In the Know Summer 2013

For Origin Housing Customers in London and Hertfordshire

IN THEKNOW

2013SUMMER

Welfare Reform Special...Pg 4 | Benefits...Pg 7Happy residents!...Pg 9 | Residents Info...Pg 10 | ...and much more

IN THIS ISSUE

HOUSING

ContentsWelfare Reform SpecialGreen Deal Getting into workBenefitsSwap your way toyour perfect homeThe Bedroom TaxResidents InfoGarden ImprovementCrowndale Road Getting involvedRepairs SchemeFire Safety

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Welcome to the Summer issue of In the Know. In this issue is a special focus on Welfare Reform, as well as a look at what’s been going

on in some of our schemes. Do take time to read the fire safety advice on the back page – it really can save lives.

You can now contact us in a few more ways thanbefore as we are on Twitter - @originhousing and Facebook - Origin Housing.

As ever, your news, views and questions are welcomed. Please email [email protected], write to us or call, we’d love to hear from you.

We are considering changing In the Know from four to three times a year and increasing the size of each issue. To share your views on this, please email us, or contact us via Twitter or Facebook.

Rachel Hudson, Editor

Letter from the editor

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SUMMER 2013

Our staff strive to deliver a quality service to all of our customers and we expect them to be treated with the same respect they show towards you.

Therefore, Origin Housing operates a zero tolerance policy in relation to violence or abuse against our staff.

We will take action against any individual who threatens, abuses or behaves in an unacceptable manner towards our staff.

Customer contact centre: 0800 040 7989

Email: [email protected]

Get in touchPost: Origin Housing, St Richards House, 110 Eversholt St, London NW1 1BS@originhousing Origin Housing

Recent months have seen major changes to the welfare benefits that many of our customers receive.

The debate over the bedroom tax has hit the news and has been featured in many newspaper articles and news programmes. Origin has over 100 households who will be hit by a reduction in their Housing Benefit due to having a ‘spare room’ or rooms in their home.

We also have 29 families who will see their Housing Benefit reduced due to the introduction of the total benefits cap which limits the total benefits a family can claim. Most of the households affected by these changes are in Camden and Enfield and we have been working closely with the Councils in these areas to ensure our customers get the help and information they need.

At the same time, many customers who receive Council Tax benefit will also have to pay more towards their Council Tax including those who previously received full benefit.

All this adds up to tough times and difficult choices for some of our customers who face a significant reduction in their income. We have been personally contacting all ofthose affected but some have chosen not to respond to our letters, visits or calls. If you are affected by these changes and haven’t spoken to us, please help us to help you by gettingin contact.

Our focus on Welfare Reform in this issue will give you more information as well as who you need to speak to for more information.

Do it onlineMy Origin is our secure online service which allows you to view your statements or report a

repair at a time to suit you. Why not register and have a look to see what you can do online.

To register for your account visit www.myorigin.org.uk

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IN THE KNOW

Executive message Cathy McCarthy Director of People Services

Hit by the cuts?Contact us on 0800 040 7989 or 020 7209 9222

• If you receive housing benefit and your Origin home has more bedrooms than you currently need, based on government rules your housing benefit may be reduced by 14% if you have one bedroom more than you need, or 25% if you have two or more extra bedrooms.

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SUMMER 2013

Welfare Reform Special

If you are affected by any of the above (or think you are but aren’t sure) or are concerned how this might affect you, get in touch now.

Also if your Housing Benefit has reduced and you worry about being able to make rent payments, please contact us immediately on 0800 040 7989 or 020 7209 9222.

In recent months we have been exchanging information with our boroughs to make sure that Councils have correct records on any households affected by the bedroom tax and the overall cap. Origin has written to all tenants affected by the changes and many Councils will also have written.

• There will be a cap on the total amount of benefit any household can receive, limited to £350 per week for single households and £500 per week for single parents and couples with or without children.

The first of the government’s changes to the welfare benefit system have started to take effect.

• Council Tax benefit is being abolished and being replaced with Local Authority based schemes for providing assistance with paying Council Tax. Any residents who have received Council Tax benefit before April 2013 should by now have received information from their local Council on the scheme that will replace it.

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IN THE KNOW

ReminderPlease check that your standing order or direct debit details are correct as new charges came into effect from April. This applies to everyone paying rent and / or service charges.

Green Deal and whatit really means

If you want to know more, please contact the energy clinic on 0800 054 6816. The Energy Saving Advice Service also has a number for people to contact, 0300 123 1234.

The Green Deal is a Government initiative which was launched at the beginning of October 2012. The deal is a financing tool and process which allows people to apply for funding to carry out energy efficiency improvements to their homes; with the costs being recouped through their energy bills.

