DOUBLE WIN FOR CHELSEASECOND GARDENING AHWARD FOR GREEN-FINGERED CHELSEA COURT RESIDENTS

YOUR QUARTERLY MAGAZINE FROM FAMILY MOSAIC AUTUMN 2015

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Housing associations have been in the news a lot recently. Firstly, because the chancellor has torn up the rent agreement the government had with our sector, challenging us, as he has done to so many other public and private companies, to do more with less money.

This is good news for some tenants because it means a slight rent cut. But we (Family Mosaic) will have to cut our costs by £14m a year. Doing nothing would lower, by £700m, our ability to build new homes over the next 30 years.

To continue to house you and the next generation we need to stay positive about this challenge. There is no need to panic. We are

financially strong. We have four years to make the savings. But our board of trustees will have some hard discussions in coming months.

The second big news is the plan to give housing association tenants the Right to Buy. A lot of you have phoned for more details but we haven’t yet been told by the government how this will work. As soon as we know we will put up guidance on our website and in future issues of Connections.

There has been less in the news about the government's plan to tell us to put up rents for households earning above £40,000 a year in London and £30,000 outside London.

Again we have no details on how

this is to work but expect we will be told after the Right to Buy has been decided.

Finally, there are the benefit changes. An overall cap of £23,000 a year in London and £20,000 outside London, a four-year freeze on benefits from 2016 (in other words, a cut), and less time allowed for backdated benefits if you make a mistake or miss a deadline.

The world has turned upside down, for you and for us. Our focus will be on making sure we continue providing you with a decent home, with relevant information, and with support through all these changes. BRENDAN SARSFIELDCHIEF EXECUTIVE

STAY POSITIVE

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4-5 SPECIAL FEATURE

BRICK BY BRICK: THE UK HOUSING CRISIS

With the UK firmly in the grip of a housing affordability crisis, we put to rest some common myths about housing associations and explain what we're doing to help solve a growing problem

6-7 REGIONAL NEWS

Round up of local news and services a little closer to your home

8YOUNG PEOPLE

ALL MAPPED OUTTrekking in Epping for the Duke of Edinburgh awards

DRIVING SCHOOLAnd in Havering, they're behind the wheel and on track for their DofEs

9GETTING INVOLVED

GARDEN MAKEOVERSClear the Way is looking for your unloved gardens

COMMUNITY CHAMPSCall us if you've got a bright idea that will benefit your community

10MOVING ONWARDS

LET US PAY YOU! Cash for leaving tenants

11YOUR SERVICES

WINTER READYCustomer services director Ashling Fox sheds light on work behind the scenes in the customer care team

12WELFARE CUTSA brief guide to the main benefit changes.

editorial we can... news round-up

RENT DRAW WINNERSThe following win £250 in our quarterly prize draw of tenants with a rent account in credit.

South: Mr J Fisher, SE4 East: Ms L Donovan, E17Essex: Mrs A Asby, SS7North/west: Ms R Dottin, N15

23,859 STEPS TO A WARMER WINTER An ambitious project to cut your power bills and make your homes warmer has already seen us carry out a whopping 23,859 energy-saving measures

Two years ago, our affordable warmth project began identifying Family Mosaic homes suitable for energy-saving measures.

Little things add upSince then, helped by our partner Saving Energy, we have offered hundreds of you works like window draught-proofing, cavity wall insulation and fitting water-efficient shower heads.

Added up, the savings come to 205,634 litres of water and a huge £463,125 off bills each year.

One of the big aims of the project was making it easier, for as many of you as possible, to keep warm on a modest budget all year round.

A cold home can make poor health worse and can be dangerous

to old, young and vulnerable people so the project was a good fit with our commitment to your better health and wellbeing.

We're a big housing association and very conscious of our impact on the environment so we're happy that the measures taken are also cutting our carbon footprint by 6,685 tonnes - the equivalent to our planting 7000 trees.

If you would like to find out more about our affordable warmth project, please email energyefficiency@familymosaic.co.uk

CONNECTIONS IS YOUR MAGAZINEConnections is written for you, to tell you about service changes and local news. We are always looking for people to contribute ideas, write news or features or take photos of things of interest happening in your community. If you would like to contribute, contact editor Charlotte Sexton by email at charlotte.sexton @familymosaic.co.uk or call Charlotte on J020 7089 1140.

