Dear residents,
You may have noticed an increase of Covid-19 related news articles lately. A new variant has been identified and due to this, the vaccination schedule has been brought forward. As of 8 September, there have only been 34 cases in England, and it is too early to draw conclusions about the impact this will have.
The NHS will contact residents in England directly to arrange vaccinations if necessary and our staff will still be working as normal. If you are feeling unwell and have tested positive for Covid-19, please do let us know if we are due to attend your home so we can reschedule.
Thank you.
We’ve recently reviewed our Reasonable Adjustments Policy which can now be found on the website.
We are committed to making sure our services are easily accessible for you and we can make adjustments if you have any additional needs or disabilities.
What can we do?
Some examples of what we can offer include:
- Information in alternative formats such as large print, Braille, coloured paper etc.
- Use of email, telephone and text rather than letters.
- An interpreter or translated information.
- Communication through a representative or intermediary.
- Rest or comfort breaks in meetings.
If you feel you need adjustments in how we communicate with you, please let us know so we can see what we can do.
If you need an interpreter or translator, you can call LanguageLine on 0800 169 2879 and ask to be put through to us or email us at customers@ccha.biz to request a call back.
Dear Residents,
We have recently reviewed our Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Policy, which is now available to view on our website.
Thank you to all residents who gave us feedback during our consultation of this policy. Feedback to your comments can be seen below.
If you are interested in getting involved in future consultations, please contact the Customer Investment Team by emailing citeam@ccha.biz.
You said:
When we report ASB no one gets back to us.
We did:
Communication and updating residents on the case is very important. Therefore, we have amended our policy so that once a report of ASB has been made, it is considered an ASB incident and depending on the risk will be classed as either High, Medium, or Low. We will respond accordingly and within our agreed timescales. Please see section 2.1 of our policy for details.
We will then complete an Action Plan which outlines next steps and how often the victim is to be updated. This plan must be agreed and signed with the victim once the case has been logged. Please see section 5.4 of our policy for details.
Our Neighbourhood and Housing Services team must comply with these customer standards and keep residents updated.
You said:
How will ccha make the policy victim centred and safeguard vulnerable residents?
We did:
To ensure we deal with cases in a victim centred approach and safeguard vulnerable residents, at the point of reporting, officers will check for any indications of vulnerability with the victim or victim’s household members. Please see section 7.2 of our policy for details.
We also have a separate Safeguarding Policy (referred to in the ASB policy) which provides more guidance to staff.
You said:
ASB regarding noise should be categorised as a high risk.
We did:
We have considered your suggestion, however as this type of complaint can be reported to the local council environment health team, we will not be making it a higher priority. We will deal with noise complaints within the timescales laid out in section 2.1 of the policy. Residents can find out more on how to report noise complaints on the Croydon Council website.
You said:
Timescales for fly tipping reports should be changed.
We did:
We have considered your suggestion, however, due to the constraints of the service contract, we are unable to make any changes to the timescales for fly tipping at this time.
We’ve been working with Axis to provide you with a handy guide on how to look after your home. We still carry out the main repairs, however there are some tasks that are residents responsibilities, and this guide will hopefully help you to do those.
The booklet covers but is not limited to:
- Plumbing – such as how to replace a toilet seat, deal with frozen pips or unblock a sink.
- Electrics – how to wire a plug, reset a trip switch or replace a fuse.
- Locks & latches – how to adjust a squeaky door, replace door knobs or fit a door chain.
- Central heating – how to set a digital programme, how to control heating temperate, how to look after your heaters and more.
- Draught proofing – how to fit a brush strip or draught seals.
- Decorating – how to fix things to walls, prepare a room for decorating, painting, strip wallpaper or mastic baths, basins and sinks.
- General advice – including how to look after your home and save energy and water.
The guide has written instructions on all tasks and provides video guides on some of the topics to show you how to do the task.
Make sure to read the Health & Safety Section before starting and if you are unsure of what you can do in your home, check the notes or contact us to confirm.
We hope you find this useful, and don’t forget you can still report your repairs to Axis or Smith & Byford as usual.
Axis (for general and communal repairs): 0800 056 7068
Smith & Byford (for gas boiler issues): 0800 169 7703
ccha is pleased to announce its latest development in Croydon, Angel Oak Point. This stunning scheme offers 1, 2 and 3-bedroom homes to the local community for London Affordable Rent, London Living Rent and Shared Ownership.
The scheme on Sheldon Street is a contemporary home, built to reflect the urban lifestyle and setting, close to public transport and with a vast array of activities to choose from nearby. Each apartment features a balcony or patio space, and the site provides ample cycle storage.
As well as providing homes, this scheme now accommodates the ccha offices on the ground floor and basement. This new space helps provide value for money, allowing it to put more into the services provided to residents, while also staying close to its residents and the community.
The name, inspired by a quote from the Bishop of Croydon, represents a huge oak tree with a long life span, and ccha hopes that the new residents of Angel Oak will put down their own roots and lead long and happy lives here.
The opening ceremony held on 18 April 2023 brought together new residents, ccha staff, the chair of the Board as well as local contractors, community figures and councillors.
Tracy Cullen, Chief Executive at ccha, reflects on this development and looks towards the future: “I am so proud to be able to deliver another great scheme of 23 homes for our local community in Croydon. Thank you to the staff involved and all of our development partners who have supported us throughout and to the Greater London Authority for providing us with grant funding. With their help, we hope to continue to grow and provide more homes in the communities in which we serve.”
There are now just two apartments available at Angel Oak Point for Shared Ownership and ccha hopes to start development of its next project in 2024.
