Genesis Housing Association Residents Report 2013

Service charges
We know there is room for improvement in the way we deliver service charges.
We will be reviewing and improving service charges in the coming year.
We have already been working hard to reduce some of the costs residents pay for
communal services, such as communal energy, cleaning and gardening costs.
We have negotiated
an average saving of
8%
on your communal
energy bill
We have recently
procured new estate
service contracts and
have negotiated an
average saving overall of
£100,000
across 384 estates
in London
Moving
We would like to welcome our new residents,
almost 3,000 of you, who moved into Genesis
accommodation in 2011/ 2012.
For those of you thinking about moving on,
Homeswapper is a national scheme which helps
local authority and housing association residents
(excluding those in temporary housing), search
for homes to swap, or mutually exchange, with
another resident.
When registering for Homeswapper, residents
are requested to enter as much detail as possible
about their property, including photographs (this
information is verified by Genesis), and the type of
property required.
Once registered, you can search for someone to
swap with, this could be someone from another
housing association, not just Genesis. It could also
be anywhere in the country so it is great if you are
looking to move to a new area.
Service charges cover the costs of managing,
maintaining, repairing and insuring your property.
They also cover other resident services. These
include cleaning, concierge, caretaker, lifts and
pest control.
Service charges vary because services vary. For
example, if you live in a block with a lift, you will be
charged more than if you lived in a block with no lift.
Your weekly or monthly service charge is
calculated on a yearly basis. We charge you an
estimate of how much we anticipate services will
cost by looking at spending in previous years.
Charges normally change in April and we try to
give at least a month’s notice of any changes.
20 Genesis Housing Association Residents Report 2013 Genesis Housing Association Residents Report 2013 21