If you would like to get Connections by email, or not at all, please let us know!

familymosaicconnections.co.uk

CALLING THE CUSTOMER CARE LINE... JUST DIAL ✆ 0300 123 3456 » THEN PRESS 2 OPEN 8AM-8PM ● MONDAYS TO FRIDAYSOPEN SATURDAY MORNINGS ● 9AM-1PM

COVER STARS: DOUBLE WIN FOR CHELSEA GARDENERS

Shortly after winning our own 'best garden' competition, our Chelsea Court gardeners have won a Brighter Kensington & Chelsea competition award. The garden now also has a new herb bed and pergola, built by caretaker Pat Scoot.

QUESTION TIME: GOING FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE SCRUTINY PANEL The independent resident scrutiny panel recently met with senior managers to ask questions, learn more about each other and to try to see Family Mosaic from the other side's point of view.

'What’s the worst thing about dealing with residents?' asked one panel member. 'If you could change just one thing about Family Mosaic, what would it be?' asked a manager.

Panel member Josephine Hollis said: ‘We need a collaborative relationship between Family Mosaic and residents. Residents understand what works and what doesn’t, what is needed and what isn’t.

We wanted to promote our belief that resident knowledge and opinion must influence what Family Mosaic does’.

KNOCK KNOCK: WHO’S THERE? IT'S WALKABOUT WEDNESDAYOn 30 September all of us at Family Mosaic will put aside our normal work to take to the streets of London as part of Walkabout Wednesday.

On Walkabout Wednesday staff who normally stay in our offices go out to visit Family Mosaic tenants and leaseholders. It's a chance for you to ask us a few questions and for us to learn more about what you think about our services.

This year we have some questions to ask on resident involvement for our 'Changing Places' research.

The visits shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes of your time and our staff should call ahead to first make an appointment.

Anyone calling at your door will carry an identity card. Check it before letting anyone in. And thank you in advance to all who take part!

Left: cover star Trinidad Lovette

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special feature Housing in the news

BRICK BY BRICKTACKL ING THE GROW ING HOUSING CR I SI S

In recent months the news media and politicians have largely woken up to the housing crisis in London and many other parts of the UK. But what are housing associations doing?

By now you will have likely heard and read the phrase housing crisis countless times. But when so many things, some trivial, are referred to as a crisis, what does it mean?

Priced out of homeIn London and the south-east the cost of both renting and buying is rapidly becoming unaffordable for people on low or middle incomes.

Demand for 'low rent' housing now far outstrips the number of homes available, high house prices are locking people out of home ownership, and private rents continue to rise, with people forced to accept even worse conditions for their money.

More working people than ever now need housing benefit to top up their rent. The number of people with no home at all is also rising.

Housing affordability was the fifth most important issue for people deciding who to vote for in the recent general election.

You may remember that in the year leading up to the election we supported the Homes for Britain campaign to put housing at the top of the political party agendas.

The campaign got people talking and won a lot of media attention for its aim to end the housing crisis within a generation.

Family Mosaic chair Ian Peters said: ‘The general election moved

housing near to the top of the political agenda, with the Conservative’s Right to Buy manifesto pledge now progressing into reality. How it will work is not yet known and, while we will support the policy, there will be unintended consequences if it is not well thought through.’

We agree that people should be able to buy their home if they can afford it. Our research tells us over 600 of you would like to buy your home. However our commitment is to our original purpose – housing people in greatest need. If Right to Buy becomes a reality, we will use any money from selling our homes to provide more low cost homes.

To find out how we spend our money take a look at our annual accounts for 2015: www.familymosaic.co.uk/userfiles/Documents/Annual _reports_and_accounts/FM_Accounts_2015.pdf

The Right to Buy, with the help of a discount, was introduced for council tenants in England in 1980 by Margaret Thatcher’s government.

In April 2012 the discounts were raised – from £16,000 in some areas to a maximum of up to £77,900 across England (£103,900 in London). In the three years since, more than 33,000 households used their Right to Buy.

The current government promised to extend this right to housing association tenants in its election manifesto. It is now working out how to make this promise workable.

Some housing association tenants already had the Right to Buy, mainly those who lived in flats or houses that were transferred from a council to a housing association.

Some housing experts have concerns about Right to Buy, saying it could lead to even less social housing in London and other expensive areas.

