Landlord Registration Consultation Events

The Scottish Government’s Landlord Registration Team will be holding a series of consultation events throughout May. The sessions provide the opportunity for those with an interest in landlord registration to participate in group discussion and provide feedback on the consultation. The proposals are intended to help landlords to understand their responsibilities, make the application process more robust and ensure that fees are set at a reasonable level. The overarching aim is to help improve standards of property condition and management in the private rented sector.

To book a place, please select one of the following links:

• Edinburgh – 14 May (morning)

• Edinburgh – 14 May (afternoon)

• Glasgow – 16 May (morning)

• Glasgow – 16 May (afternoon)

• Dundee – 21 May (morning)

• Aberdeen – 21 May (afternoon)

• Inverness – 22 May (morning)

 For any further queries, feel free to get in touch with the team at Landlordreg2018@gov.scot.

 

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Innovative Heating Solutions at Academy Court, Forfar – Visit by Dundee and Perth & Kinross Council Officers

We want to make homes more energy efficient, to reduce tenants’ home energy bills and reduce greenhouse gasses in Angus. We’ve installed district heating in the new houses and flats at Academy Court in Forfar to help achieve this.

Colleagues from Dundee City Council and Perth & Kinross Council visited the Academy Court site last week to see the new district heating system for themselves. 

What is District Heating?

Rather than having an individual boiler in each property, district or community heating is generated from a central energy centre with one set of boilers. These boilers may be gas or include renewable sources such as biomass (wood) fuel. In addition to heating, water and electricity may also be included in the central energy centre. The utilities are then distributed to properties via a local infrastructure (pipes and wires) direct to homes. With community energy you have a pre-heated building that is kept warm all the time. This means tenants only have to pay for the heat they use and not the costs associated with running an individual boiler from cold to hot. Centralised community energy schemes optimise efficiency far and above that of an individual system supplying one customer.

Benefits of using district heat include:

• Receiving low carbon energy from local heat sources that can help reduce emissions. District heating can be highly efficient and uses low carbon fuel sources.
• Helping to tackle the problem of fuel poverty. Replacing expensive heating systems with a district heat network, especially in high-rise apartment blocks, may reduce fuel costs.
• Lowering the cost of heat – the connection to the local heat source should provide lower cost heat for residential customers, as compared to heat from fossil fuels.
• The diagram below shows how homes are heated. A central boiler room pumps hot water through pipes to each property connected to the district heating network. There are individual meters in each home which measure the energy used.

Shared Equity schemes for older people

The Scottish Government has now made the over 60s a priority group for those wanting to access shared equity housing.

Shared equity is where an individual purchases a property at a discounted rate (up to 40%), with help from the government.

The government only claims its contribution back when the house is sold or when the individual purchases a larger stake in the property.

There are different schemes available, such as the open market shared equity scheme, new supply shared equity scheme, and help to buy (Scotland), and these all operate differently.

If you are over 60 and are looking to purchase a property more suited to your long term needs, or to be closer to family, but are struggling to find one that’s affordable, then one of these schemes may be for you.

For more information:

• Call  LINK on  0330 303 0125
• Email LIFT@linkhaltd.co.uk
• Visit www.linkhousing.org.uk/sharedequity

 

Tenant participation – Make your voice heard

 

We always want hear from as many of our tenants as possible to ensure we are delivering the services they need, as well as properties they are proud to call home.

In this the Year of Young People, we particularly want to engage with our young tenants who are under 25–years-old. Their voices are under-represented when it comes to tenant participation.

We are engaging with all our tenants in different ways, by the day-to-day contacts with our housing officers, by our surveys that cover repairs and tenant satisfaction, as well as news on our website, Twitter and Facebook pages, and this Blog.

Our Tenants Steering Group plays a main role in the decisions we take for the future. Indeed in 2017, the group agreed that rents should be increased to ensure continued investment in existing and new affordable housing. They proposed three options which went out to tenant consultation and then approval of the Communities Committee.

Scrutineers (tenant representatives)  provide important feedback about the service that we and our contractors provide and tell us when we get it wrong, as well as when we get it right. The same is true of tenant and resident groups supported by our Pride in Place Communities Officers.

