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9 April 2020       
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Dear Resident

This second special edition of @Home contains further updates on how we are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you from all of us for the understanding and support you have shown to our staff in recent weeks, while they continue to deliver essential services in challenging circumstances.
 
You will have noticed that our estate teams have continued to provide critical services on your estates. I am sure you will all join me in thanking them for their dedication in maintaining a valuable presence, while they complete vital daily tasks designed to keep your estates as safe and clean as they possibly can.
 
For the most up to date advice from the City of London, please visit the COVID-19 page on our 
website

Yours sincerely

Liam Gillespie
Head of Housing Management
With the bank holiday weekend coming up, we would ask all residents to continue to follow the latest government advice and stay at home, only going outside for food, health reasons or essential work. If you do have to go outside, stay two metres (six feet) away from other people and wash your hands as soon as you get home.

We ask that you respect the advice, following guidelines outlined by
Public Health England, which are also available on the City of London website.
In this newsletter, updates on:
We continue to operate a reduced service for emergency repairs only.  This is to protect our residents, staff, contractors and services from the impact of COVID-19.
What we are doing
  • We have reduced service to minimise contact
  • We are triaging all calls
  • We will attend to Right to Repairs
    • Priority 0 (within 4 hours)
    • Priority 1 (within 24 hours)
    • Priority 2 (within 3 days)
  • These priorities are subject to change. Attending jobs within the normal service level target cannot be guaranteed.
  • Gas Servicing is business as usual, when it is safe to do so.  Our contractor, TSG Building Services, will implement all health and safety requirements to protect you and the engineer when they enter your home.  If a household is self-isolating due to symptoms or confirmed case of COVID-19, TSG will delay service until the isolation period is completed.
  • Both staff and contractors will endeavour to support our residents to maintain services.
  • All communal repairs are continuing as normal.
What we are not doing
  • Non-emergency repairs within occupied properties

Before we attend, we need to ask you some extra questions.

View the questions here.

Please remember, these measures are in place to protect our staff, our contractors as well as our residents.
A list of priority repairs and estimated response times can be found here.

To contact the Repairs Service Desk, please telephone 0800 035 0003 or email propertyservices@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Thank you for your cooperation and support
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Estate Services front line staff continue to provide a reduced service focussing on the most critical tasks. This is in place to help reduce the risk to staff, residents and the general public and will continue until further notice. 

Non critical tasks such as garden maintenance will be undertaken when possible.  However, they will not be a priority.
 
Thank you for observing the social distancing guidance of two metres.  We would ask that if you have any queries, you do not approach staff directly, but contact your estate office by email or phone.
 
We must also ask that residents please take more consideration in the disposal of rubbish. There have been several incidents of blocked chutes and incorrect rubbish disposal, including bulk waste items such as furniture. Only smaller rubbish bags should be placed in chutes. Larger waste items, such as pizza boxes should be bagged up and put in communal rubbish bins or recycled. These occurrences put staff at unnecessary risk and create further strain on services, so please be mindful of this.

We thank you for your consideration and understanding.
If you have any questions or comments regarding the service delivery on your estate, please contact EstateServices@cityoflondon.gov.uk
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Stay Home - Keep Your Distance

We urge all residents to stick to the government's guidance to keep us all safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the spring weather improving it may be tempting to use the communal areas and green spaces on the estates to meet others and enjoy the sun.

The government's advice is very clear, you should only leave your home:

  • To shop for necessities
  • To take one form of exercise a day e.g. a walk, alone or with members of your own household
  • To attend to a medical need
  • To travel for work – if you are unable to work from home.
We are pleased to see that most residents have been very supportive and have shown their community spirit in observing these rules, but there have been some reports about a few who have not. This has caused alarm and worry to other residents. 

When using the green areas on our estates we would ask that you:
  • Observe social distancing guidelines
  • Use green areas for daily exercise only
We ask that you do not:
  • Use any play equipment or play areas
  • Have picnics or sunbathe
  • Hold social gatherings or congregate with non household members

Please be aware that social gatherings are currently regarded as anti-social behaviour. Measures may be taken to disperse gatherings.

