Hard Work of Tenants and Staff on the Tenant Participation Strategy Recognised at a Celebratory Event in Arbroath

Tenants and staff were thanked for their hard work in preparing the new Tenant and Community Engagement Strategy 2019 – 2022 at an event recently held at Dundee and Angus College in Arbroath. The new strategy will set out the vision and action plan for tenant involvement and engagement for the next three years.

The event was chaired by John Morrow, Housing Service Leader, and Angela Quirie, Housing Policy Officer, gave a presentation detailing how the strategy was developed.

The strategy will be formally launched at an event at a later date.

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Green-Fingered Montrose Residents Transform Overgrown Garden Area

A group of residents in Traill Terrace, Montrose  contacted with their local housing officer to find out how to go about bringing an overgrown untidy area at the back of their flats back into use. The area had become significantly overgrown and residents did not have the necessary tools to tackle the job on their own.

Bill Takhar, Housing Officer, contacted Sandra Livingston, Communities Officer and they arranged a meeting with the residents to discuss what might be done. Everyone put their heads together and came up with 2 plans: 

 Plan A – Sandra would seek assistance from the Community Payback Officer to start the ball rolling with a clean-up of the area and residents made a firm commitment to keeping the area tidy and,

Plan B – if the Community Payback Officer couldn’t help, residents would do the clean-up with support from Bill who help residents get the waste to the recycling centre by bringing in the Community Housing Assistants and their van.

The Community Payback team were unable to help, but the residents carried out Plan B. The clean-up of the area went ahead and residents are very pleased at the results of their efforts and are committed to keeping the area tidy in future. A small community vegetable plot has also taken root! The before and after pictures tell a great story.

Before

 

After

Scottish Housing Day at the Forfar Community Network

This year, Scottish Housing Day was celebrated by meeting with Forfar residents at the Forfar Community Network

The themes this time were

• Dementia Friends training,
• rent setting consultation and
• local police update

Here are photos from the day:

Rent Rise Consultation – Last Few Days!

Calling all Council tenants! The consultation on the rent rise for 2020/21 only runs until Monday 30 September, so you’ve still got time to register your vote.

To vote, click on the survey link and choose one of the 3 options.

Rent Rise Vote Now Open – Have Your Say!*

Are you an Angus Council tenant? We need your views on what the rent increase should be in 2020/21 and how your rent money should be spent.

The three options outlined below will continue to keep your rent amongst the lowest in Scotland.

Why are we proposing to increase the rent? 

We need to make sure the rent money we receive is enough to pay for existing services, such as repairs, but also to pay for larger improvements needed for tenants’ homes and to help build new homes.

Rent increases allow us to invest in our homes to continue to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. and to meet the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing by 2020.

The rent rise is partly based on the inflation measure of CPI (Consumer Price Index), as well as an additional set percentage of 1% which has been agreed between us and the Tenant Rent Setting Group. CPI+1% is the minimum rent increase required to allow us to deliver our current plans and manage inflationary cost rises. We need to increase the rent at least by inflation because that’s what it costs us to deliver existing services. If we were to increase by more than 1% we could also increase investment in tenant homes.

How we decide on the Increase

We’re carrying out a consultation to help tenants consider the rent increase options and clearly see how the rent money will be spent.

The results of this survey will be presented at the Communities Committee in February 2020, where the final decision on a rent increase for 2020/21 will be made.

Rent Increase – the options

The Tenant Rent Setting Group has agreed three options which the members feel will bring benefits to tenants while keeping rents affordable.

The three options are:

 

	Option 1 – Recommended by the Rent Setting Group	Option 2	Option 3
Rent Level	3.1%	3.2%	3.3%
Capital spend (this is money invested to buy or upgrade fixed, physical, non-consumable assets, such as buildings and equipment)	£18 million capital spend over the year	Additional £340,000 capital to spend in addition to Option 1	Additional £680,000 capital to spend in addition to Option 1
How many new builds?	70 new homes over the year	70 new homes – any additional funds will be used to improve existing stock	70 new homes – any additional funds will be used to improve existing stock
What stock improvements can tenants expect?	450 Gas & Electric Heating installations; 600 properties receiving external wall insulation & energy efficiency measures; 700 bathrooms.	In addition to planned improvements listed in Option 1, for example: 20 Gas Heating installation (including loft insulation); 20 Electric Heating installations (including loft insulation); 10 External Wall Insulation; 11 Window & Door Replacements.	In addition to planned improvements listed in Option 1, for example: 40 Gas Heating installation (including loft insulation); 40 Electric Heating installations (including loft insulation); 20 External Wall Insulation; 22 Window & Door Replacements.

