Homing IN Sheffield Winter 2009 - Pennine Housing 2000

Winter 2009
S H E F F I E L D
News Magazine for Pennine Housing 2000 Tenants and Leaseholders
Making a difference for people, homes and communities
Pride of Pennine Great Gardens Estate Walkabout Winter Tips Investment Update
www.ph2k.org.uk
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Welcome
Darren Burton
Hello, I am Darren Burton,
Housing Services Manager.
I started working with Pennine
Housing this Summer and,
together with Clare Atkinson,
we manage the team of staff
that delivers housing services
to your home.
As well as continuing to improve the quality of
your homes, you will see from this magazine that
we have been getting out into the community and
working with tenants to set up a range of activities
for young people. The Dream scheme has really
taken off in Loxley and Wisewood whilst Target
Hardening funding has been awarded for Manor
Park to make the homes of elderly and vulnerable
people feel safe and secure.
Happy reading!
Information – the way you want it
If you need this document translating or reproducing in
Larger Print, Braille, on Audio Tape or by Email, please
contact any Pennine Housing 2000 office.
(Urdu)
(Bengali)
Informacja - w dowolnej formie
Jeśli chcą Państwo otrzymać ten dokument
przetłumaczony lub wydrukowany większą czcionką,
alfabetem Braille’a, nagrany na
kasetę lub przesłany pocztą
(Polish)
elektroniczną proszę skontaktować
się z jakimkolwiek biurem Pennine
Housing 2000.
How to get in touch...
Pennine Housing 2000
(Head Office - Sheffield)
Blades Enterprise Centre
Bramall Lane, Sheffield. S2 4SU
Office Opening times: 9am – 5pm
(Please note this office is not open
to the public)
Telephone: 0114 292 2313
Pennine Housing staff are available at;
Manor Park Community Space
52-54 Manor Park Centre,
Sheffield. S2 1W
Monday 10.00am - 1.00pm
Wednesday 1.00pm - 4.00pm
Friday 10.00am - 1.00pm
Wisewood TARA
2 Cox Place, Sheffield. S6 4SZ
Tuesdays 10.00am - 12noon
Thursdays 2.00pm - 4.00pm
If you need to talk to us outside these
times, please call the Bramall Lane
Office on 0114 292 2313.
Our Housing Officers are happy to visit
you at home, please contact us to arrange
an appointment.
Repairs
Monday to Friday 8.00am – 6.00pm
Tel 0114 273 4845
Emergencies outside of these times
Tel 0114 273 0101
Useful information
24 hr Nuisance hotline 0800 393 634
e.mail: ph2kfeedback@ph2k.org.uk
website: www.ph2k.org.uk
Allpay: rent payment line 0844 557 8321
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Pride of Pennine
During the summer we invited all tenants in
Calderdale and Sheffield to nominate people or
groups who they felt made a real difference to
the community.
We are pleased to tell you that Sheffield
scooped two of the awards.
Over 100 people attended our combined
Annual General Meeting and Pennine
Pride Awards to see Brenda Mappin from
Harold Lambert Court receive an award for
Community Contribution for all the excellent
work she does caring for others, for attending
meetings and making sure information reaches
other residents in the block.
Best Tenants Group Award went to your very
own Wisewood & District Tenants Association!
The group provide advice, help and direct
support to local individuals and support a
range of activities on the estate to make sure
local people have a voice which is heard.
Other categories were:-
Outstanding Member Of Staff Award
Young Persons Award
Making a Stand Award
We will be sending nomination forms round
again next summer so keep an eye out for the
people who you feel make a real difference and
be ready to nominate next year.
Pennine Housing is working closely with
South Yorkshire Police to help reduce
crime in Sheffield, and improve the safety
of our tenants’ homes.
Smartwater is a liquid which the Police or
Neighbourhood Wardens can paint onto
items such as jewellery, electrical items
and even cars!
It leaves a forensic fingerprint coded
with the owners details which is virtually
impossible to see unless viewed under
ultraviolet light.
Any recovered stolen property marked
with Smart Water can be traced back to
the exact place where it was stolen and
returned to the owner. If a burglar gets
some of the Smartwater on their clothes
or skin, it lasts for weeks, often making
it possible for the Police to link them to
particular crimes.
Last year we helped to protect belongings
in over 200 homes on our estates. Homes
which have been protected display the
sticker in their window to make burglars
think twice!.
We will be visiting homes over the next six
months and we will let you know when we
are coming.
Hazel Stothard (Wisewood TARA) collects award
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Great Gardens 2009
In August we had a blooming marvellous time judging the 2009 Annual Garden Competition.
The competition is open to all areas and we were pleased that we received more entries this year.
There were two categories, one for the Best Garden and one for the best Communal Garden/
Window Box for people living in flats.
Congratulations to our winner of the Best Garden, Mr & Mrs Reynolds of Findon Place Sheffield,
shown below receiving his prize from Pennine’s Community Development Officer, Kerrie Rayworth.
Congratulations also to the winner of the Best
Communal Garden, Mr Saddington of Bland
Lane, Wisewood. (shown right)
Thank you to all who entered and to our
volunteer judge, Chris Girlow.
Get your gardening gloves on now to
prepare to enter next years competition.
Cash prizes to be won, so don’t miss out!
Entry forms will be available from March
next year, please contact the office for more
information.
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Estate Walkabout
Untidy estates can create the wrong
impression when people visit or pass by.
At Pennine, we try to keep our estates
looking nice so that you can feel a sense
of pride about where you live. We would
like your help with this by asking you to
take part in estate walkabouts with your
housing officer and other tenants.
Manor Park estate and Wisewood,
Wadsley & Loxley are too big to carry out
single estate inspections so we plan to
break each estate down into smaller areas
and we would like to invite you along.
If you want to show us areas which are
important to you which perhaps often
get vandalised or where rubbish is being
dumped then come along to your nearest
walkabout.
SAFE & WELL SCHEME
The Safe & Well Scheme aims to improve
the security of homes and possessions
and increase safety for people living in the
Manor and Castle area. The Scheme offers:
• An opportunity to have properties and
outbuildings assessed to identify areas
where security could be improved.
• A variety of FREE security equipment
supplied and installed.
• Information and advice regarding home
safety and security.
For referrals:
Ian Clarkson 0114 205 3557
yes@sheffieldhomes.org.uk
For further details:
Dawn Dale 0114 278 9999
dawndale@manorandcastle.org.uk
Our next Estate Walkabouts are shown
below, just turn up and walk about with
your Housing Officer.
Wisewood Area and Wadsley
December 7th
10.00am
meet at 2 Cox Place
Loxley Area
November 19th
10.00am
meet Phillips Road Garage site
December 17th
10.00am
meet Phillips Road Garage site
Harold Lambert Court
December 17th
10.00am
Meet outside the Community
Room
Get in touch
If you have any news or letters which you would
like to appear in your magazine, please post them
to; Lindsey Merifield, Pennine Housing 2000, Park
View House, Brighouse, HD6 4AB or you can give
me a call on 01484 824335.
We pay £10 for each item shown and £20 for our
Star Letter so why not have a go, we would love to
hear from you.
Competition
Have a go at the Christmas word search or
crossword. All the answers to the crossword
can be found by reading the magazine! We have
hampers up for grabs for three lucky winners – just
send your entry form to the Freepost address
shown on the competition form (no stamp needed).
5

