MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD TEAM

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1 65 MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD TEAM See more on page 4 Inside Family moves office Save energy, save money Cook off! Competition 2 6 7

2 gn news ALL change We are currently making a number of changes to improve our services to you. STRONGER together Family and Optima will be one team from September. Therefore we are closing our office at Bordesley House from 1st September 2015 and moving to St Thomas House in Bell Barn Road, Lee Bank, Birmingham. My account online We are nearly ready to launch our new interactive website, with your own personal section called My Account. By signing up to My Account, you will be able to easily access a range of information and services 24 hours a day, including checking and paying your rent, reporting and tracking repairs and reporting anti-social behaviour. More details will follow shortly. You can also check our progress on all the changes at Family moves to St Thomas House, Lee Bank. The new team will combine the strengths of both organisations and deliver services across our 8,500 properties. Family and Optima will remain separate legal organisations, but we will have a Board that meets six times a year, focusing on performance and service delivery and ensuring the two organisations come together smoothly without affecting service quality. New Customer Service Centre Some of our colleagues are moving to a new WM Housing Group office which is opening in September at the Birmingham Business Park in Solihull. The new office also provides an enhanced Customer Service Centre installed with the latest technology, to enable us to deal with your phone enquiries faster and more efficiently. Further details will follow soon. Dear Sir/Madam Notice - Change of registered address With effect from 1st September 2015 the registered address for your landlord, Family Housing Association (Birmingham) Limited, part of the WM Housing Group, will change from Bordesley House, 44/46 Coventry Road, Birmingham B10 0RX to: St Thomas House 80 Bell Barn Road Lee Bank Birmingham B15 2AF With effect from 1st September 2015 St Thomas House, 80 Bell Barn Road, Birmingham, B15 2AF is the address to which you should send any official notices (Including notices in proceedings) to your landlord. This notification is being given to you pursuant to Section 48 of the Landlord & Tenant Act All other issues relating to your tenancy or lease with your landlord will remain the same. The change makes no difference at all to how your rent is calculated, how we provide repairs and home improvements or how other services are provided. For day to day queries, please continue to contact our customer service team. Please keep this letter in a safe place, preferably along with your Tenancy or Lease Agreement, for future reference. In the event you should have any queries at all you should not hesitate to contact our customer service team. Yours faithfully Martyn Hale Managing Director Optima/Family 2 Family-housing.co.uk

3 Summer 2015 Forward together We want to give you peace of mind and a faster, more efficient service. We would also like to help you improve your skills and build your confidence. To do this, we provide a range of customer involvement activities, which give you the opportunity to meet other residents, get to know our staff and help improve our services for all our customers. New joint customer panels We have reviewed how we can give customers from both organisations equal opportunity to get involved. As a result, we have a new joint scrutiny panel and three customer panels to report on different service areas. These have all been put together in consultation with our current involved residents. The three customer panel groups are People, Property and Places. They will deal with the following: Customer panel Services include: People Property Places We need you! How does it work? As a member of the customer panel, you will need to attend meetings with our staff, monitor our performance, and review our different service areas. No special skills or qualifications are required. We will fully support you so you are comfortable in the group and understand the information we give you. We will also pay for the cost of childcare and travel expenses. Other opportunities We have many different opportunities to get involved, such as being a mystery shopper, a Board member or attending community events. Call us on for more details. Tenancy support Financial Inclusion Employment support Repairs Empty properties Asset management Cleaning Grounds maintenance Neighbourhood management We currently have some spaces available on our customer panels, so please call us to find out more on or residentinvolvement@family-housing.co.uk. Some of our joint scrutiny panel resident members. From L to R: (back) Ken Mallett, Malcolm Peak, (front) Val Chambers, Jas Jangha, Ann Russell, Jean Allison. Coming soon! New Newsletter We are replacing GN news and the existing Say Optima magazine with an exciting new joint newsletter, which we will post out with your rent statements. Your first issue is due in October and will be jam packed with information and highlights from both Family and Optima. Board appointments We recently recruited two new members to Family / Optima s Board of Management as Chairman, Dr Peter Taylor and Board Member, Hardeep Bhermi, both step down this year after completing their maximum nine years service. Welcome to Rebecca Bennett- Casserly who takes up position as Chair from 1 October and Richard Nowell who was appointed to the Board in July. Rebecca Bennett-Casserly appointed Chair of the Board from 1 October 2015 Richard Nowell appointed to the Board in July. Family-housing.co.uk 3

