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The newsletter for East Lothian Council tenants WINTER 2020
Special
COVID-19 Exclusive East Lothian Tariff
for local residents.
pandemic Sustainable.
issue Affordable.
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www.eastlothian.gov.uk
Welcome
Welcome to this latest edition of Homefront. I’d like to take this
opportunity to say I hope all East Lothian Council tenants are
keeping safe and well in these strange times.
I know the COVID-19 pandemic has been incredibly difficult for a lot of
people and we may continue having to deal with this tough situation for
some time yet. That’s why it’s very important that we keep in touch with
you to let you know what we’re doing differently and how we’re continuing
to work to keep you safe in your home and what support is available for
anyone who needs it.
Homefront is just one of the ways we will keep in touch with you.
Important news updates will also be available on our website, in the local
media and on social media and of course we will write to you if there’s
anything it’s absolutely essential for you to know about. In this issue you
will find information on how our housing service, including the repairs
service, is continuing to operate, but in a different way, and how you can
get in touch with us.
We are also pleased to announce the launch of East Lothian’s own
energy tariff, which may help your household finances. On that note,
there’s also information on how to get in touch if you need any kind of
financial support.
We’re also here to help if you are having problems with neighbours or in
your community – or even problems with anyone in your own household.
Although we are all living fairly separate lives at the moment, no-one
needs to suffer in silence for any reason. I hope this special issue of
Homefront is useful and do get in touch with us if you need any help.
Please stay safe and well and remember council staff have
continued to work hard to keep all our services up and
running and we will continue to do so.
If you need Homefront in
Monica Patterson,
another format e.g. Large Print,
Chief Executive
audio, or in your own language,
please call 01620 827199.
2 Homefront I WINTER 2020
Contents Online Homefront
In this issue of Homefront
Recovery & Renewal
Housing: Covid-19 Guidance 4
Property Repairs 4
Tenancy support service 5
Respecting your neighbours 6
Safer Communities Team 7
ELTRP News 8
You & Your Community
Domestic violence 12
Housing & Homelessness 13
Money Matters
East Lothian Energy 14 Would you like to go
Help with your finances 16 paperless and start
Capital Credit Union 17 receiving Homefront
Housing News electronically?
Rent increase consultation 18 If you would then please let us
Household Form 19 know, all you need to do is email us
Scottish Housing Day 20 confirming your home address -
Downsizing your property 21 tenantconsultation@eastlothian.gov.uk
Your Home
Smoke Alarms 22 We will then start to send you an
email each time we issue another
Voids Policy Review 23
edition of Homefront and you will be
Useful numbers 24 able to read it online.
If you sign up to go paperless with
Homefront is East Lothian Council’s Homefront we will enter your name
newsletter for its tenants. in to a prize draw and the winner will
Follow us at @ELCouncil or receive a mystery prize from a local
East Lothian Council East Lothian supplier.
Cover Photo © Shutterstock 3
Recovery & Renewal
Property Repairs
Council tenants can continue to
report repairs in the normal way
using the Repair Line on
01875 824311. For all home
inspections and maintenance
work, staff will follow strict
hygiene and physical distancing
guidelines. Some jobs may take
Housing longer than normal.
Photo © Shutterstock
The latest guidance from All housing offices are
the Scottish Government is that closed to the public although
housing services (excluding repairs) customers can still attend The Brunton
should continue to be delivered (Musselburgh) or John Muir House
remotely (i.e. by phone, email or (Haddington).
video) and that face-to-face contact
between staff and tenants should However we would ask that, to protect
be limited to house moves, now that yourself and our teams, you only visit
these are allowed, but with strict safety if it is essential (by appointment only)
measures in place. and make contact with us by phone or
email in the meantime.
If you have accepted an offer of one
of our properties and the property Housing Application Reviews
is ready to let, we will contact you to
discuss the arrangements that will Due to the current Coronavirus
allow you to move. Similarly if you situation, we have decided to contact
now wish to progress your mutual housing applicants who are due to
exchange application, you may do so have their yearly housing application
by contacting your local housing office review via telephone rather than
on 01620 827827. posting out the usual review packs.
