HOME IMPROVEMENTS
A REPORT ON A HEREFORDSHIRE TENANTS INFORMATION MEETING HELD AT
THE MOAT HOUSE HOTEL HEREFORD
WEDNESDAY 29TH OCTOBER 2003There was a good attendance of Herefordshire Housing tenants at the home improvement information meeting held at the Hereford Moat House on Wednesday 29th October at 7pm.
The meeting was chaired by Mrs Wendy Jones chair of the Herefordshire Tenants Federation and vice chair of the Board of Herefordshire Housing. Also in attendance was Keith Burgess Head of Housing for Herefordshire Housing, including the 'in-house' home improvement contract team, and representatives from the repair and maintenance department, Mr Tim Kelly Director of Lovell,the new partners, Herefordshire Housing Tenant Support Team Richard Hancock and Susana Piohtee, Herefordshire Housing Tenant Board Members, and members from the Herefordshire Tenants Federation.
The information meeting which was the second meeting of the week, the first was held at the Chase Hotel Ross-On-Wye on Monday evening, both meetings were designed to give tenants the opportunity to view the sample products to be used during the forthcoming home improvement scheme. On view were materials for the kitchens, bathrooms, doors and windows, including tiling samples, floor coverings, and paint schemes. Representatives were available to answer questions.
In addition to the displayed materials was a comprehensive display which indicated the timescales, where kitchens, bathrooms, windows, flooring, fire alarms etc were scheduled to be fitted during forthcoming home improvements.
Introducing the evening Mrs Wendy Jones gave an outline of the purpose of the Hereford Tenants Federation. She reminded tenants of the empowerment of the 18 tenants and residents groups in Herefordshire that represented 70% of the counties tenants, and endorsed the commitment of the Federation to ensure that the tenants retained the choices that was promised to them during the stock transfer process of 2002.
Speaking for Herefordshire Housing, Keith Burgess, Head of Housing followed on by reminding tenants that "We are on the verge of very exciting times for Herefordshire Housing, and more importantly for tenants". Tenants were told that the evening was about "finding out what was being planned for home improvements and not necessarily individual homes, although that would happen eventually". Welcoming Lovell the new partners, tenants were told that 4.6 million pounds was to be spent on home improvements within the next five years, 1 million pounds to external contractors to do work in tenants homes, and approximately 1.3 million pounds were being spent 'in-house'.
It was explained that Lovell's were 'on-board' as a result of a rigorous scheduling process, there had been fifteen external contractors all wanting to come and work in Herefordshire, but through the evaluation process it was reduced to seven, then finally one, that being Lovell. Keith Burgess remarked that one of the strengths of Lovell's and their bid was their tenant liaison, and that it was something Herefordshire Housing were looking to concentrate on during the months and forthcoming years of the five year program.
It was also stressed that Lovell's were not chosen as the partner purely on price alone, the tenants were assured that Lovell's would prove to deliver quality, not "cheap and cheerful" and that the fittings and materials would last a very long time. In referring to the kitchens the tenants were told that originally they were to have a choice of four, but now Keith was pleased to announce there would be a choice of five, and there was an "endless" design of tiles to look at.The Head of Housing closed by thanking everyone for turning out, saying "Its nice to see you all" and handing over to Tim Kelly Director for Lovell's.
Director Tim Kelly expressed how pleased he was to be working in Herefordshire with Herefordshire Housing, he explained that he had a vast experience of partnership contracts throughout the country. Tenants were told that apart from these two information meetings Lovell's will also be arranging information meetings with the local residents associations around the estates and in the individual areas, and together with the liaison officers tenants will know exactly what is happening in their areas. It was stressed how important is was for the tenants to get to know the partnering company and the liaison representatives before the work commenced in order that everyone was comfortable working with one another, in order to maximise efficiency and to reduce costs and disruption. It was reaffirmed that Lovell firmly believe that good communication was the key, and good working practice.
The Liaison Manager Mrs Maggie Brownsett explained that in order to carry out surveys of individual properties Lovell's would be contacting tenants to arrange visits to their properties on a one-to-one basis. A housing officer will come to you with a portfolio, we will also be travelling around the estates with a mobile 'home' complete with fitted kitchens, bathrooms etc for you to have a look at. It was stressed that tenants should not allow anyone into their home unless they presented their identity cards, all personnel, whether representatives, tradesmen or whoever always carries identification. If you are in any doubt please contact us, we keep a database of everyone working with/for us, and we can give you necessary confirmation over the 'phone.
Keith Burgess closed the talks by reminding tenants of the many notices on the boards in the room showing the streets/homes where future work was being planned. He assured everyone, "Don't be alarmed if you don't see your house or street on the list immediately, there has to be a 'first' and there has to be a 'last' but we will get to see you,things do sometimes take time, but rest assured you will not be forgotten. The program we have listed are our intended work program to take us through to the end of the financial year, there are properties that still have to be surveyed, so rest assured the program indicates where we are working for the forthcoming year".
Tenant Board Representives
