The Housing Ombudsman has published a Complaint Handling Code, which sets out good practice and allows landlords to respond to complaints effectively and fairly. All member landlords have been asked to self-assess against the Code by 31 December 2020 and publish the results on their websites.  You can find our self assessment by clicking the link here.  You can view the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code by clicking here. If you have any queries or require any further information please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Service Manager on 01768 861400 or by email at [email protected].

Every year the first period of cold weather can cause large numbers of tenants to lose their heating and hot water as they have forgotten to check their condensate pipe from their boiler. Please remember to follow the advice below: If caught early enough, this issue is often quick and simple for someone to solve for themselves without having to wait for a heating engineer to attend. If you get your heating and hot water from a gas or oil combi boiler, it will most likely have a condensate pipe – this will usually be white plastic and will run away from the boiler to a drain – often going to an outside wall and looking like an overflow pipe. In cold weather the small amount of water that runs from this pipe can freeze up, eventually causing the boiler to shut down and stop working. By defrosting the pipe and removing the frozen blockage, you can get your boiler working again. How to defrost a frozen condensate boiler pipe Warning If in any doubt, phone our Customer Service team on 01768 861400/0800 358 1401 The following short video from Worcester Bosch demonstrates how to safely thaw the pipe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iFyHf4in8k&noredirect=1

Life in lockdown has revealed some hidden talents amongst Eden Housing Association residents, especially in the Assisted Living Schemes. Poems and paintings have surfaced and two residents from Carlisle and Kirkby Stephen have showcased their offerings. Retired Teacher Clem Greenhow put pen to paper and created a poem titled ‘A War Without Bullets’, describing his take on life in lockdown – the first verse summing up: The World is experiencing World War 3 Corona Virus the common enemy A reliable vaccine we must see Before from lockdown we will be free 83 year old resident Donald Walker put colour to paper and has produced a series of watercolours from the town of Kirkby Stephen, which will be displayed along the corridors and communal areas of the Assisted Living Scheme at Mill Gardens. It is intended the pictures will create a more homely look and feel, and can be interchanged within the scheme, giving everybody an occasional change of scenery. Donald has been resident at Mill Garden since the scheme opened in May 2015, and became interested in painting in his early 30s, encouraged by his father who was an accomplished amateur artist. Donald’s early paintings were in oils, and he…

We are about to start writing the new plan to steer EHA through to 2025.  Before we start, we want to make sure that we understand what is most important to our tenants.  Please take a few minutes to complete our quick survey by clicking here If you add your contact details, we’ll enter you in a draw for vouchers to spend locally – you’ll receive them before Christmas.  Deadline for entries is 5pm on Tuesday 3 November.

We’re pleased to be working with Lazonby Parish Council and Eden District Council to find out whether affordable housing can be built on the former Egg Packing Shed at Lazonby.  The Parish Council has provided more information on a flyer, asking for resident support and comments. Following on from the article in the Herald at the weekend, if anyone has any comments, feedback or letters of support, you can contact the Chair of the Parish Council at 4 Lamb Lea, Lazonby, Penrith CA10 1BB or email [email protected]. You can check out the flyer by clicking here, and the Herald article and photo here.

Eden Housing Association Proposed Rent Increase – April 2021 Consultation September 2020 Introduction At their next meeting, our Board need to make a decision about what increase to apply to rents next year.  We are recommending a CPI plus 1%increase, equivalent to the Government’s expectation for housing associations. We think this is the minimum required to keep the business running and meet tenants’ priorities.  Our Board are keen to hear what tenants think so they have a clearer picture before considering our recommendation. What do you think about a rent increase in April 2021? How rents are calculated Before you answer that question, we would like to try and explain a little more about how rents are calculated and what has been happening with rents in the last few years. As a housing association we can’t just choose to charge what we like. The formula for calculating rents is set by the Government, and they tell us what we can charge (Links to Government Documents: Rent Standard: https://tinyurl.com/y66e3h9p Rent Standard guidance: https://tinyurl.com/yyh9jq26 MHCLG Policy Statement: https://tinyurl.com/y56sumrv) Most commonly, rents have increased every year with increases in charges usually being calculated using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Retail Price…

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day – #WSPD – which provides the opportunity for people, across the globe, to raise awareness of suicide and suicide prevention. Over 800,000 people die by suicide annually, representing 1 person every 40 seconds Not just today, but every day, take a minute to reach out to someone – a complete stranger, close family member or friend – this can change a life. We are all part of a community, linked to family, friends, work colleagues, neighbours or teams. Sometimes we become isolated and disconnected from our communities – reach out to those in our community. If you are worried about someone in your community reach out and ask them “are you okay?” By simply checking in with them and offering non-judgemental support you can make a difference. Tonight, on World Suicide Prevention Day, light a Candle near a window at 8pm to show your support for suicide prevention, to remember a lost loved one, and to show support for survivors of suicide. Local Charity Suicide Safer Cumbria has a great website with lots of information – https://www.every-life-matters.org.uk/ HELP IS AVAILABLE – For more support or to talk: Carlisle & Eden Mind for suicidal thoughts…

Hot off the press is our Summer Edition of Viewpoint. Click here to check out all our latest news.

To celebrate the launch of TPAS’s first ever Scrutiny Week, we are sharing some of our Scrutiny Panel’s achievements over the past 12 months. Our Scrutiny Panel acts as the Association’s ‘critical friend’ – reviewing services and recommending improvements. This year, the Panel has reviewed general needs service charges, and the Association’s empty property process. Service Charges – EHA spends £75,000+ every year on services like grass cutting, cleaning & lighting without the tenants who benefit paying anything towards the costs. (In assisted living schemes, all tenants pay towards these services). After looking at financial information, case law, policies and visiting some affected sites, the Panel recommended service charges are brought in for all new applicable tenancies, to reduce financial losses. They also recommended we start our own ‘Caretaker’ Service. Board accepted all of the recommendations, and work is ongoing to put them in place. Empty property processes – the Panel inspected two properties before and after repair work. They also reviewed policy documentation and carried out a survey of new tenants. The Panel helped save around £100 on each empty property by recommending changes in how we do things. We now have a void officer who manages each empty…

6 – 10 JULY 2020 As Rural Housing Week draws to a close, we are keen to celebrate Rural Affordable Housing and #RuralCommunitiesTogether, shining a spotlight on the vital role played by housing in the survival of rural communities and services. We were pleased to work with the Rural Housing Alliance, providing information on our Homelessness and Housing Service. You can read more on the Rural Housing Alliance, and our case study here. Rural Housing Week is an opportunity to highlight key rural issues, and show successful developments that offer a lifeline to local people in our market towns and villages. This week we were proud to showcase two new developments in Penrith, working in partnership with Thomas Armstrong (Construction) Limited, Day Cummins and Atkinson Homes. Our new affordable rented homes and flats at William Street are now let. Thanks are expressed to Day Cummins, Thomas Armstrong (Construction) Ltd and our own project team who helped make this happen.         In addition, we are delighted with our newly acquired (and already let), rented bungalow at Tynefield Drive, built by Atkinson Homes.      

A heatwave is forecast for the next few days – try and keep cool, drink plenty of water and keep out of the sun.  

We’ve only been doing emergency repairs recently and we would like to start doing all repairs again in July. We’d like to know what repair services you’d be happy to use if needed – please let us know by clicking on our short survey https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/57RTPNJ Respond by Wednesday 24 June for a chance to win a £10 voucher (5 available).