Research by magazine Inside Housing last month found that four in 10 council homes sold through Right to Buy are now let out by private landlords.

There are questions too about how Right to Buy will be funded. The government has said local councils will pay for replacement homes but councils will have to sell off their own homes to raise the money.

The government has said it will publish precise details of its plans in October. We should then be able to answer your questions about Right to Buy. We will also put this information in Connections and on our website.

TALKING POINT:

WHAT IS THE RIGHT TO BUY?

On every building scheme we try to offer something extra for local people. Here we are keeping the lovely outside shell of the old hospital and will offer a new central public space with a path leading to Haggerston Park

WHAT WE DO AND WHY WE DO IT

We think the housing crisis won’t be solved without the help of housing associations. But we also think we need to do a much better job of explaining what it is that we do – and what we mean when we talk about social housing.

There are over 1000 housing associations in England. Each is a bit different. Some are tiny, with less than 100 homes. The biggest has over 70,000 homes. What we all do is rent homes out for much less than private landlords, often to people who also need support.

Our homes and those still owned by local councils are what we call social housing. People who don’t earn enough to buy still need a home and should be able to afford to rent social housing.

We're not in it to make a profit. Private companies set out to make profits and they share their profits with shareholders. We're different.

Our income – from rental and service charges – pays for the cost of looking after and repairing our properties, managing tenancy matters, supporting vulnerable tenants and running the business.

Any money left over helps to pay back past loans, including those taken out to build or renovate homes, or is recycled to pay for more affordable homes.

BUILDING HOMESLast year housing associations built one-third of all the new homes in England - 40,000. Family Mosaic has 20,000 rented homes and 4,000 being bought through shared ownership, where you buy a share and rent the rest.

So we are big enough to be able to build. The tricky part is paying for it. We used to get money from the government. Since the 1980s, money coming from government has slowly shrunk. On average now, for every £1 that is invested by the government, housing associations

put in £6. Many building schemes get no ‘public’ money at all.

We now pay for new social housing by selling some of the homes that we build on the open market, selling some through shared ownership and using part of the leftover money from managing homes.

Overall we build between 600 and 1000 new homes a year. If we didn’t build homes for shared ownership and private sale, we could no longer afford to let out the social housing at a lower rent.

We also need land to build on. In London this is becoming harder to find, especially in the areas where most of our homes are.

TAKING A CLOSER LOOKQueen Elizabeth Children’s Hospital in Tower Hamlets was left empty for 17 years until the Greater London Authority put the site up for sale in 2011.

Partnership approachWe teamed up with private developer Rydon to put forward a plan to bring it back into use as homes. Rydon would share the risk and take care of the private sales, we said, and we'd handle the homes for social rent and shared ownership.

Our plan was approved. Soon after the work started in early 2014, the builders uncovered a time capsule full of newspapers and memorabilia from 1902.

We’ll have plenty to fill a new capsule when the 188th home is finished in 2017. The old hospital will then become home to some 500 people, with many of the new homes for social rent by local families.

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If you think you might need some help with a tendency to hoard that’s getting out of control then please call our customer care line on q0300 123 3456.

Winning streak: Michelle leads the field in the 300m hurdles

local news from Essex

Your local news brings you a special spread on Laindon’s King Edward Community Centre, recently relaunched by new community centre manager Ella Rayment

CENTRE’S SUMMER SIZZLEREven the sun put in an appearance at the King Edward Community Centre’s summer sizzler on the last Saturday in August.

Home-made specialtiesBetween noon and four, over 200 people took in stalls selling knitwear, handmade wooden plaques, glitter glasses, wedding items and much more.We also had a guess the herb stall, lucky dips, Zumba demonstrations and majorette dancers, a barbecue and entertainment for the children.

Community centre manager Ella Rayment said: ‘It was great day seeing everyone in the community come together to take part in this family fun day, the first of many events we’ll be holding at the King Edward Community Centre.’

GETTING TO KNOW ELLA What did you do before joining Family Mosaic?I worked for Havering council for 10 years as a library manager and ran Collier Row Library.

What do you enjoy doing outside work?I’ve just taken up hot yoga and enjoy socialising and trying my hand at baking, though I’m not quite ready for The Great British Bake Off!

Do you think community centres are important?They offer local residents a place to socialise, learn new skills, be active and meet new people. A lot run activities for the entire community so there is something to suit everyone. It’s a great place to meet people if you are new to the area.

