Passionate about great places to live greensquaregroup.com

The Venue@Cowley opens its doors

Help at home with those extra jobs

Have you thought about shared ownership?

SEE PAGE 4

Summer 2016

Inside4 Have you

thought about shared ownership?

5 Ways to pay your rent

5 Gas servicing

6 What you can expect from us

8 Customer service update

9 Local focus

10 Snapshots

12 Contact us

Help at HomeOur Help at Home service is available to GreenSquare residents who are vulnerable, aged over 55, have disabilities, or are lone parents. It can help with those ‘extra’ jobs eg putting up shelves; building flat pack furniture; painting rooms; and more – all at a subsidised cost (you might also be required to pay for necessary materials). Call us to find out more.

Welcome Welcome to the summer 2016 issue of G2 – GreenSquare’s customer magazine. You’ll notice that this edition of the magazine is a smaller, more compact version of our regular magazine, which we’ve decided to call G2 Bulletin. On the next 12 pages, you’ll still be able to read lots of important news and updates but in a shorter format. By making G2 Bulletin a smaller magazine, we were able to fit it neatly into the same envelope as your rent statement and send it without any extra costs. We hope you like it.

Andrew Smith, Operations Director

People living in 55+ housing are making the most of free Wi-Fi, which has been installed in the communal lounges at 28 of our schemes by GreenSquare’s ICT team. Bryan Jenkinson lives at GreenSquare’s Croft Court. He said: “We have iPads, laptops and phones all connected up to it when we’re sat in here, which means that there is always someone connected to the internet.

“A lot of us have some sort of internet connection in our flats, but some people don’t, so having the Wi-Fi in the lounge means they can still access the internet if they want to or need to.

“Most importantly, we can keep in touch with our friends and family more easily.”

Staying connected

Have you signed up to Greenview? It’s our easy-to-use website where you can give us your feedback by filling in monthly surveys, taking part in forum chats and completing quick polls. And if you fill in the latest survey, you automatically go into a prize draw for the chance to win prizes of up to £100!

Congratulations to Mrs Reeves (pictured left), who recently won the top prize.

Visit greenview.greensquaregroup.com to register and share your views for the chance to win.

SIGN UP NOW!

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What would you like to know?Is there something you think we should feature in the next G2, or a topic you think we should be telling you more about? We welcome your feedback about the magazine and we’d like to know what you want to read about in future issues. Get in touch and tell us what you think!

Shared ownership enables you to part-buy and part-rent your own home. It’s an ideal option if you can’t afford to buy a property outright or are struggling to get a mortgage.

First-time buyer, Hannah, 26, recently purchased a one-bedroom apartment from GreenSquare using shared ownership.

She said: “I wanted to move out of my parents’ home and gain a bit more independence but realised that getting a mortgage on my own would be impossible. Shared ownership was a

great option for me – I was able to buy a share of my home and pay rent on the rest. Now I can afford the mortgage and rent comfortably, while still having a bit of a life!”

Are you interested in shared ownership? You can apply by logging on to www.helptobuysouth.co.uk. Or give us a call to find out more.

Have you thought about shared ownership?

LIKE TO GET YOUR OWN PLACE?

Now I can afford the mortgage and rent

comfortably, while still

having a bit of a life!

Call us and we can take the payment on the phone by debit or

credit card

You can pay by cash, debit card, cheque, or using

your rent payment card at any post

office

In any shop that has a PayPoint logo

SERVICINGGas service and safety inspections are important checks that are required by law and are vital to keep you and your home safe and warm.

You’ll always receive an appointment letter and will receive a text message the day before your visit. If you’re not going to be available for the appointment, please let us know and we can find a date and time that works better for you.

In May we attempted to complete 168 routine gas services but were unable to gain access to 66 properties on our first visit. This not only costs us money, which could have been spent on other vital services, but also wastes our time, which could be spent carrying out visits to other residents.

GASWe can help set this up for you and it means

your rent is taken from your bank account

automatically

YOUR RENTAlthough we no

longer accept rent payments in person at our offices, there are many ways you can pay your rent.

WAYS TO PAY

5

Use the Allpay app on your smartphone

Download the Allpay app to your

smartphone or tablet!

The app allows you to pay your rent anytime and from anywhere at the touch of a button, using either your credit or debit card. Simply

download the Allpay app from Apple App Store,

Windows Phone store or Google Play and follow

the instructions.

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WE WILL

Provide you with a secure, well maintained home;

be clear with you what we can do for you as your landlord; or signpost you to other agencies who may help;

make it easy for you to pay your rent and other charges;

provide a good repairs service, being clear about what we will and won’t do;

make sure that we have accurate records of who’s living in our homes

and take action if not;

make it easy for you to contact us, in a variety of ways;

have well-trained, respectful staff, who provide advice and assistance; and

respond to you in line with our customer charter (you can

view this on our website).

WE EXPECT YOU TO

Look after your home and garden;

keep your home in good decorative order; report

any repairs to us and, if you have permission to keep pets, be a

responsible pet owner;

let us into your home to carry out repairs, gas safety and other health and safety checks;

pay your rent and any charges due on time working with other departments to make relevant

benefits claims where applicable;

be a responsible and respectful neighbour; and

get in touch with us when you need advice or assistance with your housing situation; and keep us updated in any

changes in your circumstances.

Smoke alarms save lives CHECK YOURS IS WORKINGIt only takes a moment to test your smoke alarms and give your family and people you care about a better chance of surviving a fire. We recommend testing them weekly to check they’re working.

