On behalf of the team and board at 54North Homes, we'd like to wish you and your families a happy and healthy 2024.

Communicating and involving you, our customers, is key and these Customer Bulletins are a chance for us to share our latest activity and update you about our plans. 



If you would like to receive this Customer Bulletin in another language or format, please let us know. Or if you have any feedback or suggestions about content you would like to see in future bulletins, please contact: georgina.thompson@54northhomes.co.uk

Rent reviews

We'll be writing to all our customers towards the end of February outlining your rent and service charge for the coming year, beginning April 2024.



This is never an easy decision but with two years of high inflation and increasing costs, particularly in the building and maintenance sectors, it is essential we can continue to provide safe, warm and secure homes. As a not-for-profit organisation, 54North Homes reinvests all rents and service charge into your homes and communities,



We understand that some of our customers struggle financially, and we are here to help. We have a dedicated income team and Money Matters Advisor, so if you are struggling to pay your rent and bills or are worried about spiraling debts, please contact us straight away so that we can signpost you to the right sources of support.

Keeping warm in winter

We've recently been experiencing cold and windy weather and although the spring bulbs are starting to come up, there may still be more wintry weather to come over the coming weeks. So here are a few tips to help you keep warm and protect your home.

• Use draught excluders at the bottom of your doors to prevent cold draughts
• Always close doors and turn off radiators in rooms you don’t use during cold periods
• Ensure you turn off your main stop tap if you are going to be away from home for a period of time during winter
• Ensure any external pipework to garden taps is fully lagged
• Keep your heating on overnight on a low setting to prevent frozen pipes
• Ensure you have home contents insurance in place to cover your losses should the worst happen

Supporting you to reduce anti-social behaviour

We recognise the impact that anti-social behaviour (ASB) can have on customers' quiet enjoyment of their homes. It is a sensitive issue, so we always aim to provide as much support as possible and investigate fairly and consistently whenever necessary.  

In our first year we have had 347 incidents reported to us, of which 35 were judged to be anti-social behaviour tenancy breaches. Other issues raised included parking concerns, neighbour disputes, recycling problems and complaints about children playing outside – if you are interested here’s our Guide to children staying safe when playing outside. We hope you find this helpful. 

We always aim to be as visible as possible in communities, carrying out estate walkabouts, undertaking periodic customer contact visits and listening to your concerns to help you live well in your communities. If you would like a visit from your Housing Officer, please contact us on  T: 0345 521 1993 or E: hello@54northhomes.co.uk 

Our housing patches changed last year, bringing together teams from both organisations. You can find details of your local team by logging into your My54North account.

Healthy, affordable, sustainable homes

Decarbonisation is one of the biggest challenges facing our generation and 54North Homes is firmly committed to delivering both energy efficient new homes which don't rely on fossil fuels, and to adapting our existing homes so that they are as healthy, energy efficient and affordable to run as possible.



In March we will be starting our first sustainable improvement programme at St Mary's and Wood Lane Court in Leeds to make 98 homes more energy efficient and affordable to run. We are very excited about this as it is an important step on our roadmap to ensuring all our homes are a minimum of EPC C by 2030, in line with government targets.

Our Retrofit Advisor, Tolulope Akanimodo, will be helping to guide customers throughout the process. You can contact her at: E: Tolulope.Akanimodo@54northhomes.co.uk

Home Comforts - Our appliance and furniture rental service

If you feel like you struggle to afford important household items, like a washing machine or cooker, 54North Homes has a 'Home Comforts' furniture and appliance rental service where you can rent good quality furniture and appliances. 

You can choose from three levels of packs, dependent on your needs: Home Start, Home Essentials and Home Essentials+. Each item is worth a number of points and each level gives you access to a different amount of items for an affordable weekly payment, which is applied at the start of your tenancy. All items will be replaced free of charge if not working and can be returned at any time.

Please click on this link to find out all about our Home Comforts rental service.

Drop-in sessions at our Margaret Philipson Court and Bretgate community centres in York

We will shortly be starting drop-in sessions every other Wednesday at our Margaret Philipson Court and Bretgate schemes in York. These will be an informal chance for customers to ask for advice or raise any issues with us so that we can signpost you to the relevant support. Posters and leaflets with dates and times will be distributed shortly.

Organisations we have supported financially

Throughout December, we celebrated community projects and initiatives that provide fantastic support to people across Yorkshire and made some small financial donations towards their great work. Please click here for a full list of beneficiaries. This is on top of the longer-term work we do with a number of other local community partners, such as Positive Footprints and Askham Bryan College.

Repair + share café

We recently heard about a great initiative called Groves Repair Café held from 9.30am-12.30pm on the last Saturday of every month at St Thomas's Church Hall, Lowther Street, York, YO31 7ND.

You can get broken items fixed for free – or if you have the tools and skills, help fix others' broken items. They have a resident PAT tester so you can get your old electricals checked out for safety. And when they can, local police officers drop in with their property marking kit so you can have your laptop, bike or valuable items tagged.

All sessions are FREE and open to everyone. Even if you don’t need to fix anything you’re welcome to pop by for a cuppa and cake in a friendly setting! To find out more, click here.

And finally......

Customers are at the heart of everything we do here at 54North Homes, and we would love more of you to share your feedback with us and get involved in shaping and improving the services we provide. 

You can get involved in many ways: online, from the comfort of your home or taking part in friendly get togethers. We recently sent out a dedicated email which you can read here. If you are interested in getting involved, you can contact our Customer Experience Team: Abida Jamil and Liam Sullivan, E: connectwith54north@54northhomes.co.uk

54North Homes | Tel: 0345 521 1993 | Email: hello@54northhomes.co.uk

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