What’s best about the King Edward Community Centre?The centre itself! It bright, airy and now even more colourful after we repainted it over summer. It’s very modern and easily accessible.

What plans do you have for events at the centre?We have Zumba classes starting in September, and a new Saturday morning play group - one of only a few Saturday play groups in the area. We also have the Macmillan coffee morning on 22 September, and we have plans for an Employment Boot Camp, Halloween and Christmas family events, craft fairs, indoor boot sales and ‘mummy market days’. So keep an eye out! We would love residents to tell us what sort of things they would like to see happening at the centre too!

Is the centre just for Family Mosaic residents?No! It’s there for the whole community, whether you are a Family Mosaic resident or not. We welcome everyone.

What has been your best moment as community centre manager so far?Planning the first event was lots of fun. But also meeting the residents and community groups that use the centre. Everyone has been so nice and friendly!

To find out what events and activities are coming up at the centre go to the King Edward Community Centre Facebook page or email Ella at KingEdwardcom@familymosiac.co.uk

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY!

Laindon’s Community Cuppa, a weekly get together over a hot drink and biscuits, recently celebrated its first birthday with a day trip to Southend. The group was set up by Laindon community champion Jane Dobson, with a little help from us, for people living near King Edward Community Centre. Every Tuesday between 1.30-2.30pm people of all ages drop in for bingo, cards or board games or a chat. Jane has worked tirelessly to make Community Cuppa a success.

HELP FROM US FOR OUT OF HAND HOARDINGIs clutter in your home growing out of control? If you think you have a problem with compulsive hoarding please call us now rather than leave it to get out of hand.

Timely interventionTenancy sustainment officer Mehluli Ncube said: ‘We often only hear about cases when hoarding is out of control and we’d like to offer our help much sooner. In a time of crisis people can start stockpiling things they don’t need.

‘TV programmes like Life of Grime and story lines in Coronation Street have helped to publicise the issue recently, but we know many people still find it hard to ask for help.’

If you’re saving rather too many ‘useful’ things for a rainy day, it may be time for professional help

YOUR ANNUAL REPORT

With your copy of Connections, you will find a summary of our annual report to you, showing how we performed last year. You can download the fuller version from our website or, for a print copy, please email pressoffice@familymosaic.co.uk or ring Joanna on q020 7089 1046

Selling knitwear

Time for a fish and chip supper then crazy golf!

Find out what’s coming up at https://www.facebook.com/Kingedwardcommunity

How we scored last year

Zumba demonstrators at the sizzler

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LICK OF PAINT PUTS A SMILE ON TWO FACESYoung Community Champions recently gave up their own time to give a lick of paint and a fresh look to two of our customers’ homes. Over three days they worked as a team to decorate the interiors.

Follow-on actionOne grateful tenant said: 'The team of Community Champions came to

my flat to help me earlier in the year. In conversation they realised that I am disabled, with lots of other health difficulties, and needed some decorating done.

'I was not entitled to help with decorating but the young people were extremely keen to help me. The have worked really hard and have done a really good job.'

young people

GET A GARDEN MAKEOVER This stunning transformation of a once weed-choked garden into a tranquil oasis was the work of a team of our dedicated tenant gardeners, trained and employed by our Clear the Way project.

The team has been keeping busy during warmer months, transforming some of our other customers' unloved gardens.

Clear the Way helps vulnerable tenants. If you need our support and are unable to look after your garden, call your neighbourhood manager on q0300 123 3456.

getting involved

WANT A CAREER IN CHILDCARE?

If you are interested in starting a career in childcare please call our childcare initiatives coordinator Maxine Rose on q020 7089 1272 or email Maxine.Rose @familymosaic.co.uk

FREE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES!

A reminder about our FREE training. We run a wide range of courses throughout the year including accredited training to help you develop personally and professionally. We also offer more creative workshops.

If you want to make yourself more employable or just want to do something enjoyable, please call us on q020 7089 1252 to find out more.

DRIVING AMBITIONYoung tenants from Heather Court in Havering spent part of their summer learning to drive for the 'skill' part of their Duke of Edinburgh bronze award.

Off-road trainingOver 12 weeks at a private driving school centre, they spent half of each session improving their practical driving skills on the centre's private roads.

The rest of the session was spent in the PC suite, studying driving theory and the Highway Code.

