviewed annually by members of the Service Review Group