Staff in the Review Team will ask you if
We have developed processes that there are any changes that you would
limit the amount of face to face like made to your areas of choice or
interactions during a house move, house types and if there have been any
which your Community Housing Officer changes in your circumstances in the
will explain to you. last year. You will get a confirmation
letter sent to you after your application
has been reviewed.
4 Homefront I WINTER 2020
Recovery & Renewal
Tenancy Tenancy Support Officers are continuing to
provide a service to council tenants, to help
them maintain their tenancy but are currently
Support working from home rather than being based
in one of our four area housing offices. They
Service have been using phone calls, texts and email
to keep in contact with their service users.
If you are not aware of the Tenancy Support Service it is a free
and confidential service which is designed to give new and existing
East Lothian Council tenants support to help maintain their tenancy.
What support is available? How can I receive
Tenancy Support?
The Tenancy Support service can
support you with the following: You can contact your local office on
01620 827 827 for an informal chat
Maximise your income with the Duty Officer about your
Budgeting circumstances and any support you
need. You can also be referred for
Claiming benefits and grants tenancy support by a third party,
Dealing with letters (e.g. Rent Income Officer, Health
Access to other services Visitor etc.)
Helping to find essential Any support we can offer will be
household items for your home discussed with you and your Tenancy
Housing Options Support Officer will draw up a Tenancy
Support Agreement.
Help reporting repairs
Help with developing This is a document that will set out
independent living skills what you and your Tenancy Support
Settling into the community Officer hope to achieve during the
time you are working together. Some
Improving the safety & security outcomes can be achieved quickly,
in your home whilst others may take a bit longer, or
Exploring training, employment even change, during the time you are
and educational opportunities working together.
The newsletter for East Lothian Council tenants 5
Recovery & Renewal
Respecting your Tenancy
Agreement and your neighbours
Over the months of lockdown and you are requesting a collection for.
other restrictions, many of our If you are unable to manage your
tenants have used their time at home garden, you can contact your
and the good weather to enjoy their Community Housing Officer on
houses and gardens. 01620 827 827 to discuss this.
Unfortunately our Community During lockdown, we also saw an
Housing Officers have seen an increase in antisocial behaviour
increase in the number of complaints complaints to the Area Housing
regarding untidy gardens. Maintaining Offices. We appreciate that the
your garden is a condition of your majority of our tenants behave in
Tenancy Agreement, which states: a way that is respectful to their
neighbours, however for those causing
You must take reasonable care of any a nuisance they should be aware that
garden area to keep it from becoming this is also a breach of their Tenancy
over-grown, untidy or causing a Agreement which states:
nuisance to your neighbours
You, those living with you, and
If you share a garden with others, your visitors, must not harass or
you must take your turn with them act in an antisocial manner to,
to keep it from becoming overgrown, or pursue a course of antisocial
untidy or causing a nuisance conduct against, any person in
the neighbourhood. Such people
You must put all your household
include residents, visitors, our
rubbish for collection in the bin store
employees, agents and contractors
or other proper place allocated for it
and those in your house
You can still book a bulky waste
collection by telephoning You must not make excessive
01875 824305 or by emailing noise. This includes, but is not
wasteservices@eastlothian.gov.uk limited to, the use of televisions,
providing the name, address and hi-fi’s, radios and musical
postcode and details of the items instruments and DIY tools.
If you have any concerns about issues in this article, please contact your
Community Housing Officer in the first instance by calling 01620 827827.
6 Homefront I WINTER 2020
Recovery & Renewal
Safer
Communities
Team Since March 2020 there has been a substantial
increase in the number of antisocial behaviour
complaints made to East Lothian Council.
The Safer Communities and Area
visiting the council’s website
Housing Teams have worked
www.eastlothian.gov.uk and
throughout the pandemic and
searching for ‘resolution service’.
continue to take appropriate action
in response to individual complaints. The Community Wardens and
the Dog Warden have continued
You can register a complaint via the to operate through lockdown and
24 hours a day Antisocial Behaviour beyond, dealing with complaints of
Helpline on 01875 824 307, online noise, graffiti, fly-tipping, dog fouling,
at www.eastlothian.gov.uk or by stray dogs, dog attacks, youth-related
e-mailing asb@eastlothian.gov.uk. disorder (in conjunction with the
police) and littering.