At first glance, this seems likea win-win offer as it helps reduce the cost of heating and lighting. Unfortunately it may also expose tenants to repayments that may be more than the benefit of the reduced home costs. There is also a risk that you may be targeted by ‘cold callers’ trying to obtain a loan agreement.

What are we doing to help?

• We are getting in touch to talk to you about the costs on your energy bills for the Green Deal and to let you know that some of the works are the responsibility of Origin.

• We are working closely with Climate Energy Network (who currently provide free energy saving advice to our residents) to manage this.

• Climate Energy will carry out door step assessments to determine what can be included under the resident’s loan agreement and what will be for Origin to pay.

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Employment and training support with Origin Housing

Do you want help getting into work?

Are you looking for a voluntary work

placement?

Do you need to improve your work skills?

Do you need training?

(Open to all Origin Housing residents)

If you are interested please contact Joned Khan

020 7209 9208

[email protected]

Getting into work

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Universal Credit

From October 2013, the Government will begin to phase out most individual weekly benefits and replace them with one overall monthly payment called Universal Credit.

Although Universal Credit will phased in gradually, we want all our residents to be ready for the changes.

To access Universal Credit, you will need to:

• Have a bank account - because Universal Credit will be paid directly to your bank account, so if you don’t have one at the moment you’ll need to set one up. If you’re having difficulty doing this then contact us – we may be able to help.

• Arrange for monthly rent payments to Origin from your bank account - you’ll need to make a bank transfer or set up a direct debit to pay your rent to Origin from your bank account.

• Have access to the internet on a regular basis - you’ll need this to apply for Universal Credit online and to manage your Universal Credit account. If you need help, contact Trevor Willoughby in our Community Development team on 020 8618 0133 for more information. You can also access the internet at our main receptions or at local libraries, community centres and job centres.

Benefits

Changes to DisabilityLiving Allowance

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is being replaced by Personal Independence Payments.

From June 2013 no new claims can be made for DLA for working age customers.

All existing DLA claimants will be reassessed for Personal Independence Payments (including those with indefinite or unending awards) over the next two to three years.

Please note that DLA for children aged under 16 is not affected, nor is Attendance Allowance for the over 65’s.

For further information, please contact Stuart Cunningham on 020 7209 9285 [email protected].

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Are you facing a housing benefit reduction because you are under-occupying? Are you in need of more space for your growing family? Mutual exchange could be a great way to find the right home for YOU.

Swap your way to your perfect home

Do you want to move to a smaller home?Are you an Origin resident living in a home that’s too large for you? Maybe you’re about to have your housing benefit reduced because of the new welfare reforms and need to move to avoid this happening? We can help!

Under our Spacesavers scheme toassist our residents to trade down to smaller homes:

• We will give you high priority for a move• We will give you £1,000 compensation

for the loss of one bedroom and £500 for every additional bedroom

• We will give you two weeks free rent to give you time to move

• We will arrange and pay for your removals.

If you’re interested, please contact the Customer Services team on0800 040 7989 or 020 7209 9222

What is mutual exchange?This is when households with Council or housing association secure or assured tenancies agree to permanently swap homes. The simplest situation is two households moving in to each other’s properties, but multiple homes can also be swapped in a chain. Homeswapper.co.uk and other mutual exchange websites allow you to register your home and look for potential matches you can swap with.

Who can I swap with?Start close to home! You may have friends, family or neighbours who would make suitable swaps. Perhaps your kids are growing up and moving out, but you know someone whose children are becoming teenagers and need more space? Or you could put notices on local community boards to see if anyone nearby might want to swap with you.

There’s not much choice in mylocal area…You can swap anywhere in the UK, so why not consider a new area? Towns like Guildford, Woking, Reading, Milton Keynes, Slough, Crawley and Brighton are within easy reach of London but have better job markets than the capital. Rents and the general cost of living are lower outside of London, and homes often have more space.

Telephone: 0800 040 7989 / 020 7209 9222 Text: 07500 798 227 Email: [email protected]

For help and support with Welfare benefit changes contact us:

IN THE KNOW

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You are allowed one bedroom for: • Each adult couple • Each person aged 16 and over• A carer (who does not normally live

with you) if you or your partner need overnight care.

Are children meant to share bedrooms?• Children aged 15 or under of the

same gender will be expected to share a room

• Children aged 9 or under will be expected to share a room regardless of gender.

If you have one spare room, Housing Benefit will be reduced by 14% of your weekly rent. If you have two or more spare rooms you will lose 25%.

If you are affected and need help, please contact your Neighbourhood Manager or our Customer Services Team on0800 040 7989 or 020 7209 9222

The ‘Bedroom Tax’Since 1 April 2013, new housing benefit rules mean you won’t be able to get housing benefit to pay for all of your rent if your home has ‘spare bedrooms’.