Over the past year, our own repairs satisfaction survey has directly involved 2400 of our customers and our Housing blog has had more than 2000 visitors since the start of the year. It’s not just there to read, you can feedback to us directly too.

We want to hear from you. What you tell us can help to inform what we do, from wider policy and procurement to the straightforward needs of the individual.

Our most recent full customer satisfaction survey found that –

 82.65% of our tenants were satisfied with the overall service we provided.

79.55% felt we were good at keeping them informed about services and decisions.

62.11% were satisfied with opportunities given to participate in our decision making processes.

89.17% were satisfied with the standard of their home on moving in.

82.36% of those who have had repairs or maintenance in the last 12 months were satisfied with the service.

81.66% were satisfied with the management of their neighbourhood.

97.78% of those households who were homeless in the last 12 months were satisfied with the quality of temporary or emergency accommodation.

80.26% of tenants felt their rent represented good value for money.

100% of gypsies/travellers were satisfied with our site management.

Communities vice-convener Lois Speed said: “We are doing a great deal when it comes to engagement with our housing tenants, but we can and always want to do more to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard. The Viewmount development in Forfar was a shining example of how we listen to our customers. Where once were unpopular, unloved flats, that quite frankly no one wanted to live in, we have delivered houses that people are proud to call home and be at home in. From the architect’s page through to the keys being handed over, we ensured that tenants were involved – thanks in no small part to the Viewmount Voices. It’s an approach that has helped to build not just homes, but a community too and our participation will continue long after the front door key has been turned.”

It’s an approach that will continue throughout the housing service and via ongoing and upcoming housing projects, including – Academy Court in Forfar; Abbey Quarter and Timmergreens in Arbroath.

There are a variety of ways, directly with our staff, at local meetings, online and via surveys in which you can engage. But if you know of someone who is unable to get in touch with us because of work/family commitments, or perhaps language, confidence or digital skills barriers, let us know and we will get in touch with them.

For tenants who are internet-able and enabled, there is more information on the Housing pages of our website and via the this Blog. If you want to speak to someone to find out more about tenant participation options, or to give us your ideas, contact Mark Johnston, Communities Officer – email:  JohnstonM1@angus.gov.uk  Work mobile: 07786 646859

 

Vacant garages for rent in Forfar

Do you need somewhere to keep your car, van, motorbike, or any other vehicle?

 

We have a number of affordable garages available now for rent throughout Forfar.

Rents are £5.43 a week for council tenants and £6.52 for everyone else.

If you are interested, you will need to complete an application form – to get a form please call 03452 777 778 or visit any ACCESS Office/Library.

Housing Options – Customer Satisfaction Survey

We’re always keen to get our Housing Options service’s customers feedback . So if you have met with one of our Housing Options officers to talk about your housing situation, please complete our SURVEY to let us know what you thought of our service.

The SURVEY will be carried out in April, May and June.

Please give us your  opinion to  help us to improve our services.

 

Note to the survey:

When completing the survey please put your home town under “Q1: Other”.

New Disposal & Buy Back Policy approved

Yesterday, a new Housing policy was approved by the Communities Committee, which allows for Council properties to be sold and former Council properties to be brought back into our stock.

The Disposal & Buy Back Policy takes into account housing customers’ views about our current housing stock. Our customers really like the new high quality houses being built across Angus, but they want us to deliver improvements to our existing properties quicker so more tenants can benefit.

We have looked at the properties we have and identified those that could be sold as they  don’t meet our customers’ requirements because they are inefficient, the wrong type, or in the wrong place. The money we receive will allow us to buy back former Council houses or flats and also help to fund regeneration programmes to improve existing properties.

We will only buy properties that are already on the market, and which meet our specific requirements for location, size and type.

If you live in a former Council property, please do not contact us to ask if we’ll buy your home. If your property is on the market and it meets our requirements, we will contact you through your selling agent.

Read the full Committee Report here.

New Affordable Homes Completed at Viewmount, Forfar

More new homes have been delivered as part of our Affordable Housing Supply Programme as tenants moved into the Viewmount development in Forfar.

Eleven attractive new quality semi-detached houses, with secure gardens, and a parking spaces for 21 vehicles have replaced unpopular multi-storey flats and are occupied by new tenants.