The number of neighbour complaints
has risen sharply since the beginning You can contact the wardens via
of the pandemic. Resolution Team the council website, the antisocial
officers can deal with a whole behaviour helpline 01875 824307 or
array of complaints, ranging from at cwt@eastlothian.gov.uk.
disagreements over parking spaces
and the misuse of communal areas, Tenants can be assured that
through to noise and verbal abuse. officers continue to work tirelessly
to address the types of behaviour
You can find out how to access the that can bring misery to individuals
resolution service by phoning and their communities. We would
01620 829 919, emailing urge you not to suffer in silence.
mediation@eastlothian.gov.uk or There is help at hand.
The newsletter for East Lothian Council tenants 7
East Lothian Tenants
and Residents Panel Update
In these difficult times ELTRP’s Executive Committee has been forced to
look at new ways in which to communicate and meet with each other,
local groups and with East Lothian Council.
They have learned, and are still
learning, about Zoom, Skype and
Teams. Whilst this is new to most, they
are now becoming more confident in
using these platforms.
Using their experience of trying to get
online and join the various platforms,
ELTRP has created a ‘How to Guide’.
You can get a copy of this helpful
guide by going to the ELTRP website
www.eltrp.co.uk.
If you are a member of TIS there
are also helpful guides and toolkits
available on their website
www.tis.org.uk
ELTRP’s ‘How to Guide’
8 Homefront I WINTER 2020
ELTRP News
ELTRP Online Quizzes
ELTRP has also hosted two very successful online quizzes. The first one was a
way to allow tenants who were not familiar with technology to have a practice
and to have some fun along the way. We had a famous landmark round and a
very popular music round.
The second quiz was a joint effort with East Lothian Council as part of Scotland’s
National Housing Day. ELC tested the participants’ knowledge of the local
housing scene, whilst ELTRP focused on sharing the beauty of East Lothian with
a ‘where’s this?’ round. The feedback from both quizzes was really positive and
people had great fun.
Image © Shutterstock
Another
one in the
near future?
If so we’ll advertise
this on ELTRP’s
website and the
Twitter & Facebook
pages
The newsletter for East Lothian Council tenants 9
ELTRP News
ELTRP on Zoom
ELTRP has now held two East Lothian- Could TRAs visit other TRA meetings?
wide Tenants & Residents Association
(TRA) meetings on Zoom (July and How can we get more young people
September). Both were well attended involved? – contact the local schools?
with over 15 people and nine TRAs
across the county involved. Sue Cairns, Outreach Officer for ELTRP,
Items discussed were: offered to host any Zoom TRA meetings
the groups wished to organise
General information about what the
groups are doing and sharing ideas Sue also highlighted that it may
be some time before TRAs (or any
Antisocial behaviour community group) can meet in person
again, so Zoom may be a way forward
Local Housing Partnership to stay connected with the communities
and still address the issues raised. It
Everyone thought the meetings were
also provides a space for people to
beneficial and agreed to meet on a
see each other, have a voice and may
bi-monthly basis. Some questions and
also reduce isolation for some.
thoughts were also highlighted:
Sharing with other TRAs was good To date, several TRAs have now taken
up the offer of ELTRP hosting their
It was nice to meet other groups and meetings online, which have been
it re-enthused people to take things very successful and even featured
forward again. new faces from their local community
It was useful to meet and to find attending.
out that other groups have similar
problems and issues. ELTRP Meetings
Although the executive committee is
It was interesting to hear how other still getting used to this new online
groups have addressed some issues way of working, they are continuing
It was good to know all the TRAs to hold their monthly meeting to take
could get together to address forward the work of ELTRP. The have
certain issues. also had council officers along to
their meetings to hear about different
Could we share TRA Action Plans? topics that tenants are interested in.
10 Homefront I WINTER 2020ELTRP News
To date ELTRP has hosted Kenny currently meeting with the Connected
Black and Mandy Smith from the Safer Communities Managers and recently
Communities Team to discuss anti- met with Emma Brown from Preston,
social behaviour; Deborah Piner from Seton Gosford area.