Healthy, wealthy and warm this winter
Winter tips
Top tips to keep your health and your energy
bills in good shape for the winter
1) Keep your home at a comfortable
temperature, that’s around:
• 21 o C / 70 o F in the living areas
• 22 o C / 71 o F in the bathroom
• 18 o C / 65 o F in other rooms,
You may need a slightly higher temperature
if you are unwell or have to sit down a lot of
the time.
Try turning the thermostat down – just 1OC
lower could reduce your fuel bills by up to
10%. If your annual bill is £600 this could
mean a saving of £60.
2) Use central heating where available to keep
the whole home comfortable – relying on
individual fires is expensive and can lead to
damp and condensation in unheated areas.
3) To avoid damp: Open the windows a little.
Close the doors to the kitchen and to the
bathroom when you cook or have hot water
running. Use extractor fans if you have
them. If you need to dry washing indoors,
use an airer rather than a radiator.
4) Check how much gas and electricity you
use and what you have been paying for it
by comparing your bills or statements over
the last couple of years.
5) Call your present gas company and
electricity company to ask if you are on the
right tariff for your circumstances. All the
major energy suppliers offer a wide range
of tariffs and they could save you money
by moving you to the right one.
6) Look into switching to a cheaper rate or
tariff. You could save quite a lot of money
this way unless you are already on a good
tariff, or you have no choice about staying
with your present supplier. Some housing
associations have special deals for their
tenants so ask about those first; or try
Consumer Focus - call 0845 4 04 05 06, or
use their website at
www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.
Have the figures for what you use and what
you pay ready when you call, as well as
the name of your present supplier (your
gas company and your electricity company
if you have separate ones) and your
postcode.
7) Your electricity company and your gas
company will both operate a Priority
Service Register. If you are:
• Receiving a pension
• Disabled
• Chronically ill
• Blind or visually impaired
• Deaf or hearing impaired,
call the company and ask to be added to
their list.
The Register offers:
• Meter readings if you cannot read the
meter yourself.
• The chance to have the meter moved for
free if you find it hard to reach or hard to
read.
• A special password to guard against
people calling round and making untrue
claims to be from your gas or electricity
company.
• Easy-to-use controls for your appliances.
• Early notice if the electricity supply in your
area has to be turned off.
• A copy of your bill to be sent to a relative,
carer or friend if you would like them to
help you deal with it.
Some people may qualify for free gas
safety checks as well.
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8) Check if you are eligible for hardship funds
from your gas company and your electricity
company.
Call the company and ask for the Priority
Services or Hardship Fund team to see
what help they can give you if you are very
short of money and you:
• Need to replace an essential household
appliance,
• Cannot pay your latest fuel bill.
• Cannot meet existing agreements to repay
fuel debts.
9) Use electricity sensibly:
• Switch off wherever you can; don’t leave
anything on standby if you don’t have to.
• Use energy saving lightbulbs.
• When you need to replace household
electrical goods, always check that you
are buying the most efficient one. Choose
goods labelled with an A or A+ rating if you
can. A new A-rated fridge-freezer will use
around 60% less electricity than an old
one, saving over £30 a year on your bill.
• Borrow an electricity monitor from your
local library. It will show you how much
the electricity goes up when you switch
something on – and how much you save
when you turn it off again.
7

