Missed the Retirement Living Catch up over Coffee session on 22 February 2024?
Message from Pam Mastrantonio, Managing Director of Extra Care
Thank you to everyone who joined our Catch up over Coffee session last month session in February. It was a great opportunity to share key updates with you, but don’t worry if you missed it, we recorded the session, and it is available to watch on YouTube via this URL: https://youtu.be/bcQwTSIVNvk?si=a4JAPkkuA30T6fML or you can scan the QR code using your Smartphone or tablet.
I appreciate that not everyone has access to a device they can join webinars on, so here is a summary of what I touched on during the session.
Resident survey feedback
You may remember that in our first Catch up over Coffee session in November, we updated you on the results of our Resident Survey. Overall, 86% of residents were satisfied with living with Housing 21, which is really positive, but we do have some work to do to reach our target of 95%. Going forward each scheme will have its own individual engagement plan, and your Operational Managers are in the middle of developing these. . We’ve also looked to see which schemes may need additional support to effectively engage with you, our residents, and we’ll help OM’s and local manager to pinpoint how we can increase satisfaction.
When looking at the survey results, we can see key themes emerging: complaints, ASB and neighbourhood and communication and effectiveness. We will be focusing on these areas, looking at what steps we can take to improve these areas.
Rent and service charges
You should have received a letter explaining the increased rent and service charges. Our rents are increasing by 7.7% from April 2024. This increase is based on a formula dictated by Government which is the September 2023 Consumer Price Index plus 1%. If you are concerned about any of the charges or cost of living in general, please speak to your Local Housing Manager. We do have initiatives that can help, such as the Helping Hands Fund which offers grants to those in need and offers support to access benefits.
60th Anniversary
This year Housing 21 celebrates its 60th anniversary as a Housing Association, and we want you, our residents, to get involved and help us celebrate. There is a photography competition where we’re inviting residents to showcase life at Housing 21. Please get involved – we would love to hear from you if you are celebrating your 60th birthday or diamond wedding anniversary.
We’re also encouraging each scheme to hold a summer celebration between May and September to mark this milestone and funds are available to put towards catering at an event.
More information about our celebrations can be found on our website: https://www.housing21.org.uk/resident-information/housing-21-60th-anniversary-celebrations/
Retirement Living Resident Forum
We want to keep residents at the heart of what we do, so it’s important that your voice is heard. We have more than 30 residents on our Retirement Living Resident Forum, and they have played a key role in a wide range of areas including reviewing policies on aids and adaptations, and repairs. They’ve also been consulted on upcoming initiatives such as the new website, the Housing Perks app and the Wellbeing Strategy.
We would love to get more people involved in the forum so if this is something you are interested in, please speak to your scheme manager or your operations manager.
Save the date: Catch up over coffee in 2024
Make sure you save the dates of my upcoming sessions in your diary:
- Tuesday 28 May, 2pm
- Wednesday 14 August, 3pm
- Monday 18 November, 12noon
We will send out the link to join the meeting closer to the time.