ELC to discuss the topics for the new
Landlord Report to Tenants; Alison The Executive Committee continues
Stewart from Revenues to discuss to phone tenants and residents for a
tenant support and rents and Caitlin wee chat and to make sure they are
McCorry to discuss the changes and getting all the support they need. If
structure of Connecting Communities. you would like one of our committee
to give you a call, let us know by
ELTRP has also had Maureen phoning Sue on 07946 449 362 or
Allan from East Lothian Volunteer Patsy King on 07584 474 934 and they
Centre along to discuss the work will arrange for someone to give you a
that they are doing and to look at ring. We are also having weekly catch
ways of both organisations working up meetings with the council and
together. The executive committee is members of our committee.
ELTRP Zoom Meeting
The newsletter for East Lothian Council tenants 11You & Your Community
We know that during
Domestic lockdown, and just now
violence while we are still living
don’t under restrictions to our
suffer in everyday lives, there has
been an increase in
silence domestic violence.
If you or a family member are a victim of physical or
emotional abuse, or you are a survivor of abuse who needs extra
support, there is help available to you locally and nationally.
Your local services include:
Shakti Women’s Aid
Providing support to black & minority
ethnic (BME) women, children, and
Women’s Aid East young people experiencing, or who
and Midlothian (WAEML) have experienced, domestic abuse from
T 0131 561 5800 a partner, ex-partner, and/ or other
E info@womensaideml.org members of the household. Currently
Womens Aid East & support is by phone on T 0131 475 2399
Midlothian www.shaktiedinburgh.co.uk
@WomensAidEML
FearFree
As well as one-to-one support
for women, WAEML offers a Providing a domestic abuse service
refuge service plus some group for men and any LGBT+ person
work being delivered online. T 0131 624 7266 / www.fearfree.scot
EDDACS – Edinburgh & District EDDACS supports clients by explaining
Domestic Abuse Court Service the court process, the potential outcomes
from the court and by completing a risk
EDDACS is a support and advocacy assessment and individual support and
service for female victims of domestic safety plan with the client. If you are going
abuse crimes going through the court through the court process as the victim
process – providing support by phone. of a domestic abuse crime you can call
EDDACS for support on T 0131 315 8122.
12 Homefront I WINTER 2020You & Your Community
Housing &
Homelessness
Homelessness Social Work
If you think you are at risk of Please contact us for any child or
becoming homeless due to domestic adult protection concerns. Services
violence talk to your Tenancy are always there to help and can
Support Officer or speak to the provide support and advice -
council’s Homelessness Service East Lothian Social Work
T 01620 827827 T 01875 824090 (children & adults)
National Helplines & Emergency Numbers
Police Scotland National Stalking Helpline
In an emergency always call 999 T 0808 802 0300
– otherwise 101 (daily 9:30– 4pm;Wed –4pm)
National Domestic Abuse and Scottish Women’s Rights Centre
Forced Marriage Helpline T 08088 010 789
For anyone, open 24/7.
T 0800 027 1234 Victim Support Scotland
E helpline@sdafmh.org.uk T0800 160 1985
Webchat: buff.ly/2Muc8sK (Mon-Fri, 8am-8pm)
Breathing Space
Rape Crisis Scotland
T 0800 838587
T 08088 01 03 02
(Mon-Thu 6pm-2am/
(6pm – midnight)
Fri 6pm-Mon 6am)
Survivors UK Are you hurting the one you love?
Help for men who have been Choose to stop!
sexually abused or raped Contact Respect for help -
T 0203 598 3898 T 0808 802 4040
E help@survivorsuk.org http://respectphoneline.org.uk
www.survivorsuk.org for information and webchat.
The newsletter for East Lothian Council tenants 13Money Matters
Could our new
energy tariff save
you money?
East Lothian Council has launched
East Lothian Energy in association with
People’s Energy. This initiative offers a
special variable and fixed tariff discount,
exclusively for residents.
East Lothian Energy promises affordable,
sustainable and fair energy for all East Lothian
residents, with electricity coming from 100%
renewable sources and it’s part of a joint
commitment to help eradicate fuel poverty.
This offer equates to potential
savings of up to £200 a year.
Interested ?
