Dear residents,
We are currently reviewing our Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) policy which is due for renewal. We are keen to work with residents to help shape our services, get your feedback on the policy and make sure it is suited for you. The consultation is open until 22 March 2023, please complete the below questionnaire by this date. There is a section at the bottom of the form to add any further thoughts.
Anti-Social Behaviour Policy 2023 – Draft version
Please complete the questionnaire here.
Thank you for your time.
ccha are holding its second ‘Meet the Board’ event on 6 March at 5pm via Zoom, where residents will get the chance to hear about a new charter ccha are joining. Heather Thomas, Chair of the ccha Board, and Tracy Cullen, Chief Executive, will be joined by members of the Customer Investment Team to introduce the charter and get your thoughts.
Register for your free ticket by 2 March 2023
ccha is joining a new charter called Together with Tenants from 31 March 2023. This charter has been created by an independent Tenant Advisory Panel (TAP for short) and the National Housing Federation (NHF) with the aim to create a strong relationship between housing associations and residents.
By signing up to this, we are holding ourselves accountable and we want you as residents to hold us to account when we aren’t doing things right. We know our service could be improved and we want your support and engagement to help us get there.
How can you get involved?
We are holding a Meet the Board session where residents will get a chance to hear more about the charter and give their feedback.
What is the aim of Together with Tenants?
Following the awful fire at Grenfell Tower in 2017, the government spoke to residents to understand how people feel about their housing association, and what change needed to happen. A big theme from these conversations was that residents aren’t listened to enough, and this was mentioned a lot in the government’s Social Housing Green Paper. So, in 2018 the NHF created an initiative called Together with Tenants to improve this. Its aim is to strengthen the relationship between residents and housing associations.
After speaking to lots of residents and their members, the NHF developed a four-point plan for change. This included a new charter with six commitments, setting out in clear terms what residents can and should expect from their landlord – and how residents can hold them to account on these.
What does this mean for you?
This means ccha would be committing to the below six actions:
- Relationships: To treat all residents with respect in all of their interactions, and for relationships between residents and housing associations to be based on openness, honesty and transparency.
- Communication: To send you clear, accessible and timely information on the issues that matter to you, including important information about your home and local community, how the organisation is working to address problems, how the organisation is run, and information about performance on key issues.
- Voice and influence: To seek and value the views of residents and use this information to inform decisions. Every individual resident should feel listened to on the issues that matter to them and speak without fear.
- Accountability: To allow residents to collectively work in partnership to independently scrutinise and hold their housing association to account for the decisions that affect the quality of homes and services.
- Quality: To ensure homes are good quality, well maintained, safe and well managed.
- When things go wrong: To provide residents with simple and accessible routes for raising issues, making complaints and seeking redress. And for residents to receive timely advice and support when things go wrong.
What happens next?
We will be meeting with residents and Board members on 6 March at 5pm online via Zoom to go over the charter and get your feedback. If you’d like to get involved, please click the link below to reserve you free space.
Please register for your free ticket by Thursday 2 March, 1pm.
Following the meeting, we will feedback to residents on our plans and how we will incorporate your comments.
To read more about the charter and to stay updated, please visit our website at www.ccha.biz.
Power outages can happen at any time, either planned or unplanned. With some preparation, you can ensure you are safe and your home is protected during these times.
If you want to check if there is a power outage in your area, you can visit: https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/power-cut
Before the power outage:
- Staying warm: Stock up on thick blankets, bedding and clothing.
- Alternative lighting: Candles may look nice, but they’re a fire and health hazard and should be avoided. Having a torch with batteries means you won’t drain your phone battery, which you might need in an emergency. Getting a solar lantern that can recharge without plugging in or LED lanterns with long-lasting batteries are two other ways to safely light your house.
- Food: Try and keep some non-perishable foods that don’t require cooking in your cupboards such as canned meats, fish, vegetables and fruit or nuts, dried fruits and energy bars.
- Communication: Charge mobile phones, power banks, laptops and other devices. Although landlines are likely to still work even in a power cut many homes no longer have one.
- Key numbers: Make sure you have your utility’s emergency number written down somewhere. If you smell a gas leak, you don’t want to be reliant on Wi-Fi to pull up your utility’s emergency number.
