Resumption of Repairs and Maintenance Works in Council Properties

Following the Scottish Government’s announcement last week, we can confirm that day-to-day repairs and planned maintenance works, including bathroom installations, electric heating upgrades and energy efficiency works are continuing across our housing stock with measures in place to reduce risks to tenants and contractors.

If you are on one of our Planned Maintenance Contracts and work is due on your home, you should have received a copy of our Tenant Health and Safety Guidance – COVID-19 Planned Maintenance Contract Agreement which sets out what is expected of our tenants and contractors when work is being carried out in their homes.

As we have done during the lockdown period since 23 March 2020, and as restrictions have been eased, we will continue to carry out annual servicing of gas heating systems as we are required to do by law.

You can find advice on the NHS Inform Coronavirus (COVID-19) website – the main symptoms of the coronavirus include;
o A new, continuous, dry cough
o A high temperature
o Loss or change to your sense of smell or taste

We appreciate your co-operation at this time and hope you find this information useful, but if you have any queries about this post, please email us at HousingTechnical@angus.gov.uk

Giving Housing Applicants the Power of Choice

 We’re starting a new housing allocation system that puts the power of choice into the hands of Angus home seekers from the start of  November.                                                                                                                                                       The Choice-based Lettings System will see us and our housing assopciation partners advertise properties for let to registered applicants on a single website – Angus Homefinder. Applicants can bid online for the properties where they want to live.                                                                                                                                                          All housing applications will have to be made online (there will no longer be paper application forms), with housing options advice provided as part of the application process.                                                                                                                                                                                                      Existing applicants will not need to do anything, all applications will be automatically reassessed under the new policy and applicants will be notified by letter of their new banding along with log in details for the new online Housing Register.                                                                                                                                                             New applicants will be able to apply online from Monday 2 November. We’ll advertise available homes and their details on our Angus Homefinder website from Monday 16 November, allowing people to bid for the properties they want.                                                                                                                                                                                                              For more information, visit our News website.

Home Fire Safety -SELF ASSESSMENT

A new online Home Fire Safety checker has been launched by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) to support you to stay safe at home.                                                                                                                                        Due to the current Social Distancing restrictions, most Home Fire Safety Visits are suspended, except for those where the occupiers are identified as being at very high risk.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          The SFRS wants to ensure your home is as safe from fire risk as possible and would therefore encourage you to go through the questionnaire and follow their advice and guidance.                                                                                                                                                                                                       For more details visits the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service website.

It’s National Suicide Prevention Week

This week is National Suicide Prevention Week, a campaign to raise awareness of suicide, encourage people to talk about it openly and to find out who they can contact for support. For more  information visit our Facebook page.

Angus Food Growing Strategy – Why Not Grow Your Own?

Interest in gardening and growing your own food is increasing and we are all aware of the importance of eating healthy food that is fresh and environmentally sustainable.

The Scottish Government’s aspiration is for the country to become a Good Food Nation; a land of food and drink, not only in what we produce but also in what we buy, serve and eat. The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 aims to help empower communities across Scotland and for those wanting to “Grow Your Own”, it will improve access to land for food growing purposes. Every local authority must prepare a food-growing strategy.

The Angus Food Growing Strategy is in development and sets out the overall vision of what we want to achieve in Angus through food growing, tackling food poverty and supporting local growers.

To help shape the Angus strategy, please visit the Shaping Angus website and get involved by taking part in a short community survey or use the interactive map to plot your project location.

Please tell us about your ideas and help us identify areas of land that may be used as allotments or land for community growing initiatives.

Note: please use Google Chrome to access the platform