This is being called the ‘bedroom tax’,but letters from the Council may call it‘size limit rules’, ‘under-occupancy’or ‘under-occupancy rules’. If housing benefit no longer covers the full cost of your rent, you will have to pay the rest of the rent yourself. This must be paid directly to your landlord.

This could affect you:• If you are 16-61 years old• Even if you only get a small amount

of housing benefit – for example, if you are working

• Even if you are sick or disabled.

We think that about 300 of Origin’s households may be affected by this and have more bedrooms than they need.

Happy Residents!Recently, one of our under-occupying residents, swapped from Gospel Oak to a smaller home in Surrey. While the growing family he exchanged with are enjoying more space, he has new job opportunities, more green space, and avoids the ‘bedroom tax’, which leaves him financially better off. If you are a resident who has had a good experience with mutual exchange, we’d love to hear from you!

Or come and see us: Watford: The Wrap - 1st Monday of the month | Stevenage: Blakeney House - 2nd Monday of the month | Enfield: Watermill Lane - 3rd Monday of the month | Euston: Eversholt Street - 4th Monday of the month

Email [email protected]

For more information about mutual exchange, visit:www.originhousing.org.uk or contact our new Lettings Officer Serina Usher on020 7209 9279 or via [email protected]

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Residents info

The neighbourhood services team are here to manage our neighbourhoods and provide the best level of customer care, tenancy and estate management services to our residents.

Watford, Harrow Jeff Williams

Barnet, Brent,Harrow, Haringey Stacey Walkes

Enfield Clare Savill(Maternity Leave) covered by Komilla Kreer

Somers TownLiberty Bellenger

Barnet, StevenageAnna Skerman

Camden, IslingtonClare Davies

North CamdenJacqui Jirapure

Camden, Kings Cross, Kilburn Jade Hansle

Each neighbourhood manager is responsible for different properties and estates – the list of the areasmanaged follows.

Who is your neighbourhood manager?

To contact your neighbourhood manager please call 0800 040 7989 or 020 7209 9222

IN THE KNOW

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Garden Improvement at Brussels Court

As part of creating 221 new homes at Watermill Lane, Brussels Court has had the front garden and boundary fencing renewed and rejuvenated. Residents have been very active and involved in consultation for the work from the very early stages, advising us of their requirements and what they would like to see at the block.

Security at the block was seen by residents as the main priority, as there had been ongoing issues with anti-social behaviour. So new secure glass doors and metal fencing were installed as part of the project, and CCTV cameras fitted around the block to further deter any nuisance behaviour.

We have had really positive feedback from residents at Brussels Court, one resident, gave her opinion of the improvement works saying that she didn’t really use the garden before the works were carried out, but the garden is now ‘much nicer and the kids can enjoy it’. She also said that the additional security and doors were a great improvement to the block.

Origin wins best small development at the Evening Standard Homes and Property Awards for the Move at Louden Road, St John’s Wood.

Pictured left to right are, Head of Sales and Marketing Simon Scott, Sales and Marketing Manager Janni Phipps, Director of Development Gareth Jones and England rugby captain Chris Robshaw.

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Project Manager Alev Horgan was delighted with the project outcome and said, ‘I would like to thank the Chigwell Construction team that worked at Crowndale Road over the 12 week project. It was a great success and ran so smoothly thanks to the professionalism, flexibility and friendliness of the on-site team. Project Surveyor Francis O’Gallagher kept his eye on the budget and with his expertise the quality of the works could not fail..’

Now the interiors are complete, Care and Support staff are planning to improve the garden and are hoping to get volunteers who may want to get their hands dirty with some planting.

Origin Housing’s Crowndale Road scheme recently received a huge makeover to create five self-contained flats for clients with a learning disability.

Following approval for funding from Origin’s Investment panel and a contribution of £25K from Camden Council, the project to improve the accommodation began in December 2012. Now, five tenants have their own fully self-contained one-bedroom flats with their own kitchen and bathroom as well as a shared lounge with new access to the rear garden.

Everyone worked tirelessly to deliver the project improvements on time and within budget, working with existing tenants to ensure that they were happy with the plans. Some tenants were helped to design their interiors including choosing their paint colours, kitchen units, tiles and flooring.

Crowndale Roadrefurbishment

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Getting involved in resident scrutiny

The Resident Scrutiny Panel was set up to give customers the chance to look more closely at the services we provide and give recommendations to us on how we can improve them.

The panel have just completed their first scrutiny review looking at estate services and service charges as they are important services to residents. To carry out the review, they examined policies and procedures, surveyed our customers and interviewed Origin staff.