4 gn news Team With Family and Optima joining forces, we have reviewed the neighbourhoods where we work and created ten different areas to our neighbourhood management team. Each area has a Income Officer and a Neighbourhood Officer a range of housing and income services to help you manage your tenancy. The new areas will come into effect from the end of September. Please note that these were correct at the time of publication, but could be subject to change. Details will also be available on our website at The areas and staff members responsible are listed below. Area 1 Area 2 Area 3 Edgbaston (excluding Benmore and Woodview), Harborne, Ladywood (excluding Leebank, Sentinals and Five Ways), Nechells, Quinton, Selly Oak. Edgbaston (Benmore) Edgbaston (Woodview) Ladywood Five Ways Estate, Ladywood Sentinals. is Kam Hayer Officer is Perminder Marwaha is Caroline Sandall Officer is James Hobbs is Maxine Barrett Officer is Alison Gilhespy Area 4 Area 5 Area 6 Ladywood (Leebank Estate) Acocks Green, Billesley, Bordesley Green, Hall Green, South Yardley, Sparkbrook, Springfield. Castle Bromwich, Erdington, Hodge Hill, Kingstanding, Oscott, Shard End, Sheldon, Stechford and Yardley North, Stockland Green, Sutton New Hall, Sutton Trinity, Sutton Vesey, Tyburn, Washwood Heath.. is Monique Cox Officer is Rupinder Ruprah is Kamaljit Dhanda Officer is Ruth Bhullar is Sarah Crook Officer is Mandeep Jagpal 4 Family-housing.co.uk

5 Summer 2015 Area 7 is Leigh Burns Officer is Marsha Cooke Bartley Green, Bournville, Brandwood, Kings Heath, Kings Norton, Longbridge, Moseley, Northfield, Weoley Castle. Area 8 is Ektaa Kumar Officer is Usha Chauhan East Handsworth, Handsworth Wood, Lozells and Soho Area 9 Area 10 Solihull, Solihull (North) is Geraldine Mulhern Officers are Rebecca Lancaster / Faye Tuite is Rubina Sharif Officer is Louise Butler Aston, Cannock Chase, Dudley, Lichfield, North Warw, Perry Barr, Sandwell, Sutton Four Oaks, Tamworth, Walsall, Wolverhampton. Payment on time Most people pay their rent on time, however there are a significant number that don t. We are therefore asking all customers to pay their rent before the date, or on the date their rent is due, in accordance with their tenancy agreement. What does this mean? For weekly tenancies, you must pay on or before the Monday, so that you are paying for the week to come. If you make an agreement with us to pay your rent two-weekly, monthly or four-weekly, you must pay on or before the start of the two weeks, month or four weeks. For monthly tenancies, you must pay on or before the first of the month, so that you are paying for the month to come. New customers taking a tenancy with us are required to pay the first week or month when we give you the keys. Existing customers will be asked to make sure they pay on time. This includes customers who pay their rent through Housing Benefit or who receive Universal Credit. If you are struggling to pay on time, you need to contact us so we can make an arrangement with you to clear the debt and you can begin to pay your rent on time. If you pay by Standing Order you will need to tell the bank of the payments and dates required. If you pay by Direct Debit but are not paying on time, we will review your payments in the next 12 months and tell you if they need to be amended. If you ask us to refund a credit, a refund will only be made if, after the refund, your account is still in credit or clear and will not go into debt before your next payment is due. It is your responsibility to make sure that you pay on time. Please contact your local housing office, or visit for more information. Family-housing.co.uk 5