 

The Shields/Paterson family outside their new home

 

Four of the properties are suitable for householders with disabilities and with special housing needs as the properties benefit from facilities such as: door entry systems, widened hallways and doorways, level access entries and showers, adjustable kitchen worktops, future-proofed ceilings that can accommodate hoists and double parking spaces.

All of the properties are supplied with solar panels, high levels of insulation and ventilation.

 

The Shields/Paterson family with elected members and other personnel involved with the Viewmount development.

 

Communities Convener Craig Fotheringham said: “It is a pleasure to see tenants settling in to their new surroundings. Having seen the old, unloved flats demolished, we are sure that tenants will be proud to call these splendid new houses home. We placed a high priority on tenant inclusion, with our communities team working closely with local residents and groups to deliver a new entrance to Reid Park and a new path from Steele Park as part of this project. That community engagement has continued throughout.”

Alan Watt, chairperson of community group Viewmount Voices said: “The new build is now complete and is looking good. Once the tenants have settled in, I will introduce myself and inform them about Viewmount Voices and we hope they will be interested in coming along.”

 

The Shields/Paterson family outside their new home.

 

Communities vice-convener, Lois Speed added: “The creation of these new homes and the improvement of the open spaces around them undoubtedly enhances the Viewmount area. We are not only creating places that people are proud to call home – we are creating spaces where people are happy to live, work, visit and play. At the same time, Viewmount increases the housing choices for people living with disability and who have special housing needs, which is one of the key actions in the Local Housing Strategy.”

 

(L to R) Scott Hadden (Hadden Construction), John Morrow, Ian Kennedy, Mr Burns & John Wares from Viewmount Voices Cllr Colin Brown, Cllr Lynne Devine, Yvonne Watt from Viewmount Voices, Cllr Ian McLaren, Cllr Lois Speed, Stewart Ball, Catherine Johnson, Lynsey Dey, Anna Hondzio

 

Scott Hadden, chairman of contractors Hadden Group, said: “We are very proud of our role in delivering these new homes for Forfar in partnership with Angus Council. Across the project, the team has worked very hard to deliver attractive, affordable homes without compromising on a desire to create a sustainable development that is sympathetic to the surrounding area.”

 

 

Garden at the rear of the one of Viewmount new properties

Mid-Market Rent and Shared Equity Survey update

We have interim results from our recent survey on alternative tenures such as Mid-Market Rent and Shared Equity on our new  Intermediate Tenure survey website. These results show that there may be a level of interest for these housing products in Angus, but we are still keen to get views from other interested people.

The survey is still open for views on housing options like Mid-Market Rent and Shared Equity – to find out more about them, and give us your thoughts, please complete the short survey.

 

Tenant Participation – What Do You Think?

Mark Johnston, Communities Officer, tells us how tenants can get involved with our housing services:

“My name is Mark Johnston and I am a Communities Officer (Community Worker). I am working to make sure that more of our tenants can become involved in Tenant Participation and that they feel that their voices can be heard.

 We have a long-standing group of tenants who meet monthly and are involved in areas like Rent Setting, Scrutineering and general Tenant Participation issues. We also have some local tenant and resident groups supported by the Pride in Place Communities Officers in their areas.

 I’m particularly, although not only, interested in finding ways to involve tenants aged under 25 as they are currently under-represented. We also need to try to find ways to involve more tenants who cannot attend the current meetings due to caring or work commitments and to try to get the views and involvement of new residents, particularly where they face a language barrier.

 Some of our tenants do not have the skills, confidence, funding or equipment to take part in online surveys or to email us their views and we need to make sure that, whatever processes we put in place, we do not further exclude these individuals.

 For those who can and do access the internet we can make more information on the Tenant Participation work and issues available on the Housing Blog and through the Facebook pages of the Communities Teams. There is also the option to make wider use of online tools like Survey Monkey and Social pinpoint to gain views and to encourage participation.

I am keen to learn from tenants and staff. It would be good to hear what they think would help. I’ll consider whatever suggestions they come up with or discuss what has already been tried and how we could usefully adapt it. Please drop me an email or give me a call if there is anything you would like to discuss or become involved with”.

Mark Johnston, email:  JohnstonM1@angus.gov.uk  Work mobile: 07786 646859