Pillar A newsletter for Severnside residents
Your rent: delivering value Severnside is a not-for-profit landlord. That means that rental income we receive is invested back into local communities through improving homes and neighbourhoods, supporting our customers and relieving homelessness.
More Home MOTs More new energy-efficient boilers We will continue to provide back-to-work support, help for customers experiencing ASB and money advice too.
There are three easy things YOU can do to help us make your rent go further.
Social housing rents are set by the government. In the enclosed rent review letter you will see that your rent has been reduced this year. The cut to our income directly affects the work that we do and means that it is even more important to spend carefully and fairly.
1. Make sure you keep appointments for repairs and mandatory safety checks or let us know if you need to change a scheduled visit.
This year we are committed to investing in:
2. S witch to paying your rent by direct debit.
More new homes
3. Next time you call our customer services team, check that we have your current contact details to receive information from us by email or text.
More new kitchens More new bathrooms More new wet rooms
New opening hours in our offices Please note that the opening hours in our Brassey Road offices are changing. From 1 April 2018 you can call or visit our offices at these times:
Monday – Thursday 8.30am – 5pm Friday 8.30am – 4pm
Universal credit From May 2018 Universal Credit is being rolled out across Shropshire. To help you, we have added new information to the Severnside website. On there you will find a new leaflet with all the information you need about Universal Credit. Find the information here: www.severnsidehousing.co.uk/ how-we-can-help/benefitadvice/universal-credit
You will see that we are extending our overall opening hours as we will open at 8.30am on a Thursday morning instead of 10am. We hope that our new opening hours will make it more convenient for you when you need to talk to us. Of course, our outof-hours repairs service 01743 360945 is available for you to report emergency repairs outside our regular opening hours.
Let’s Talk The Let’s Talk area of our website has been updated with new information about the work of our customer panels and news about how you can get involved. For more information go to www.severnsidehousing.co.uk/ my-home/lets-talk
s talk ’ t e L Your voice, your home, your future
New year, new job? Care Plus, part of Housing Plus Group, is recruiting care and support workers for its expanding services in Shropshire and Staffordshire. You could become part of a care team recognised as one of the best in the country, delivering care and support to help people live independently, in their own home.
For information and to apply, visit
www.care-plus.org.uk/working-with-us
Why not take a look at our exciting Learning Programme and see how we can help you build a brighter future? The learning programme, which can be found on our website, is jam-packed full of great training opportunities. Whether you choose to come along to one of our job clubs, complete an online qualification, or just have fun discovering how to upcycle, there really is something for everyone!
Learning Programme Courses 1-2-1 support Grant funding Job clubs & drop-ins Work experience & placem
ents
Learning Programme
To find out more go to www.sevensidehousing.co.uk/how-we-canhelp/learning-programme or visit our Digital Dens in Meole Brace and Castlefields, Shrewsbury.
Have your say Thank you to everyone who took part in the independent research into our homes and services last year. There was a great response to the survey and we were particularly pleased to learn that 82 per cent of customers are satisfied with their neighbourhood as a place to live and 85 per cent of you think that your rent represents good value for money. Your feedback plays a really important part in helping us to improve the services we provide. We will be reporting back to you in detail about the results of the survey in the next issue of Pillar but we are already working with our customer panel to see if there are positive changes we can make for you. 0300 300 0059
www.severnsidehousing.co.uk
Brassey Road, Old Potts Way, Shrewsbury SY3 7FA
enquiries @severnsidehousing.co.uk