6 gn news Save energy, save money Pre-pay the smart way We are working with Secure Meters to promote new smart meters for customers with a pre pay meter, particularly where they are housed in communal cupboards. These meters can be topped up remotely (regardless of payment method) and therefore reduce the inconvenience of having to access the cupboard or meter, especially if you have mobility issues. The smart meters can be installed free of charge and help you save money and energy by: keeping track of your energy usage and credit, so you know how much you are spending topping-up your energy supplies remotely without having to leave your home, as well as monitoring your credit balance and energy usage, all at the touch of a button providing generous emergency credit and never cutting off over weekends or bank holidays. There are four energy providers now offering this style of meter providing competitive tariffs for pre-pay customers. They are E.On, OvO Energy, Utilita and Co-operative Energy. If you are already with one of these suppliers, then simply contact them to ask for a smart meter. If you are with a different supplier, you could consider switching but first check that this will save you money. My Home Energy Switch My Home Energy Switch is available to all our customers and is a free, impartial energy comparison website, which finds tenants the best price for their gas and electricity. For advice, call My Home Energy Switch on Free phone number or online at Priority services register If you are over 60, disabled or have longterm health issues, you may be entitled to extra help from your energy supplier through the Priority Services Register. This includes: quarterly meter readings to keep on top of bills moving meters to a more accessible place advance notice of disruption to supply special controls for appliances and meters password protection scheme to deter bogus callers bills sent to friends, relatives or carers services for hearing-impaired and/or vision impaired customers. To register, please contact your energy supplier or contact Western Power Distribution on or visit E.On energy fund A new fund is now available for pensioners, families, people with disabilities and those on low incomes to help pay towards energy bills, white goods and gas boilers. The E.ON Energy Fund is open to everyone regardless of their energy supplier. For more information visit or contact For information on any of our energy advice, please contact Bernadette McCullagh, Sustainability Co-ordinator, on or at bernie.mccullagh@wmhousing.co.uk 6 Family-housing.co.uk

7 Your Questions Answered Electrical Installation Testing Q What is involved and how long does it take? A A qualified electrician from Family HomeWorks will attend and carry out a visual inspection of the electrical system and test each electrical circuit. We will then carry out any works, which are deemed dangerous or potentially dangerous. The inspection usually takes around two hours to complete, but may take longer should any repairs need to be undertaken. Q Why do we carry out electrical inspections? A Every 5-10 years landlords need to inspect the electrical installation of properties to ensure it is safe and meets current regulations. Under the terms of your tenancy agreement, you need to allow us reasonable access to carry this out for your safety. Q What do I need to do? A We will contact you to make an appointment, or send you a letter asking you to contact us. At the time of the inspection, you will need to ensure there is credit on your electric meter. To test your appliances we will unplug them for a short period and we will need access to all areas of your home. The engineer may also need to take some light fittings down to carry out the test. Q How much will it cost? A The service is free as it is our duty as your landlord. For further information and advice, please contact us on , 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday or 8am to 1pm on Saturday or post@family-housing.co.uk Summer 2015 My Home Insurance As a landlord, we are not responsible for replacing the contents of your home if they are damaged or destroyed, for example, through a burst pipe or a fire. You may not feel that insuring your home is a priority, especially if money is tight, but we can offer you contents insurance for less than 1 a week. Contact us to find out more on or call My Homes contents insurance on Cook Off! Can you feed a family for a fiver? Show us how by entering Cook Off! There s a prize of 100 in vouchers to be won. Visit to find out more. Winner! Well done to Mrs Khatun from Washwood Heath who won our 50 gas service prize draw. If you allow our gas engineers into your home to do a gas service on their first visit, you will be automatically entered into our free prize draw to win 50 shopping vouchers. Family-housing.co.uk 7

8 Competition Complete our word puzzle to enter our prize draw to win 20 in high street shopping vouchers. Once completed, please add your full name and address and return by FREEPOST to the Optima address provided. tan lotion WIN 20 IN SHOPPING VOUCHERS Spring 2015 W T A G D S L L N V K D E V E S A S V D M O L Y R Z X D D K All entries must be received by 30th September A G T O I L B Y A J Q Z I R R N A L E L S A I A B M S S T A NAME D S K I R L W C K D A V T N P P H P Z P P P E Z E I K U B I P O O L E C A C S W P L O M T ADDRESS P A U G U S T R J V A N O O Q AUGUST BALL BEACH HAT HOLIDAY HOT ICECREAM JULY LOLLIPOP OUTSIDE PARK PLAY POOL SAND SEASIDE SHADE SUNNY SWIMSUIT WARM WATERPARK S J B S G T V E K A B R N H J U Y L U J W P A E T U E M M R N T A H C O Y M B U H Z A S K N L P Y T I U S M I W S H C B Y B E V Q T C R T D F A H O H J J H D J I T Y T V D O D K X T R C C M M Q U O E T Y J I Z Congratulations! Our competition winner from our GN News WINTER issue was Ms Gregory from Kings Norton who wins a 20 high street shopping voucher. POSTCODE Post to GN News Competition FREEPOST PLUS RRBH-BAAK-XCZA, Optima Community Association, St Thomas House, 80 Bell Barn Rd, BIRMINGHAM, B15 2AF. Visit our website at co.uk or scan the QR code below via your mobile phone. Family-housing.co.uk 8