Help us to maintain access to these green spaces.

Stay safe, stay at home and keep your distance!
Remember to email resident.involvement@cityoflondon.gov.uk to inform us if you’re self-isolating.  
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You can now pay your rent by telephone, you can contact us on 
020 7332 3937

New Rent Charges 6 April 2020
 
The rent charges changed on Monday 6 April 2020.  The usual practice would be to send a new Charge Card, which gives you a breakdown of the total charges and any Housing Benefit entitlement.
 
This year, as the Rents Team are working remotely, they are unable to print and deliver the Charge Cards.
 
However, at the beginning of March, a letter was sent informing you of the increase to your basic rent charge.  This letter also gave you the new total weekly charge effective from Monday 6 April 2020.
 

Direct Debit Payments 20 April 2020
 
If you pay your rent by direct debit on the 20th of each month you will be aware that the next payment is due on 20 April 2020. In order to comply with the rules on the Direct Debit Guarantee this amount will remain the same as the amount taken on 20 March 2020. 
 

This also applies to Direct Debits for parking facilities and shed rents.

We plan to write to inform you of your new payment amount for the 20 May 2020 Direct Debit.

To make a Rent Payment
 
Payments can now be accepted by telephone, you can contact us on 020 7332 3937.

 
It will help us if you have your tenancy reference number to hand. Should you go through to voicemail, please leave your name and contact number, a member of the team will get in touch with you. 

For online payments, Direct Debits and bank transfer payment information please refer to
Issue 1 of this newsletter.
       
Whilst working remotely, the team are available to help with your rent queries, so do not hesitate to contact them by email at DCCS-RentsTeam@int.cityoflondon.gov.uk
The City of London Corporation is keen to support our residents who find. If you are affected and worried about paying your rent, please contact your income recovery officer. 
 
You can email the team at:
incomerecoverofficer@cityoflondon.gov.uk
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The deadline for the Housing Register Census was 3 April. We have had many returned – if you have not yet submitted yours, please remember to email the scanned completed form to the team at housingcensusreturns@cityoflondon.gov.uk

If you do not have access to a scanner please take a clear photo and submit that.  If you are unable to send a scanned image or photo, please contact us by email to let us know. We will make note of this and your return form can be submitted at a later date.
The Housing Needs Team are contactable by email on hadvice@cityoflondon.gov.uk, if you would like to speak to a member of the team, call the Contact Centre on
020 7332 3937 and they can pass on a message for someone to call you. 
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If you are claiming Housing Benefit or Universal Credit, please visit the Claiming Benefits page on the City of London website. If your income has stopped and you are over the state pension age, you may be able to claim Housing Benefit, if you are of working age, you should look in to claiming Universal Credit. You may also be entitled to claim discretionary housing payments.

Council Tax Support

As part of its response to COVID-19, the Government has agreed new grant funding to local authorities in England to support working age claimants in greatest need of help in paying their Council Tax bill.

If you live in the City of London and you need to claim help with your Council Tax payments please contact the Benefits Team using the details below.
 
In order to reduce non-essential customer contact the City of London Benefits Team will not be issuing Council Tax Reduction claim forms. However we will register your Intention to Claim and we will advise the Council Tax office that you intend to apply for help. We may also ask a few questions about your current circumstances. We will send you a form to complete as soon as it is appropriate to do so
PLEASE NOTE: If you pay rent to the City of London but live in the London Boroughs of Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark or Tower Hamlets you will need to contact your local council tax office for advice and support.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact the Benefits Team on 020 7332 1343 or by emailing benefits@cityoflondon.gov.uk
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Keeping your children amused during this time might be challenging, here are some links and resources that could prove useful.
Schooling Resources:
  • BrainPop - offers animated videos on topics such as Maths, Science and English
  • Tynker - offers coding lesson for kids
  • Creative Bug - offers craft lessons; knitting, jewellery-making, drawing and origami

City of London Libraries

Though the libraries are closed, there are a number of free online resources available to use in the City of London eLibrary. You can find instructions on how to use a library membership to access eBooks, eAudiobooks, eMagazines and eComics. You can also learn a new language or brush up your skills with the Transparent Languages online service.