You can find out more on our homes for sale page.
We at ccha are saddened by the news that our last founding member, Peter Juniper, has passed away at the age of 93 years.
As a Croydon man born and bred and churchgoer in Thornton Heath, he worked tirelessly from 1966 to set up ccha which officially became a housing association in 1967. Peter remained heavily involved in the association for many years as a volunteer and committee member and took a keen interest in our progress.
Over the years, Peter would pop into the office on his way into Croydon to do his shopping and he would readily chat with staff. His stories of how ccha first started were so engaging.
I personally feel privileged to have known him and know that he will be remembered fondly by all those that met him over the years. Our thoughts are with his family and close friends.
-Tracy Cullen
Dear Residents,
The ccha Board has recently met to discuss the low resident satisfaction scores reported at the end of March. Our mission is to deliver on our promises, and we have a specific aim to achieve high customer satisfaction. However, overall satisfaction with our service has dropped to 62%. This is the lowest figure we have recorded. We are sorry that we are not meeting your expectations. The level of service is not where we want it to be, and we can only apologise for this.
The Board and the Leadership Team of ccha take responsibility for getting our service back on track. This is our number one priority. The resident survey indicates that the main reason for the lower satisfaction are issues with the repairs service. In the most recent survey, the most frequently commented reasons for dissatisfaction were timescales for carrying out repairs, outstanding or forgotten repairs, and staff not returning calls. There were also complaints of damp and mould in our homes, and the quality of some repairs.
We are working closely with our contractors to improve the repairs service and to address issues such as call handling, responding to queries and giving residents a better customer experience overall. We are in the process of recruiting two new staff members at ccha to focus on customer service and we plan to increase our on-site presence with more resident engagement activities and regular visits by our Leadership Team. We hope that you will start to see an improvement in the coming months.
Once again, we are sorry that our service is not what it should be. We thank you for the feedback you have given us and your patience whilst we work on improvements.
Yours sincerely,
Heather Thomas
Chair of ccha on behalf of the Board
ccha is now an official adopter of Together with Tenants.
Together with Tenants is a national charter that aims to strengthen the relationship between residents and housing organisations.
The charter was developed by the National Housing Federation (NHF) with many housing organisations and customers from across the country, in response to the Grenfell tragedy and subsequent housing green paper.
The charter contains 6 commitments which are:
- Relationships: Housing associations will treat all residents with respect in all of their interactions. Relationships between residents and housing associations will be based on openness, honesty and transparency.
- Communication: Residents will receive clear, accessible and timely information from their housing association on the issues that matter to them, including important information about their homes and local community, how the organization is working to address problems, how the organization is run, and information about performance on key issues.
- Voice and influence: Housing associations will seek and value the views of residents, and will use this information to inform decisions. Every individual resident will feel listened to by their housing association on the issues that matter to them and can speak without fear.
- Accountability: Collectively, residents will work in partnership with their housing association to independently scrutinize and hold their housing association to account for the decisions that affect the quality of their homes and services.
- Quality: Residents can expect their homes to be good quality, well maintained, safe and well managed.
- When things go wrong: Residents will have simple and accessible routes for raising issues, making complaints and seeking redress. Residents will receive timely advice and support when things go wrong.
We encourage residents to share your thoughts on the charter and how we can deliver on these commitments.
If you would like to find out more about the charter, please visit the National Housing Federations website: https://www.housing.org.uk/our-work/together-with-tenants/
Our offices are opening for appointments only from Monday 13 March 2023
We are finally moving in! Our new office will be open for appointments from Monday 13 March, and we are pleased to be welcoming you back. Staff will be working from a combination of the office and remotely so please make sure you book your appointment before attending to make sure they are available to see you. You can book your appointment by calling 0800 054 6710 or emailing customers@ccha.biz.
You’re invited to our Resident Open Event
We are also inviting you to our first resident open event in over 3 years. The event will be taking place at the end of March and first week of April and is first come, first served. Please RSVP by the 13 March 2023 letting us know your preferred date, time and how many of your family are attending. This is a great opportunity to have a look around the office and meet our staff, contractors, and Board members. If you have any transport or dietary requirements, please let us know when RSVPing.
Our new office, which is smaller and owned by us, will help us save money each year enabling us to invest more in our services to you.
We are excited to see you in person again and hope you can attend the event.
Dates
27, 28, 30, 31 March
3, 4, 5, 6 April
Time slots available
Morning: 10am-12pm
Afternoon: 2pm-4pm
Location
ccha, 29 Sheldon Street, Croydon CR0 1SS
RSVP
Email citeam@ccha.biz or call 0800 054 6710 by Monday 13 March with information on how many of your family are attending, your preferred date and time slot and if you have any dietary or transport requirements.
Please note, if we are over or under subscribed for certain dates, we may contact you to invite you to a different date. Although we are mostly out of the pandemic, if you do feel unwell, we ask you to not attend the office for the safety of other residents and staff.
To find out how to access the new office, please download our guide.
Dear Residents,
Thank you for your patience and we apologise for the delay in completing the transfer review. This has been due to staff shortages in our Neighbourhoods Team and we have now recruited a temporary member of staff to assist us.
You may have received a text from us recently regarding your transfer application detailing next steps such as if you need to reapply. You should receive details advising of your banding and place on the waiting list no later than 31 March 2023.
If you are waiting for a transfer and have not heard from a member of the team by call or text, please email neighbourhoodservices@ccha.biz with details and someone will get back to you within 5 working days.
Again, thank you for your patience with this matter.