- First aid kit: make sure it is easily accessible
- Something to do: Have some entertainment ready, books, board games, jigsaw puzzles: anything that doesn’t need electricity to work. The biggest enemy during power outages will be boredom, particularly for young children and young adults.
During the power outage:
When the power does go out:
- Do not open fridges or freezers as the cold air will escape.
- If the property has a hot water tank don’t take a shower or bath –save that water for hot water bottles, since the tank will stay warm for a while after the power goes out.
- Unplug electronic equipment including computers, TVs, sound systems, chargers, air fryers, microwaves and ovens. There may be a small possibility of power surges once on the power comes back on, so unplugging will avoid damage and keep people safe.
- Secure vulnerable pets.
- Check on vulnerable neighbours who may need help.
When the power comes back on:
The power will all come back at once, but that doesn’t mean things will work perfectly right away, lots of things may need resetting.
- Check the fuse box for flipped trip switches
- Reset clocks and timers
- Reset Wi-Fi
- Check your refrigerator and freezer for any spoiled food. Some foods, like ice cream, are unsafe to refreeze
- Check on vulnerable neighbours
Thank you to Zurich for providing the above advice.
Read the newsletter online today.
In this edition, we cover:
- How to claim all the benefits you’re entitled to
- Money saving tips
- An update on youth initiatives & how you can take advantage of holiday clubs for your children
- Recent resident events
- How to report damp and mould
- What happens when you call us, including an interview with Debbie
- And more!
As usual, we have our competition for you to enter for a chance to win Love2Shop vouchers and we have included even more recipes for you to try.
We hope you enjoy reading this edition of Connections and if you have any feedback, please get in touch by emailing me at rachell@ccha.biz
Want to receive Connections directly to your inbox? Sign up to our email list.
Do you need the newsletter in an alternative format? We can provide print versions, large print, audio tape, Braille and translated versions. Request yours by calling 020 8633 8731 or emailing citeam@ccha.biz.
In this month’s edition of Money Matters, we are looking at ways of saving money, and ensuring you are getting any top up of benefits you are entitled to.
Saving on your energy bills
If you are struggling to pay your energy bills, having issues with your supplier, or want to know more about how energy is charged, you can visit the Ofgem Energy Aware website page to find links and resources.
Discounts on your water bill
WaterSure is a scheme which helps some people with their water bills.
To qualify for WaterSure you need to:
- be on a water meter or have applied for one and be waiting for it to be installed, or be paying an assessed charge because it’s not possible to fit a meter at your property
- be on certain benefits
- have a high essential use of water
To apply, you need to fill out a form from your water supplier. To find out more about the scheme and the benefits, please visit the Citizens Advice website.
Are you claiming everything you are entitled to?
Even if you are working, you may be entitled to a top up of benefits. You can see if you are eligible by using the EntitledTo Calculator.
The 2023 window cleaning schedule for ccha properties has been released.
You can view the schedule here: ccha Window Cleaning Schedule 2023.
This has been organised by start date (January, February, or March) and then by postcode. If your post code isn’t in the first table, please scroll down to the next pages.
You can read more about window cleaning in our Frequently Asked Questions section.
If you have any questions about window cleaning at your property which aren’t covered in the FAQ linked above, please contact your Tenancy Management Officer.
Dear Residents,
We have been having issues with website contact forms being delivered to us. This problem has now been fixed, but if you have completed a form and not yet received a response, please forward the confirmation email to citeam@ccha.biz and we will respond as soon as possible.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
It’s been a tough two and a half years and we’re aware that the winter months have brought even greater challenges for many. We would like to remind residents that we remain sensitive to how the economic climate has impacted many of you and we encourage those who are struggling to get in touch with Jane, our Welfare and Debt Advice Officer, on 020 8633 8767 or 07384 255 630 or email JaneW@ccha.biz.
Our financial focus this month is on the Cost of Living Payments and the Energy Grant.
Cost of Living Payments
If you receive certain benefits such as Pension Credit, Income-related Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit or Tax Credits, you should have received two Cost of Living Payments, from either the DWP or HMRC.
The first payments of £326 were made in Summer 2022 for those who received qualifying benefits between 25th April 2022 and 26th May 2022.
The second payment of £324 was paid directly into bank accounts between 8th and 23rd November unless you received Tax Credits only – in which case you should have received the payment by the end of November 2022. The payments showed as ‘DWP COL’ or ‘HMRC COL’ on your bank statement.