Their findings were presented to the Board and the Origin ExecutiveTeam, and recommendations agreed. Origin staff will be working hard to carry out the work arising from the residents’ recommendations, including changes to systems and written information.

We would like to congratulate the panel on completing their first review, and thank them for their hard work in providing recommendations that will improve our services for customers.

The panel are now looking for newmembers; residents can help in different ways, from assisting in the scrutiny of written information, reality checking the quality of our services, or helping to plan and write the final reports.

If you are interested in joining the panel or want to find out more about their work, please contact Tom Forty in the Business Improvement Team on 020 7299 9307

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New responsive repairs scheme

Origin and Gilmartins entered into a long term partnership to deliver responsive repair services on 1 October 2012. This longer term partnership has the potential to last for up to 10 years dependent upon the quality and cost of the service.

We have agreed what is known as a “price per property” model with Gilmartin’s where we have agreed a fixed budget for the repairs service. This means that we are able to manage our budgets more effectively and deliver a better, cost effective service.

Under the new fixed price arrangement Gilmartin’s will be focused on delivering an efficient service that targets getting the job done right first time, wherever possible.

We have also set within the contract a number of key performance indicators that set challenging targets on improving customer services and these are being used to measure and reward performance.

It is early days and there have been some teething problems and we hope that you will soon start seeing real improvements in the service. From September 2013, we will be basing a number of the Gilmartins team in our office at Watermill Lane and they will be working with the Origin team to provide appointments at the first point of contact.

We will continue to provide you with regular updates on the repairs contracts and how we are performing.

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Be safe in your homeA few basic steps can keep you safe from fire in your home:• Take care cooking• Take care with electrical appliances –

don’t leave your TV on standby at night• Take care if you smoke.

If there is a fire in your flat• Don’t try to put it out, unless you can do

so safely and quickly• Alert others in your flat to get out• Call the Fire Brigade on 999• Leave the building, closing doors

behind you.

Fire Safety in the News

Recently there have been news reports of a number of fire tragedies in London and elsewhere, so here is a reminder about how to keep yourself and your family safe from fire.

If you are not sure what you should do if there was a fire – contact your Neighbourhood Manager, Scheme Manager or Support Worker for advice

If there is a fire in another flatCall the Fire Brigade unless you are sure that someone else has.

You will normally be safer staying in your own flat with windows and doors closed to keep out smoke – but leave the building immediately if smoke comes into your flat or if the Fire Brigade tells you to evacuate.

Competition time

Multiple choice – winner gets an exclusive cream tea!

1. When was Origin originally set up? a. 1921 b. 1924 c. 1932

2. Who was Origin’s royal patron until their death? a. Princess Margaret b. The Queen Mother c. Princess Diana

3. What is St Pancras the patron saint of? a. Animals b. Health c. Children

4. How many properties does Origin have? a. Over 3,500 b. Over 5,500 c. Over 10,000

5. Irene Barclay was the first female what? a. Prison officer b. Dentist c. Chartered Surveyor

Answers by 22nd July to:[email protected] via post to:Communications | 110 Eversholt StreetLondon | NW1 1BS

Translation

In the Know is your magazine where you can find out the latest news from Origin Housing. It is available in other languages, large print, braille or in print by contacting 0800 040 7989

رابخأ رخآ ىلع عالطالا كل حيتت يتلا كتلجم يه وأ ىرخأ تاغلب ةرفوتم ةلجملا .جنزواه نيجيروأ ةقيرطب وأ مجحلا .In the Know ةريبآ تاعبطب اهيلع لوصحلا كنكمي .ةيقرو تاعبط يف وأ ليارب7989 040 0800 مقرلا ىلع لاصتالاب

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In the Know waa wargeyskaaga meesha aad ka helikarto akhbaarta cusub ee ugu dambeyso ee ka socota Origin Housing. Waa lagu heli karaa luuqado kale, qoraal waaweyn, qoraalka indhoolaha ama isagoo daabacan ee nagala soo xiriir lambarkan 0800 040 7989

In the know es tu revista donde puedes ver las ultimas noticias de Origin Housing. Esta disponible en otros idiomas, en letras grandes, en braille o en la imprenta llamandonos al 0800 040 7989

In the Know est votre magazine dans lequel vous pouvez trouver les dernières nouvelles d’Origin Housing. Il est disponible dans d’autres langues, en gros caractères, en braille ou en version imprimée en appellant 0800 040 7989

‘In The Know’ Origin Housing’in en son heberlerini içinde bulabileceğiniz mecmuadır. Başka dillerde, büyük baskı, braille, ve baskı olarak mevcuttur. Daha fazla bilgi için bu numarayı arayabilirsiniz 0800 040 7989

Top tip Don’t leave things on standby, turning off things like your TV / DVD player or microwave could save between £15 and £90 per year on electricity bills.