Check out our repairs reporting guide on our website (search ‘repairs reporting’) for a step-by-step guide to testing your alarm. If you experience any problems, let us know straight away.

As your landlord there are certain things that you can expect from us – things that we will do to ensure we provide you with a great service. However, there

are also certain things that we expect from you while you’re living in a GreenSquare property.

What you can expect from us

Visit our website www.greensquaregroup.com

GreenSquare’s website has all the important information you might need to know – from how to pay your rent and information about benefits, to top

tips to help you save money and energy in your home. There’s information about our repairs service and all the ways you can contact us, and you can find out

what’s going on in your area.

You can also double check who your housing officer is by typing your postcode into the postcode search box on the front page. They can help you with any tenancy issues you might have and are your main contact for

everything happening in your neighbourhood.

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LOCAL FOCUS

Swindon introduces Universal CreditFrom December 2016, the Swindon Job Centre Plus area will go live with Universal Credit. This means that if you live in the Swindon area, any change in your circumstances will trigger a claim for Universal Credit. Call us to find out more.

Community centre opens its doorsCrowds visited GreenSquare’s new state-of-the-art community facilities in Cowley, Oxford, when The Venue@Cowley opened its doors for the first time.Located on Barns Road, the new community facilities have four meeting rooms with internet access, a modern kitchen, and garden – all available for hire by local people.

The Lord Mayor of Oxford, Councillor Mohammed Altaf-Khan, joined GreenSquare’s Board Chair Hilary Gardner to cut the ribbon to declare The Venue@Cowley officially open.

For bookings and to find out more about room capacities, layouts, hire charges and availability visit www.venuecowley.co.uk.

During the past few months, we have been working to transform how we work and deliver services across GreenSquare. This has included reviewing our offices and changing how our customer service team is organised.To speak to us you still use the same numbers for your local area – but your call now goes to a larger single customer contact centre, based in Chippenham. We are sorry that making this change did result in an increase in call waiting times during May. This was only temporary while we trained new staff and we are pleased to now be again delivering our normal answering times, averaging at under a minute.

Because the number of customers visiting our offices has been steadily declining – with most people getting in touch on the phone or through our website and social media instead – we have now closed our Oxford, Swindon and Gloucester offices to visitors. If you’d like a face-to-face meeting, we can arrange a time for a housing officer to visit you at home.

For all the ways to get in touch, see the back page.

OXFORDSHIRE

From November 2016, the benefit cap will be reduced for families to a maximum of £20,000 a year or £385 a week. Any benefit above this cap rate will be deducted from housing benefit first, so for many households this will mean losing some or all of your housing benefit. You will then need to pay your rent from your own income. If you’re affected by this change, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) will have sent you a letter. Please follow the instructions in the letter and get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss the changes.

Visit www.gov.uk/benefit-cap-calculator to find out if you will be affected.

Homelessness charity Emmaus has opened its new shop, selling quality furniture and household goods, next door to The Venue@Cowley.

UPDATE Customer ServicesBENEFIT CAP

COULD AFFECT

YOU

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Secondhand smoke has been found to be detrimental to people’s health. People that breathe in secondhand smoke are at risk of the same diseases as smokers. Please consider the needs of any GreenSquare staff visiting your home and provide them with a smoke-free environment.

LOCAL FOCUS

Snapshots1 GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Families in Gloucester went along to a community fun day, where children enjoyed cake decorating, colouring, giant Jenga and a bouncy castle. Four-year-old Max (pictured) thought the day was very “cool!”

2 WILTSHIRE Volunteers from the Brunel Shed in Corsham (part of the Men’s Sheds organisation) are giving three planters in Pockeridge Road, Corsham a bit of a makeover. We’re looking for some volunteers to help look after and water the planters once the new plants are put in. If you’d like to help, get in touch.

3 OXFORDSHIRE We held a successful clean up day at Hooks Close in Langford, collecting lots of unwanted rubbish and drinking lots of tea!

4 OXFORDSHIRE More than 40 people came along to GreenSquare’s Oxfordshire disability forum to find out more about issues affecting them and hear from local councillors, the local MP, and GreenSquare’s chief executive.

5 WILTSHIRE Residents at Newburn House recently completed an Edexcel

Level 1 Certificate in parenting. Here’s Louise and baby (centre) Kayci-May and Fern and baby Clara with their certificates.

6 GLOUCESTERSHIRE Are you keen to meet new people but finding it difficult? Our New Friends Network might be for you! It supports people who are socially isolated, or who would just like to make some new friends. Contact us to find out more.

7 WILTSHIRE Residents living at Springfield House in Royal Wootton Bassett put up bunting, donned red, white and blue, and celebrated the Queen’s birthday in true British style – with a spot of afternoon tea.

8 WILTSHIRE Here’s Theresa, who lives at James House in Chippenham getting stuck into a one pot cooking session, held in the communal lounge at the scheme.

9 OXFORDSHIRE Residents at Fernleigh in Witney had a surprise visitor in May – their local MP David Cameron popped by and chatted to people about their home and the extra care available there.

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LOCAL FOCUS

Do you need to contact us?GLOUCESTERSHIRE Phone 01452 505359 Email info.glos@greensquaregroup.com

fb.com/GreenSquareGlos @GreenSquareGlos

OXFORDSHIRE Phone 01865 773000 Email info@greensquaregroup.com

fb.com/GreenSquareOxon @GreenSquareOxon

WILTSHIRE Phone 01249 465465 Email enquiries@greensquaregroup.com

fb.com/GreenSquareWilts @GreenSquarWilts

greensquaregroup.com

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