If you haven’t received either payment and think you qualify, it’s not too late – you can report a ‘missing Cost of Living payment’ online.
Energy Grant
The £400 energy grant has been split into payments of £66 in October and November, rising to £67 per month from December until March 2023. Those with a domestic electricity meter point who make payments through payment cards, standard credit and direct debit will receive an automatic deduction on their bill or have the money credited to their account.
Energy providers such as Bulb, E.ON and Octopus Energy are automatically crediting the amount to their customers’ accounts, so the bill amount is reduced.
However, companies such as British Gas, EDF, SSE and Ovo Energy are among a handful of companies charging customers their usual amount via direct debit and then crediting the grant amount into their bank account.
Those who use pre-payment meters and top up their credit before using energy will be provided with discount vouchers in the first week of each month. It is worth contacting your energy provider to confirm how they are handling this process.
Need some support?
Our Welfare & Debt Advice Officer, Jane White, is here to help. If you’d like to find out if you are claiming everything you are entitled to, or need help submitting a form, you can call Jane on 07384 255 630 or email JaneW@ccha.biz.
We hope you’re all looking forward to the upcoming holidays. We are still waiting to move into our new office, but staff will be available on the phone and by email until the 23rd December.
During our holiday closures, our phone lines will be closed. If you do need to get in contact with us, please email customers@ccha.biz and we will get back to you once we reopen in the new year.
ccha holiday timetable:
- 23rd December: open 9am-4pm
- 26th December – 2nd January: CLOSED
- 3rd January: open 9am-5pm
In case of emergencies, please use the below contacts:
- For repair emergencies, please call Axis on: 0800 056 7068
- For gas boiler emergencies, please call Smith & Byford on: 0800 169 7703
We hope you have a lovely time over this holiday period and we look forward to hearing from you in the new year.
Update: 27th October 2022
ccha offices at Norfolk House are now closed. While we wait for our new offices to open, staff will be working remotely and in satellite offices and can be contacted through email, phone and mobile. We will update the website when we can share more about our new office.
Update: 26th September 2022
We are pleased to announce we are moving from our Norfolk House office from 31st October 2022. Our new office will be at our new Angel Oak Point development on Sheldon Street in Croydon. Please read on to find out about key dates, our new address and how to find us. You can stay up to date on our move by visiting out website or social media.
Key dates:
14th October 2022
This is the last day residents can visit us at Norfolk House. Please ensure if you need to meet with a member of staff, you are booked in prior to this date.
15th October-31st October 2022
Staff will be working remotely or in our smaller offices to ensure you receive the level of service required. We will be available via email and telephone, and staff will be continuing visits as normal. If you need to visit staff, sign forms, or drop off keys during this time, please speak with a member of staff about how and when this will take place.
1st November 2022
Our registered address officially changes to Sheldon Street. Staff will continue to work remotely while we get the office ready and will be available via email and telephone as above. We will keep you updated on when the new office opens on our website and social media.
New address:
ccha, 29 Sheldon Street, Croydon, CR0 1SS
How to find us:
Sheldon Street is located a 2-minute walk from Croydon High Street.
Public transport:
If coming in to East, West or South Croydon Station, you can walk to Sheldon Street in 15-18 minutes, with East Croydon being the closest. If you prefer to get a bus, there are several services that stop along the High Street, however, do require a 2–5-minute walk to reach Sheldon Street.
Driving & parking:
Sheldon Street can be accessed just off the A232. There are a few parking options in the area:
- Pay and Display: Wandle Surface Car Park – this car park is located opposite the office.
- Prebooked Parking: Wandle Road Apcoa Parking – this car park is a 1-minute walk to the office.
- On road parking: you may be able to find on road, pay & display parking in the area.
Staying updated:
Once we are settled, we hope to invite you for an opening event to meet staff and have a chance to see the new office. Keep an eye out for your invite towards the end of the year.
You can stay updated of our progress on our website or social media.
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www.facebook.com/cchahousing |
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www.twitter.com/officialccha |
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www.ccha.biz |
If you have any questions or would like to contact us, please email customers@ccha.biz or call 0800 054 6710.
We look forward to welcoming you to the new office soon.