Rhymetime
The popular library sing-a-long group has moved online!
Check out the videos uploaded to Facebook.

Or watch Barbican's Joel live at 11am everyday on his Youtube channel.

Follow the City of London Libraries on Twitter where they are always sharing online classes, challenges and ideas for activities to do with kids!
@Barbicanlib @BarbicanMusic @Barbicankids @ShoeLaneLib @artizanlibrary

Check your local library services to see what resources they have to offer too.


And for adults:

National Shelf Service
CILIP, the UK's library and information association, has announced the launch of the National Shelf Service, a new daily Youtube broadcast featuring book recommendations from librarians. 


National Theatre at Home
The National Theatre are streaming recorded performances on Thursdays at 7pm from their YouTube channel.

You can watch their production of Jane Eyre online until 16 April. 

The Yoga For Life Project
Online classes are available using Zoom. Classes are currently by donation with a Community class on Mondays for £2, but people are allowed to pay what they can. There are a variety of different classes, including LGBT+, Caring for Cancer, Community & Restorative. View the timetable of what's on offer here.
 
To join a class, email info@theyogaforlifeproject.co.uk to register and receive the zoom link.
If you want to find a local group where you might be able to volunteer, please get in touch with the Community Engagement Team by emailing community.engagement@cityoflondon.gov.uk
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Current projects still on site are:
  • Landlords Electrical Testing
  • Avondale Emergency Lighting Replacement
  • Middlesex Street Landlords Electrical Work.
 
Residents can be assured that the team are still working hard in the background with those projects in the design stages, such as
  • Great Arthur House Fire Doors
  • Golden Lane Windows
  • Crescent House and Cullum Welch Heating
  • Replacement Fire Doors
  • York Way Replacement Heating
  • Middlesex Street Replacement Heating
If you have any questions or concerns the Major Works Team can be contacted by email on DCCS-MajorWorksTeam@cityoflondon.gov.uk 
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Potential COVID-19 (Corona virus) related scams

It's been reported that individuals may be taking advantage of the vulnerable by posing as door-to-door Coronavirus testers in order to gain access to people’s properties. Nobody, and specifically neither the NHS nor the Police, are conducting such tests.

If anyone attends your property and claims to be conducting such tests please call the Police on 999.

More information on potential email, phone and door to door scams here.

COVID-19  Support For Victims of Domestic Abuse

Measures announced over recent weeks to tackle COVID-19 have seen people’s day-to-day life be drastically altered. These changes are essential to beat COVID-19 and protect the NHS.

The UK government has acknowledged that the order to stay at home can cause anxiety for those who are experiencing or feel at risk of domestic abuse.

The government has emphasis that for anyone who feels they are at risk of abuse; it is important to remember that there is help and support available. Guidance is also available to help perpetrators change their behaviour.

The government supports and funds a number of charities who are able to provide advice and guidance. 

More information here.

Southwark Mediation Service
Community mediators are available to help you to deal with tensions and support communication between people to build understanding and positive relationships during the pandemic. 

See their website for more information.
City Advice
Need some advice or to talk to someone about:
Welfare benefits
Debt
Housing and legal issues
Relationships
Health and wellbeing

City Advice service is a free, impartial and confidential service available to anyone who lives, works or studies in the City of London Square Mile (or lives in a City of London Corporation Estate).

Call 020 7392 2919 or email city.advice@toynbeehall.org.uk

Debt Free London

A London wide partnership of 26 debt advice charities led by Toynbee Hall, has launched live online web chat and WhatsApp services so that they can continue to provide, free and trusted debt advice. More information here.

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City of London Housing Key Contacts
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