It’s a Dreamscheme
Young people in Loxley told us that there was nothing for them to do. We responded by
setting up a Dreamscheme during the Summer Holidays.
The Dreamscheme began on the Flower Estate in Sheffield back in 1995 and has since
become a nationally recognised project. Not only is it a great way to promote positive
behaviour, it also encourages young people to take a pride in their local community and learn
practical skills.
Work = Points = Reward
Young people earn points for taking part in community-based tasks such as gardening, litter
picking and minor D.I.Y. These points are then “spent” on all sorts of fun activities.
Lucky Loxley
During August, young people got up early every Wednesday morning to make a difference to
Loxley with the Dreamscheme.
They cleaned up the community and church grounds, washed cars with South Yorkshire Fire &
Rescue Service and planted bulbs in pots which we then gave to elderly residents on the estate.
In the afternoon they were rewarded with fun football coaching sessions with Sheffield F.C.
Wisewood will be next to have a Dreamscheme where a team of willing volunteers will spring
clean Spider Park.
The more people are involved in Dreamscheme, the better the results.
We are pleased to have a number of partnership agencies involved such as Sheffield City Council,
South Yorkshire Police, Wisewood School and many more.
We will let you know when there is a Dreamscheme event near you so you can come along and
join in the fun. To find out more, contact Darren Burton on: 0114 292 2316.
Loxley residents team up to clean up.
8

Investment Update
During the stock transfer, we made a
promise to you that homes would be
improved and this is what we have done
so far.
We have spent over £20m carrying out
work to over 800 properties and have
now fitted an amazing....
693 kitchens
702 bathrooms
and installed 794 external doors
We are due to complete the internal
work on all of our properties by this time
next year.
We also said we would look at
Environmental Issues on the estates
after the work to your homes had been
completed. This covers things like off
road parking, tree cutting, fencing and
boundary issues.
You will all be invited to events early in
the New Year where we will be asking
what is most important to you, so please
come along and have your say.
9

