News

We are pleased to announce some changes regarding our office opening and repairs services.

 

Office re-opening for customers

We had to shut our offices to both colleagues and customers at the start of lockdown. We have slowly been re-opening to colleagues and we continue to keep numbers limited and have safety guidelines in place.

We will be gradually re-opening our office to customers, whilst making sure we do everything we can to keep customers and colleagues safe.

Our offices at Western Peninsula will be open on an appointment basis. We will accept walk-ins, but we will be running a one in, one out policy and so we ask for your patience if you are asked to wait outside. We recommend booking an appointment as we cannot guarantee walk-ins will be seen.

 

A limited number of 30-minute appointments will be available starting from Monday 6 September 2021.

To book an appointment please email enquiries@silvahomes.co.uk or call us on 01344 382 800.

Send us an email

 

Please note that in our office we are asking our customers to follow some procedures to keep everyone safe.

• Hand sanitiser will be available for use on arrival.
• We have a non-contact thermometer that we will ask all guests to use on arrival.
• Masks are to be worn when moving around the building unless you are medically exempt.
• Please respect 2m social distancing.

 

Repairs update

We have been able to return to our usual service commitment to complete works within 20 days for two services, electric and gas from 23 August 2021.

This is in part due to the fact that there is less demand for electrical repairs and currently, there are fewer gas boiler breakdowns and our focus is on boiler servicing.

It has proved to be more difficult to return to the 20 days commitment for carpentry & general trades and for plumbing, due to the volume of requests we receive for these types of work and the backlog we are facing.

For now, these will stay at the 40 day completion period. The type of works that are covered by carpentry & general trades and plumbing are:

• Loose bannisters
• External door easing
• Garage works
• Paving repairs
• Dripping taps
• Change of radiators
• Shower replacements.

 

With the increased availability of resources, we are proposing to move to a target of completing repairs for carpentry & general trades and for plumbing to 30 days from 1 October and 20 days by 1 November 2021.

All emergency repairs will still be completed in the required timescale of 24 hours and no customer will be left with urgent works or works that are a risk to health and safety. This applies to all services, electric, carpentry & general trades and gas & plumbing.

Please book repairs through My Silva where possible.

Log in to My Silva

 

We would like to thank you for your ongoing patience and support throughout this period.

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There are several proactive ways we ensure all our homes and buildings are safe from the risk of fire.

 

Fire risk assessments

We undertake regular checks, known as fire risk assessments (FRA), on all our homes. This means that if you live in a block of flats, a qualified professional will have carried out an FRA for your property. If they find anything that poses a risk, we will act quickly to fix it.

If any work is identified within your property, we would appreciate your assistance in gaining access so we can resolve the issue.

Currently, we have instructed a third-party contractor, Frankhams, to carry out fire risk assessments up until March 2022 in all our homes. Find out when they will visit your home by clicking the button below.

View the FRA schedule [pdf] 101KB

 

Fire doors

Fire doors are installed throughout our buildings to contain any fires. Front entrance doors also hold back the spread of smoke and fire.

You must keep fire doors closed at all times and don’t prop them open. You should also avoid tampering with the main front door to your home as this could reduce its effectiveness as a fire door. If there is any damage to your front door, including a faulty door closer, or if you don’t have a door closer fitted to your front door, please report this to your customer relations partner (tenancy).

 

Alarms

Make sure that your home has working smoke or heat detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors that you test regularly. If you don’t have a heat or smoke detector, please report this and we will arrange installation.

 

Fire exit strategy

The instructions for what you need to do in the event of a fire varies between homes. You must read and understand the information for your home carefully.

If you live in a block of flats, you will find a fire action notice on your communal notice board. If you can’t find one, please contact your customer relations partner (tenancy).

 

An evacuation policy

If your building operates an evacuation policy, you should leave in the event of a fire no matter which part of the building it is in. Go to a safe place outside away from the building, and dial 999. Check your fire action notice for details of which policy is used in your home.

 

A stay-put policy

A stay-put policy is recommended for purpose-built blocks designed to contain fires. If the fire is not in your home, but in another part of the building, you will be safer staying in your home with your doors and windows shut. Homes with a stay-put policy are designed to hold back flames and smoke for up to 30 minutes.

Those who are not directly affected by the fire should remain in their flat until told otherwise by the fire brigade. The main reason for this is so firefighters can access the building quickly and safely to put out the fire. However, it is important to use your judgement and you are not required to remain in your flat if you or your household feel unsafe.

If there is a fire or smoke in your home, get everyone out and leave the building as calmly as possible, closing the door behind you and not using the lift. Once you are outside, call 999.