Find out more on the council website
www.eastlothian.gov.uk or the People’s Energy
website www.peoplesenergy.co.uk/eastlothian
14 Homefront I WINTER 2020Money Matters
Sustainable.
Affordable.
Fair.
POWERED BY IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Tackling climate change together...
The electricity we supply is from 100% renewable
sources, so as well as saving money on electricity
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The newsletter for East Lothian Council tenants 15Money Matters
Help with We know that COVID-19 is having
an impact on the finances of
your finances households across East Lothian.
There is advice and support Working age people out-of-work,
available for you. Some existing on a low income or self-employed
benefits have changed in response to may be entitled to Universal Credit,
the pandemic and there is additional including some help towards your
financial support available for housing costs
anyone who is struggling.
A Discretionary Housing Payment
In East Lothian there is also a may also be available to top up any
growing network of food provision shortfall in your rent payments
if affordable access to food is a (you must be entitled to Housing
problem for you. We’ve produced Benefit or the housing costs
a leaflet outlining what help is part of Universal Credit to get a
available. The leaflet is available at Discretionary Housing Payment).
www.eastlothian.gov.uk/
covidsupport however if you would
like a leaflet sent to you, just get in
touch with the Rent Income team
and we’ll post one to you.
It’s important that you continue to
pay your rent if you can but if you’re
struggling, get in touch straight away.
Our officers may be able to spread
out your payments over a longer
period of time until you’re back on
track. Officers can also let you know
if you may be entitled to other forms
of financial help, for example:
ensioners on a low income may
P
qualify for Housing Benefit to help
towards rent and some service
charge costs
Photo © Shutterstock
For help or advice, just phone our dedicated helpline on 01620 827528
or email rentincome@eastlothian.gov.uk
16 Homefront I WINTER 2020Money Matters
Capital
Credit Union
branch in
Musselburgh
Earlier this year, Capital
Credit Union opened a new branch The credit union has continued to
in Musselburgh, at The Brunton. provide personal service over the
phone and website during this time.
At the opening ceremony, East Lothian Although the new Musselburgh
Council’s Depute Provost, Councillor branch is currently closed, it will
Andy Forrest, said: reopen as soon as possible and
updates will be posted on the credit
Credit Unions are all about people
union website and on social media.
helping people and Capital Credit
Union has been providing ethical Capital is one of the UK’s largest
financial services for three credit unions with over 23,000
decades. It is great that they have members and assets of £35M.
opened in such an accessible
location in Musselburgh to help The award-winning credit union also
all East Lothian people with their has key strategic partnerships with
financial wellbeing. over 70 employers in Edinburgh, the
Lothians, Scottish Borders, Falkirk,
COVID-19 presented challenges for Clackmannanshire, Fife and Angus.
Capital and their members. They It is controlled by its members and
adapted by encouraging use of their is a not-for-profit organisation. Any
online banking portal and website for surplus generated is paid back as a
members to manage their accounts dividend to all members.
and take out loans. As well as advising
the sending of digital copies of all www.capitalcreditunion.com
documentation rather than by post. Tel: 0131 225 9901
The newsletter for East Lothian Council tenants 17Housing News
Rent Increase Why should
Consultation you fill in a
At this time of year we would usually
Household
be consulting with tenants on a
proposed rent increase. However
Form?
things are very different at the
moment and our rent consultation will
Are you aware we
not take place until early next year, in have introduced
January / February 2021. a Household Form?
We are proposing to send out
information about what your rent pays
for and send you a questionnaire to It is really important you fill one in
ask you for your views on our proposed
if there are any changes to who
rent increase. Tenants who have an
email address registered with us will
lives in your household. If you
receive an email from us with the rent don’t tell us about any changes
consultation letter and a link to the it can affect your tenancy if you
online survey. We will send out the ever want to sublet, add someone
information to all other tenants by post, to your tenancy or pass it on to
with a return envelope. someone else.
We would encourage all our tenants
to respond to our rent increase We sent out a form to every
consultation and let us know your views. tenant recently but if you have
lost yours, you can get one from
Following the consultation we will gather
all the feedback from tenants and
the council website or by calling
prepare a report for a special budget your local housing office on
meeting of the council in February 2021. 01620 827827.
