Housing Matters – December 2023
Monday, 4 December 2023
Read the latest edition of Housing Matters – December 2023.
Welcome to Housing Matters. In this issue, read about:
- Important changes to the Housing Register
- Independent Living open day at All Saints View
- Waste and recycling updates
- Children perform at Crescent Court for Mental Health Wellbeing day
- Helping rough sleepers during extreme weather
- Drug dealing put to a halt thanks to input from local residents
- Why it's not a good idea to leave your car engine running when you are not moving
- Come and see our Tenant Involvement and Engagement team at our libraries
Changes to the Housing Register and how they will affect you
We are making some important changes, which anyone wishing to join the Housing Register will need to understand.
Changes to our Housing Allocations Scheme
Everyone who wants to join the Housing Register for Social and Affordable Housing will need to apply or re-apply from Tuesday 5 December, including anyone who was previously verified.
Because the guidance has changed, previous applicants will need to reapply to be assessed under the new scheme guidelines. Applicants who do not re-apply will be removed automatically from the Housing Register.
Most applicants who qualify for the housing register will not be affected, but there will be some who see an increase in their priority and some who’s priority will reduce or no longer qualify. For applicants who are adversely affected by the new scheme there will be a six-month amnesty before any reduction is applied. Any increase in priority will take effect immediately.
Changes to My Home Central
My Home Central is our housing allocations portal. We’ve listened to customer concerns regarding the platform and are introducing a new IT system, which we hope will improve the customer experience and make it easier to apply and bid for housing.
Applicants who were able to bid for properties before 24 November 2023 will be able to bid on My Home Central throughout December as normal.
In January, nobody will be able to use My Home Central to bid on properties. During this period, properties will be directly allocated to those applicants who were able to bid before 24 November 2023 and who qualify. We apologise for any inconvenience, but the outage is essential to allow us to implement the new system.
Read more about the changes on our website.
Making your next move, your best move! Successful Independent Living open day
We hosted an open day at All Saints View in Houghton Regis, on Saturday, 28 October 2023, along with suppliers and partners. The event was held to provide information and answer questions about the opportunities available for people aged 55 and over who are interested in making a move to an independent living scheme.
Schemes are available across Central Bedfordshire, including Dunstable, Houghton Regis, Leighton Buzzard, Barton-le-Clay, Caddington, Toddington and Flitwick. With varying levels of support (none to full care) and options for both rent and shared ownership, there really is something for most people.
Staff were on site to discuss Co-Wheels, an independent provider, and to explain how the car club at All Saints View works. Electric vehicles support our sustainability agenda whilst giving residents the option to drive when they need and not pay for the expensive running costs of a car. As well as witnessing the modern facilities for themselves they were able to learn about our Community Alarm Service and the care offer available at our larger schemes.
Independent Living Team Manager, Kamila Rzenno, said: “It was a fantastic opportunity for individuals to learn more about the various schemes and the application process. We had over 100 visitors. Most were surprised by the range of housing that we offer for the 55s and over and were interested in the benefits of more manageable sized homes, close to facilities.”
Due to the success of the event, the Independent Living Team is looking at holding further events in the future, especially as more schemes become available such as Meadowsweet Place in Flitwick.
Find out more about independent living schemes across Central Bedfordshire.
Waste and recycling updates
Winter break for garden waste collections
Kerbside collections of garden waste are suspended every winter. This year's dates are:
- The suspension is for 12 weeks from Monday 4 December 2023 until Friday 23 February 2024, inclusive
- Depending on where you live, final garden waste collections will take place either the week commencing Monday 20 November or the week commencing Monday 27 November
- Collections will resume from Monday 26 February 2024
- Throughout the suspension, you can take garden waste to one of our household waste recycling centres (HWRCs), but you'll now need to take ID with you
Find out more about all waste services, including bin collection dates and HWRC opening times.
You can also sign up for our email alerts to receive timely notifications about the resumption of garden waste collections and changes to Christmas bin collection days. By signing up for waste alerts, we can provide an instant notification of changes to collections. This could include last minute changes caused by bad weather, vehicular problems, or other extenuating circumstances.
Please do share this information with friends and neighbours!
Reminder: residents only access at our household waste recycling centres
Central Bedfordshire residents will be required to provide proof of address to gain entry to any of our four Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) – also known as tidy tips.
This brings us in line with many of our neighbouring authorities who have introduced similar measures and aims to reduce the financial burden on our council tax payers by reducing the number of non-CBC residents using our sites.
Acceptable forms of ID include:
- a current UK driving licence (photo card or paper licence will be accepted)
- a council tax bill from the current financial year
- a utility bill (gas, electricity or water) which is less than a year old
- a letter from HMRC or the Home Office which is less than a year old
- current bus pass or a current disabled parking permit
Find out more about our household waste recycling centres.
Helping rough sleepers during extreme weather
When we receive reports of someone sleeping rough, we work hard to get them off the streets. That’s particularly important in extreme weather, where people sleeping rough are particularly at risk.