The tenant representatives recommend that tenants choose Option 1 (the lowest option), which would mean a rent rise of 3.1 %. This option is the minimum rise needed to deliver the current Business Plan. It, along with Scottish Government grant funding, would enable us to build 70 new homes in 2020-21, as well as these improvements to existing stock: 450 Gas & Electric Heating installations, 600 properties receiving external wall insulation & energy efficiency measures, 700 bathrooms.

The graph below shows the average weekly rents of Angus Council over the past five years compared to other neighbouring local authorities (figures from the Scottish Housing Regulator).

How a rent increase of 3.1% would affect average Angus Council weekly rents

	Average weekly rent 2018/19	Average weekly rent 2019/20	Average weekly rent 2020/21
Bedsit	£53.25	£55.11	£56.82
1 Bedroom	£61.79	£63.95	£65.94
2 Bedrooms	£69.48	£71.91	£74.14
3 Bedrooms	£78.56	£81.31	£83.83
4+ bedrooms	£96.60	£99.98	£103.08
Angus Average	£67.99	£70.37	£72.55

 

To have your say on the rent options,

please complete the survey online by 30 September*.

*Please note this consultation is open to current Angus Council tenants only

 

Community Fun Events for Summer in Arbroath

Looking for some fun in the holidays?

Why not come along to the Arbroath Community Summer Fun Days.

 Everyone welcome!

 

Meet the Brechin and Montrose Communities Team

Here’s a short film about the work of the Brechin and Montrose Communities Team.

If you want to get involved, the film shows some ways you can.

#ScottishHousingDay – Calling All Tenants – Tenant Participation Strategy – Please Give Your Feedback

We are starting to review our tenant participation strategy to produce a new one for 2019 – 2021. We would like as many tenants as possible to give us feedback on our current strategy.

Please tell us what you think is good about the current strategy and if there’s anything you don’t want to see again. This will be your strategy so please feel free to make comments about what you would like to see in it.

We will be discussing the current strategy with our Tenant Steering Group. If you want to become involved in this group please contact TenantParticipation@angus.gov.uk.

If you’d prefer not to attend the group, please comment by

• using our blog – hit the Comment button
• email Angela Quirie at HousingQPP@angus.gov.uk
• send in your comments to any local ACCESS office or Library, or
• by post to Angela Quirie, Angus House, Sylvie Way, Forfar, DD8 1AN.

We hope to get as much feedback as possible by 30 November 2018. We will then pull together all the comments and prepare a new draft strategy. Once again, the draft strategy will be posted on our blog and other social media platforms to give as many tenants the opportunity to give their comments.

If you want to be part of a proof reading group, please contact TenantParticipation@angus.gov.uk and we will organise with you the best way for you to participate. Again, this can either by social media, email or post or in a meeting setting.

 

Please get involved in shaping the way we engage with you as our tenants. Tenant Participation is not all about coming to meetings, it can mean getting involved in the conversation by whatever way suits you best.

Bringing Pride in Place to Forfar and Kirriemuir – Communities Team Video

Here’s the first in a series of films about the Pride in Place work going on in the 4 Angus localities.

If you want to get involved in the Forfar and Kirriemuir area, the film shows some ways you can.

To find out more about Tenant Participation, see our previous post or call ACCESSLine on 03452 777778 and ask to speak to your local Communities Officer.

Calling the Over 50s in Angus!

If you’re over 50, we’re looking at ways to help you find services and improve housing options in Angus. To gain a better understanding of housing-related issues for older people, we’re undertaking a survey. The survey is aimed at people aged 50 or over from all housing tenures, whether you own or rent your property from the council, private landlord or housing association.

We want to know about:

• You and your household
• The characteristics of your home
• Your future housing aspirations and plans
• Any barriers preventing you from living in suitable accommodation that meets your needs

So please take part in our survey by completing the online questionnaire here .

If you are unable to view the online version,

please contact ACCESSLine on 03452 777 778

leave your name and number

and a member of our housing team will call you back to conduct the survey over the phone.

The survey is open now and has been extended to  30 November 2018.