Calderdale and Sheffield
Performance update 2008-09
Each year we take a look at how we have performed in comparison with the year before.
This is so that we can see where we are performing well and get a GOLD star or where we
need to improve.
Rent Collection
2008
5415
2009
5107
Number of Tenants in
Arrears
308 fewer tenants were
in arrears at the end of
this year than in April
2008. This is a result of
tackling arrears at an
early stage.
Housing Management Services
2008
128Days
2009
111Days
Average number
of days taken to
investigate a nuisance
complaint
On average it took us 17
days less to investigate
complaints of nuisance.
Bringing a quicker
resolution to problems
on your estates.
2008 2009
97.33% 98.48%
Rent Collection
We collected a brilliant
98.48% of rent due for
last year which means
that more money is
available to pay for
repairs, improvements
and new services for
you.
2008 2009
20.2% 66.7%
Knowing Our
Customers
We are pleased to say
that we have nearly two
thirds of our customer
details which means
we can better tailor our
services to meet your
needs.
2008
£2.15
Million
2009
£2.12
Million
Current Rent Arrears
This year the amount
of rent owing reduced
by £31,500 and by
introducing changes to
front line services (the
New Housing Income
team) it is hoped this
figure will continue to
improve.
2008
42
2009
46
Number of Complaints
against Pennine
As an organisation we
welcome feedback from
customers when things
go wrong so that we can
learn and improve our
services. In 08/09 the
number of complaints
made to us rose from 42
to 46.
Repairs & Improvements
2008
£390
2009
£415
Average Level of
Debt
The average debt
of those in arrears
increased by £25. This
is due to a number of
tenants with high, long
standing arrears and
we will be working with
them to help reduce
their debt.
2008
1203 2009 705
The Investement
Programme
The number of
properties below the
national non Decent
Homes standard nearly
halved. The majority of
these are within Sheffield
and awaiting their turn
in the improvement
programme.
10

Repairs on target
We are working closely with Kier to ensure that
they continue to deliver a good responsive
repairs service to our properties.
Since April 2009 they have completed a
brilliant 98% of repairs for us on time and most
repairs are completed within six days.
If you would like to report a repair please call
our dedicated Kier Call Centre Team on:-
0114 273 4845 between 8am and 6pm
Monday to Friday
0114 273 0101 for emergencies outside
of the above times.
New on-line form
We have improved our website so that
you can now report neighbour nuisance
on-line at www.ph2k.org.uk. Once you
have completed the on-line form, your
Housing Officer will get in touch with you.
If you do not have a computer, you can
telephone our 24hr reporting number –
0800 393634.
If you have any comments about the repairs
service you receive, we are always pleased to
hear from you – call Alan Sheard on
0114 292 2313.
You can now see the Pennine logo on Kier
vans too!
Doorstep dangers
Don’t be a victim of doorstep crime.
When a Pennine Housing member of staff
or one of our partner agencies such as Kier,
Lovell or Keepmoat call to see you, they will
always show you their identification at the door
and, wherever possible, they will have told you
that they are coming.
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If you are in any doubt at all that the caller to
your home may not be genuine, please contact
our office on 0114 292 2313 and we will do our
best to advise you.
Be safe, chain the door and always ask to see
identification (ID) first. If in doubt, do not allow
them into your home.

Need a hand?
Since we introduced the Helping Hands Service in April 2008 it has grown
into a valued part of the work that we do with many people using it on a
regular basis.
If you are a Pennine tenant in Sheffield and need some help with odd jobs
around the house or garden we may be able to help... and it’s free!
Dwain can help with things such as gardening, fitting curtain rails, putting up shelves and
assembling flat-pack furniture as well as fitting home security measures such as smoke
alarms, door chains or spy holes. If in doubt about a job, just call, we will advise you if
Dwain can help.
Any small job will be considered but we cannot accept requests for gas, electrical or
plumbing work.
So, if you have a shelf you need putting up or a picture you need hanging – just call our office
on (0114) 292 2313 and we will give you an appointment.
Please note, general repairs should still be reported to Kier.
Wheelie
important
Please do not overfill your
bin or leave bags around
them if they are full.
Veolia will not empty bins
which are overflowing.
If you have any bulky items
which you need removing,
please telephone the
office on 0114 292 2313
and we will gladly arrange
for its collection - free of
charge.
Working together
Pennine are working with Manor &
Arbourthorne Safer Neighbourhoods
Team in the coming weeks to reassure
the community in Manor Park that we are
working together to help them to feel safer.
We will be carrying out consultation events
and calling at homes to gather information
about those who commit anti social
behaviour and crime on and around Manor
Park area.
With your help we hope that we can
continue to reduce the level of neighbour
nuisance and vandalism on the estate.
Police Community Support Officer
(PCSO) Sharon Wright said “Over the last
3 years the good working relationship
between South Yorkshire Police and
Pennine Housing has contributed towards
improving public confidence in both our
services.’
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