Welcome to your residents’ newsletter. This is where we can share essential information with you about housing services and update you about the things you need to know.
In this edition of Open Door we’ve got information on:
- Our self-referral to the Housing Regulator
- Tenant satisfaction survey
- Be the change you want to see
- Get your debt under control
- Open Housing accounts open the door to your tenancy
- Could you be a foster carer?
- Swap2Stop - Free support to help smokers quit
- Celebrating respectfully
- Help shape York’s future
- Date changes for some Christmas waste and recycling collections
Update on our self-referral to the Housing Regulator
We wrote to you in October to let you know that new regulatory standards for landlords, including tenant safety and engagement, decent homes and transparency, have come into force.
These affect about 100 local authorities. Half of them have self-referred to the Regulator and so have we. We did this by sharing our improvement plans with them and meeting them.
They’ve now replied to us formally, and told us that we’re doing the right things to improve your homes and services, and that we should carry on putting our plans in action.
As part of this work we need to better understand who you are and how we can support you better. If you haven’t already, or if you want to update us, please tell us a little more about yourself by:
- completing an online form - Supporting our tenants needs
- emailing: housing.serviceimprovements@york.gov.uk
- telephone: 01904 555 556
You can find out more about the regulator from GOV.UK.
Tenant satisfaction survey
Thank you to the 1,068 of you who sent us feedback on the 2024 tenant satisfaction survey.
Your feedback is invaluable and helps us continue to improve the services we deliver. We'll carefully review your responses to help identify areas where we can enhance our services.
Be the change you want to see
We’re committed to providing services for you which matter, and which really make a difference to you. So that we can improve our services, it’s important that we know what you think about them.
There are lots of ways you can do this including joining our Performance Panel. If you:
- like working with figures
- have views on our performance
- know or want to know how we measure ourselves against other Housing Providers
Why not join this friendly team?
The Performance Panel finds out what we are doing to improve, and tells us if we’re doing it right or if we need to make any changes.
The panel meets every 3 months for a couple of hours online - so you don’t need to leave home to join us.
If you need any support to join or to look at the figures, we can help you so you can tell us what you think of our services.
You’d be very welcome to join us! To find out more, contact Julie Hood, Housing Engagement and Equalities Facilitator on telephone: 01904 552907 or on email: julie.hood@york.gov.uk.
Get your debt under control
It’s that time of year where Christmas is nearly behind us, but debt may be piling up behind us too.
If you're struggling with debt, don’t worry, you are not alone. Let’s get you and your financial situation into a healthier and more manageable situation.
Take the first step
It can take a lot to take the first step to manage and clear your debt. Please ask for help with any financial difficulty as soon as possible, and however it came about. Once you have made that first contact, it will lift you into a better place where you can move forwards. There are lots of ways to deal with debt and people who can help you do this.
Getting and keeping in touch
Get in touch with your Housing Management Officer (HMO) as soon as possible if you can’t make a rent payment. The sooner you contact them, the easier it will be to get repayments under control to repay any debt on your rental account, or to start looking at any other debt you might be facing.
Making contact means we can also help you with things like Pension Credit, Council Tax Support or food and fuel vouchers.
If, after making contact, you find that you are struggling with the rental payment, or any other debt, you’ll find lots of helpful tips and information on the Live Well York website.
Budgeting
Getting any debt under control will also help you with budgeting for the week, month or year to come. It will help you know what your income and outgoings are and what’s left for non-essential expenses such as days out or takeaways.
You can also check to see if you’re getting all the benefits you’re due using this free, confidential benefits calculator. This is a very easy way to check that you are getting everything you are eligible to claim. This can include help with housing costs, childcare, bills and Council Tax to name a few.
Don’t delay getting in touch!
Don’t delay contacting services and asking for help! It can feel a difficult first step to take, but it’s one step closer to becoming debt-free as well as claiming any benefits you’re due.
Citizens Advice York, Christians Against Poverty and Step Change run confidential debt advice services to assist you. Contact your Housing Management Officer to get the help that’s right for you and to help you get debt-free.
Open Housing accounts open the door to your tenancy
Having an Open Housing account gives you 24/7 access to:
- apply for a council home
- check your rent account and see when rent is due
- update details about you and your household
- contact housing staff
- view your repair history and upcoming planned works
To set up an account for Open Housing please have your tenancy reference number ready, beginning 1900 or 600. If you don’t know it or would like help getting on-line, please contact the Strategy and Performance team on email: housing.serviceimprovements@york.gov.uk, or telephone: 01904 555556.
Could you be a foster carer?
We're urgently looking for foster carers to provide safe, loving homes for children and young people in York.
If you want to help change a child’s life and have a spare bedroom, get in touch on telephone: 01904 555678 or visit our Fostering website for more information.
Swap2Stop - Free support to help smokers quit
Swap 2 Stop is a new nationwide campaign, being offered by York Health Trainers, which is aimed at encouraging smokers to make the switch from smoking to vaping to improve their health.
If you are a smoker, you live in York and you’re aged over 18, you can now get a free Swap2Stop 4-week vape starter kit posted out to you to help you quit for good.
Or you can choose free one-to-one support from a health trainer for 10 weeks, with a free vape starter kit and additional e-liquid. You’ll be invited to regular sessions at local venues near to where you live.
Smokers across the city have successfully quit this way, including Mick from Acomb, who felt better physically and mentally after quitting. He also saved so much money in the first few weeks he was able to buy himself a new air fryer to try and eat more healthily too!
You can self-refer online: Help to stop smoking.
Or contact the Health Trainer on telephone: 01904 553377, or email: cychealthtrainers@york.gov.uk.
Celebrating respectfully
Everyone wants to enjoy the festive season, and we all want to celebrate in different ways. So, to ensure you and your neighbours do just that here are some top tips.
Parties
Let your neighbours know you’re having one, or invite them! Keep the noise down, particularly in communal areas, and turn the music off by 11.00pm.
Fireworks
You can’t light or throw fireworks in communal areas or any public place.
You must not set off fireworks between 11.00pm and 7.00am, except for:
- Bonfire Night, when the cut off is midnight
- New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year, when the cut off is 1.00am
Talk about it
You can usually sort most issues with neighbours over a friendly chat and mince pie.
You can report nuisance noise online, on telephone: 01904 551555, or email: neo@york.gov.uk.
Alternatively, if you need to report anti-social behaviour (ASB) you can log in to your Open Housing customer portal account and register your complaint online. If you don't already have an account you can register for a new account using your tenancy reference number starting 1900 or 600.
For serious ASB, such as illegal activity like drug use, violence or vandalism, this should be reported to the police on 101, or 999 in case of immediate danger. Never attempt to address these issues yourself.
Please report Hate crime online at: www.report-it.org.uk.
Help shape York’s future
Have your say on our budget proposals which focus on 3 priorities:
- protecting services
- raising money
- saving money
Have your say and join Our Big Budget Conversation by 1 January 2025.
There are lots of other opportunities to have your say. See details of current consultations.
Date changes for some Christmas waste and recycling collections
Remember to check your waste and recycling collections for between Christmas and New Year as they may have changed. You can do this online:
The last garden waste collection of 2024 was on 6 December. Subscriptions for the 2025 season will open in the new year, and we'll be contacting all households who are eligible for garden waste collections by the end of January 2025.
You'll be updated on the cost of the 2025 season and when you can purchase a new subscription for the full year (the service runs for 40 weeks between March to December 2025).
Please do not contact the council before the end of January, as the details are not yet available.
See more information about the Garden Waste Subscription Scheme.