At this meeting councillors will consider
the report and make a decision on the Please be aware that letting other
level of rent and service charge change council departments, such as
for council tenants in the year 2021/22. Council Tax or rents know about
We will then write out to all our tenants, these changes will not count and,
four weeks before Monday 5 April 2021,
as a result, you may not be able
which is the date that any change will
take effect, subject to the decision at to make the tenancy changes you
the council budget meeting. would like.
18 Homefront I WINTER 2020Housing News
What can happen if you don’t
return your Household Form? Here are two
examples:-
Passing your tenancy on to someone Giving your tenancy to someone
who lives with you (succession). who lives with you (assignation).
Mrs F. was a tenant in Prestonpans. Mr B. is a tenant in Musselburgh, who
Sadly, she passed away recently. has accepted a promotion from his
employer which means a move to
Her son had previously returned to their head office in Aberdeen.
live with her following the breakdown
of his relationship with his partner. A friend has lived with Mr B. for the last
18 months but neither have completed
Unfortunately, neither Mrs F. nor her and returned a Household Form to let
son had returned a Household Form the Council’s Housing Service know
to tell the Council’s Housing Service about it.
that he was back living with her.
Mr B. wanted his friend to take over
As the Housing Service did not have a his tenancy when he moved away
Household Form noting him as staying and asked his Community Housing
in the property – Mrs F. could not pass Officer to arrange this on his behalf.
her tenancy to him, as they had not Unfortunately, the Housing Officer
established his legal right to be there. was unable to do this as there was no
He then had to make arrangements for record of the friend being resident in
somewhere else to live. the tenancy.
As there was no
Household Form, Mr B.
had to terminate his
tenancy and move
away - his friend had to
make his own alternative
arrangements.
The newsletter for East Lothian Council tenants 19Housing News
Scottish Housing Day
Wednesday 16th September was Scottish Housing Day
2020, which celebrated the value of social housing.
In previous by members
years, of staff
we have working
celebrated differently
Scottish and the
Housing Day fantastic work
by holding of our tenant volunteers.
a conference and an
awards ceremony for staff There were features on the
and tenants who have gone work of the East Lothian
the extra mile in supporting Tenants & Residents Panel, as
our housing service. This year well as a focus on the work of
we had to do things a bit our Tenancy Support Officers
differently. and Community Housing
Officers and an overview
You might have seen some of how the housing service
of our posts on social media has had to adapt during the
highlighting some housing pandemic.
news stories to mark Scottish
Housing Day. If you missed these, you
can search for the hashtag
We wanted to mark the day #scottishhousingday on
by giving recognition to the Facebook & Twitter or have a
fact our services have still look at our September news
been running throughout the articles on the council website
COVID-19 pandemic, supported www.eastlothian.gov.uk
20 Homefront I WINTER 2020Housing News
Tenants wishing to move
from larger properties
Do you live in a property which is too big for you to manage? Have your
family moved out and you have extra bedrooms that you don’t use? Do
you want to move but the practicalities of packing up your house and
arranging a removal are too much?
e can provide practical help for
W
tenants who wish to downsize to Eligibility Criteria
a smaller property which better 1. The grant can only be paid to a
meets their changing needs. tenant of East Lothian Council.
If you are in this situation, contact 2. Thetenant must move to
your Area Housing Office where your a smaller house (including
Community Housing Officer can help you sheltered or amenity housing)
complete a housing application form and located in East Lothian and
also give advice on your housing options owned by:
and types of properties which would be
suitable for you. They can also discuss the East Lothian Council
practical help which you may need.
A Housing Association/
The council also has a ‘downsizing
Registered Social Landlord
incentive grant’ which is a payment that
can be put towards moving costs for those A house that is in shared
who are either transferring or mutually ownership, where one of the
exchanging to another property. sharing owners is a Housing
Association/Registered Social
Landlord
The grant amount 3. The transfer must not lead
is £2000 with an additional to overcrowding and must be
£1000 for each bedroom consistent with the council’s
downsized.* Allocations Policy occupation
levels (except in the case of a
* Please note that tenants with
outstanding debts to the council for
single applicants who may wish
things like Council Tax or rechargeable to have an additional bedroom
repairs will have the amount offset for family visits or care).
against their grant payment.