When we review our buildings' fire safety measures, we also review the stay-put policy based on the findings of the inspection. We will also install appropriate fire detection and alert systems if required.

 

Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEP)

The purpose of a PEEP is to provide people who would have difficulty self-evacuating in the event of a fire with a tailored evacuation plan. The PEEP will enable us to consider the available options and how safe evacuation can take place.

If you self-identify yourself to us as unable to self-evacuate, you have a right to a PEEP. To arrange a PEEP, contact your customer relations partner (tenancy).

Learn more about fire safety

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As part of our refreshed estates services, we recently began attending a different block each month, to perform a deep clean by the whole team, further improving the standards within our communal areas.

These project afternoons take place in addition to our regular cleaning services and involve our entire estates services team. The aim is to make a noticeable impact across all areas of our service so we can make our estates places that our customers can be proud to live.

Since this service began, the team have deep cleaned Iveagh Court, Culham House, Rushey House and Cleeve House.

 

Guy Hunter, lead customer relations partner (environment) said:

“Well done and thank you to the whole estates services team for their hard work on the project afternoons.

“We have had plenty of great feedback from our customers living in the blocks we have attended so far and we can’t wait to get to the next one.”

 

Dasos Christou, executive director (customer relations) added:

“I viewed these blocks earlier this year, so I'm pleased they received a special afternoon of cleaning from the estates team.

“We know that customers rate us on the cleanliness of their internal and external communal areas, so the entire estates services team have all made a positive impact on our customers lives through the project afternoons.”

 

The team are planning to attend Goughs Meadow in Sandhurst next and they will continue to vote on where they attend next.

For any customers feeling their block would benefit from a project afternoon then please let us know by sending us an email using the button below.

Email our estates services team

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During warmer weather, you may be using outside taps that haven’t been used regularly for a while. This could have caused the water supplying these taps to become stagnant and unhealthy.

 

To reduce the risk, you should:

• Never drink water from your outside water taps.
• Run your taps regularly (at least once a week) to prevent water stagnating and your taps from seizing.
• If you have been away, or are moving into your new home, run all the taps at a gentle flow rate for two minutes. This includes your outdoor tap if you have not used it for a while. We appreciate you may be on a water meter, but this is an important safety measure that we recommend. 
• Keep your showerheads or any other fittings clean and keep limescale to a minimum.
• Set your hot water temperatures to between 55°C and 60°C where possible. At 55°C any legionella bacteria in the water is killed. Hot water over 60°C can scald so take care when using hot water.

 

If you’re concerned about the safety of your water, contact us immediately.

Send us an email

 

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We received an anonymous tip-off in December 2020 that a customer in Jennett’s Park was illegally subletting their affordable rent property to four people whilst living abroad. We believe this began in August 2020.

 

Lauren, customer relations partner (tenancy), investigated this extensively for months, gathering enough evidence for the customer to be taken to court in July 2021.

It is thanks to Lauren’s hard work in pursuing this case that we achieved a very successful outcome in court.

The judge awarded us mandatory possession, which meant the customer must vacate the property within seven days.

 

The judge also awarded us the following money judgements amounting to over £20,000:

• The defendant is to pay the claimant the sum of £15,368.03 by way of an unlawful profit order by 4pm on 26 July 2021.
• The defendant is to pay the outstanding rent arrears and/or use and occupation charge of £1,319.92 by 4pm on 26 July 2021.
• The defendant is to pay the claimant a use and occupation charge of £24.97 per day from 19 July 2021 until the claimant recovers possession of the property.
• The defendant is to pay the claimant’s costs summarily assessed as £3,419.80 by 4pm on 26 July 2021. 

 

We are supporting the four victims who were unknowingly living in the illegally sublet home whilst they are re-housed by the local authority. In contrast, the perpetrator has made themselves intentionally homeless in law and will find it difficult to be re-housed.

 

Dasos Christou, executive director (customer relations), said:

“The outcome is extremely positive, considering it was the first case of its kind, and will give us the confidence now to take on other cases like this if they arise. We want to provide homes for people who need them and not for those looking to make a profit illegally.

“Well done to Lauren and the rest of our tenancy team for their hard work pursuing this. Without their diligence and attention to detail, we would not have been able to achieve such a brilliant result.

“We have a zero-tolerance approach to tenancy fraud and will take action against any suspected fraud.”

 

We monitor websites and apps like Facebook, Gumtree, Airbnb and spareroom.com, where this home was advertised.

If you suspect tenancy fraud is taking place, let us know confidentially by contacting our tenancy team.

 

Email our tenancy team

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