Now we’re heading into winter, and temperatures are dropping. When the temperature is forecast to drop to 0° (zero degrees) Celsius (or below) for three or more nights, we activate our severe weather emergency protocol (SWEP).
We work with local homelessness services to decide when to activate the protocol, to protect rough sleepers from serious harm. During extreme cold, wind and rain, we can provide temporary night-time shelter (either directly, or through a partner) for people sleeping rough, for as long as it's needed.
If you know of someone sleeping rough, the best thing to do is report it via Streetlink, which is a vital service to enable members of the public to connect people sleeping rough in England and Wales to local support that meets their needs.
Find out more information about SWEP and how we can support rough sleepers.
Children perform for Crescent Court residents
In aid of Mental Health Wellbeing day, children from Toddington Primary School visited one of our Independent Living Schemes in Toddington. Residents at Crescent Court were treated to a song and dance routine, which they enjoyed so much the children were asked to do it again!
After the performance, residents and children – supervised by the schools’ teachers – had a chance to chat and the residents were delighted to receive gifts of pot plants, beautiful cards and posters that the children had made themselves. The posters are now on the communal wall as a reminder of the day and the importance of being kind to your mind.
Carol Coomes, the Independent Living Officer for Crescent Court, was contacted by the school and worked alongside them to make the day a great success. She said:
Activities are an important part of our Independent Living offer, and we are always delighted when we can work with local schools on intergenerational visits such as this. It was a real pleasure for the residents who enjoyed the children being there, and we all had a wonderful morning.
Drug dealing put to a halt thanks to input from local residents
The Neighbourhood Housing team have recently achieved a fantastic outcome for local residents on a long-standing case involving allegations of drug dealing coming from one of our properties in Houghton Regis.
The issues plaguing the local neighbourhood were resolved after colleagues from Community Safety and the local Policing teams worked hard to encourage residents to report incidents. By communicating directly with the affected neighbours, the Police were able to gather enough evidence to carry out a warrant at the address.
The tenant was subsequently convicted at the Crown Court and the Neighbourhood Housing team were able to enforce the Tenancy Agreement due to illegal activities taking place in the property, and a Notice of Seeking Possession was served. The property is now ready to house a new resident!
We don't tolerate criminal behaviour from our tenants and we, and our partners, will take appropriate and proportionate action against those who are convicted of serious crimes within their homes.
Support from local residents is essential in supporting all services to take the action required to stop criminal behaviour in our communities. If you witness criminal behaviour in any of our properties, please report it to the Police on 101, or anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Every minute counts when you leave your engine running when you are not moving
If you drive a vehicle, one way you can save money on fuel – as well as helping improve air quality – is to be aware of engine idling. This is where your engine is running, but you aren’t going anywhere. Perhaps you’re picking up a child from school, or waiting outside a shop while your partner pops in to buy something.
While your engine is running, your exhaust is pumping out up to 100 balloons-worth of harmful gases every minute, and when you’re stationary, those gases hang around your car to be breathed in by you, your passengers, and those nearby. Poor air quality has a number of impacts on health, and particularly affects the young, the old and the vulnerable. You’re also wasting fuel without moving.
So what can you do about this?
Firstly, be aware that unnecessary engine idling is an offence under the Road Traffic Act, and could earn you a fine in the form of a Fixed Penalty Notice. You can use your car’s stop-start technology if it has it – some cars are designed to cut off the engine to save fuel. Research has shown that for most cars, if you are going to be stationary for more than 10 seconds, it’s going to take less fuel to restart the engine than to keep it running.
So please be aware of engine idling, and switch it off when you’re going to be stationary for a while – every minute counts.
Find out more about engine idling.
Come and see our Tenant Involvement and Engagement team at our libraries
In the July issue of Housing Matters, you may have read an article about our Tenant Involvement and Engagement team.
The team have started to organise regular drop-in sessions at our libraries, providing a relaxed environment giving you the opportunity to speak with the team about our services and give us your feedback. If there isn’t a member of staff that can help you, they will signpost you to someone who can, or, they will be happy to take your details and make sure you get the help you need.
The team want to make sure you have your say on things which might affect you, and they would love you to take part in decision making processes, giving you the opportunity to influence decisions about housing and housing related services. Over the last few months, they have conducted a series of focus groups, giving residents the opportunity to give their feedback on policies we are looking to implement.
You can be a part of our journey and make a real difference to your community. You can meet the team at the following sessions:
- Friday 8 December 2023, from 10am to midday at Dunstable Library
- Tuesday 23 January 2024, from 10am to midday at Leighton Buzzard Library
- Tuesday 30 January 2024, from 1pm to 3pm at Dunstable Library
- Wednesday 7 February 2024, from 10am to midday at Houghton Regis Library
To find out more about the team or about upcoming face-to-face engagement sessions, please email: involvementandengagement@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.
Give us your feedback
Do you like the news bulletin? What would you like to see included? If you have anything you would like to see on these bulletins, email housinginfo@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk and let us know.