If you wish to discuss this further please telephone your local Area Housing Office
on 01620 827 827. Further details can be found at www.eastlothian.gov.uk
The newsletter for East Lothian Council tenants 21Your Home
Smoke
alarms
Following the tragic fire
at Grenfell Tower in London, a
Ministerial Working Group on Building and
Fire Safety was established to review Scotland’s building
and fire safety regulatory frameworks.
The Scottish Government has now recently published updated guidance on
the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS), which includes changes to
fire, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in our properties.
The new standard requires:
We have already been working
One smoke alarm installed in the hard to bring many of our
room most frequently used for properties up to the new standard.
general daytime living purposes If your property does not meet
the standard, we will be in touch
One smoke alarm in every shortly by letter, giving you a date
circulation space on each storey, and time to have the necessary
work carried out.
such as hallways and landings
Where possible, we ask that
One heat alarm installed in
you keep to your scheduled
every kitchen appointment to help us meet our
targets of carrying out this essential
Carbon monoxide detectors work. However if you do need to
to be fitted where there is a re-book for a more convenient time
carbon-fuelled appliance such there are instructions on the letter
as boilers, fires (including open you will receive.
fires), or a flue.
Photo © Shutterstock
22 Homefront I WINTER 2020Voids Policy Review
You may be aware from our previous Homefront
articles that we have been carrying out a review
of our Voids Management Policy.
We use the term ‘void’ to describe a supplier. This allows us to sort out any
property where a tenant has moved meter problems while the property
out and the property is having the is empty, carry out a gas safety
necessary repairs/checks completed check and leave the heating on for
to allow a new tenant to move in. the new tenant to move in. We will
Following feedback after consultation ensure that the preferred supplier
with all tenants in 2019, we are making offers competitive energy prices for
some changes to our voids process. our tenants. Of course, tenants are
always welcome to switch supplier
Over the next few weeks we will be once they have moved in.
introducing a Decoration Paint
Pack for new council tenants whose You might be interested to read
property has been assessed as about the new East Lothian Energy
needing redecoration. This will Tariff in this edition of Homefront.
replace the Decoration Allowance (See p14-15 for details)
cash payment which we have used for
a number of years. The paint pack will
include paint for walls, doors, ceilings
and decorating products such as
paint brushes, roller, filler etc. and
will be delivered to the tenant by the
supplier, Johnstones, at a convenient
time for the tenant. Tenants will be
able to choose paint colours from a
selected range.
We are also moving to a preferred
energy supplier for all void
properties. This means that when
a tenant informs us that they are
terminating their tenancy we will
start the process of changing their
energy supplier to our preferred Photo © Shutterstock
The newsletter for East Lothian Council tenants 23Get in touch
AREA OFFICES - TEL 01620 827 827
All housing offices are closed to the public although customers can still attend
The Brunton (Musselburgh) or John Muir House (Haddington). Please only visit if
it is essential (by appointment only) and make contact with us by phone or email
in the meantime.
MUSSELBURGH HADDINGTON
The Brunton, Ladywell Way John Muir House, Brewery Park
musselburgharea@eastlothian.gov.uk haddeast@easlothian.gov.uk
PRESTONPANS NORTH BERWICK
Aldhammer House, High Street Library & Customer Services, School Road
prestonpansarea@eastlothian.gov.uk housingnorthberwick@eastlothian.gov.uk
TRANENT DUNBAR
George Johnston Centre, Bleachingfield Centre,
Winton Place Countess Crescent
tranentarea@eastlothian.gov.uk housingdunbar@eastlothian.gov.uk
Benefits Scottish Welfare Fund Antisocial Behaviour
01620 827730 01620 828790 01875 824 307
Council tax Social work Gas Leaks
01875 824314 01875 824309 0800 111 999
Housing Special uplift
01620 827827 01875 824305
Homelessness Switchboard
01620 827536 01620 827827
Repairs Welfare Rights
01875 824311 01620 827827
If you need Homefront in another format
e.g. Large Print, audio, or in your own
Spotted a broken street light?
language, please call 01620 827199. Pothole? Fly tipping?
01875 824 305
www.eastlothian.gov.uk/reportit
www.eastlothian.gov.ukYou can also read