Some of the group, now armed with a provisional driving licence,

next tested their skills on public roads, supervised by a driving instructor.

DofE leader Melissa Vidal said: 'The best thing is not just knowing that these young people are likely to be more competent drivers in future but also seeing their confidence and sense of achievement grow each week.

'One has already started private lessons and everyone else is keen to follow suit.'

CALLING ALL CHAMPIONSWe've just revamped our Community Champions programme, making it easier than ever for you to become a champion who'll make a difference in your neighbourhood. If you have some spare time and want to run or get involved in a project or event for the benefit of your community or to support other Family Mosaic customers, we would love to hear from you.

Our team will help you work up your idea and may be able to get you a small grant. We'll even give you free training. Just give us a call on q020 7089 1087 or email getinvolved@familymosaic.co.uk

TREKKING IN EPPINGA fresh group of youngsters took to the wilds of Epping Forest in August on a practice expedition for their bronze Duke of Edinburgh award (DofE) assessment

Keeping the 16 from London and Essex company were two volunteers now working on their silver award. They'd had such a great time doing the expedition for their bronze award last year, they came along to motivate the new group.

Luckily for our happy campers not one drop of rain fell during their six-hour hike. Their challenge was instead the heat, which peaked

at an uncomfortably toasty 26˚C. Along the way they learnt how to

set up a tent, cook on a camp stove and read a map – just some of the skills needed for their assessment two weeks later.

'I feel happy, angry, excited and proud of myself,' said one of the group later. 'I cried when I got to the top of that hill,' said a second. 'I was so happy.'

To go for a DofE bronze, silver or gold award you must be aged 14-25. You will learn a new skill, take up a physical activity and volunteer for at least three months. Pick the level that appeals to you or do all three!Find out more about the DofE awards by calling Melissa on q020 7089 2145 or email youth.academy@familymosaic.co.uk

Left: volunteers learn to map read. Above, the 'lost boys' finish a six-hour hike

WHY NOT GET INVOLVED?

Fancy being a peer leader or helping other Youth Academy

activities? Call Melissa on q020 7089 2145 or 07534 998 260

or email youth.academy@familymosaic.co.uk

Road crew: Heather Court's trainee drivers

Dirt track: the 'garden' before

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your servicesREGISTER OR FIND OUT MORE ABOUT

HOUSE EXCHANGEwww.houseexchange.org.uk

moving onwards

ON YOUR WAY? LET US PAY!Just leave your home clean and in good repair and we’ll pay you up to £400 to say thank you for the money we save on repairs and by getting a new tenant in quickly

What you need to doIf you decide to move out, call us on q0300 123 3456 at least four weeks before you go.

Step one: We'll send you a Notice to Vacate form. Fill it in and send it back to us promptly.

Step two: Make sure your home and any garden areas are clean and tidy.

Step three: Let us into your home to carry out a viewing and inspection before you go.

Step four: Send us the full set of keys promptly after you move out.

Carry out all four steps and we’ll give you £100 as a thank you. But we’re now offering even more money if you go one step further.

Give us six weeks’ notice and you’ll qualify for an extra £50.

Let us do any repairs needed before you move out and we’ll pay you an extra £250.

Why give you money?Every home left in a poor state costs us time and money getting it ready for the next family. We send a

bill to cover the cost of putting things right to the former tenant and take legal action if they are slow paying up.

We'd rather make things easy for you and us. So if you are no longer going to be a Family Mosaic tenant, you've taken good care of our property and your rent account is paid in full, do the right thing and we'll reward you.

To find out more about our cash offer do a search for moving out on www.familymosaic.co.uk or call us on q0300 123 3456.

NEWS FLASH: TWO MORE WAYS TO FIND A NEW HOME

www.swapandmove.co.uk For one year we'll be trying a new national swapping scheme Swap and Move. From October you can join for free. It's easy to use with a mobile phone, tablet or computer. If you already use the Homeswapper website we can transfer your details to Swap and Move to make it even easier for you. We will contact you as soon as it's done so you can activate your registration.

www.homefinderuk.org Home Finder UK is another new free scheme offering moves to other parts of the UK. We’re trying it for

three months starting in October. You can bid for any available homes, most of which are outside London. To apply, fill in a simple registration form on the website. If you're already using House Exchange you can use the same log-in details.

www.housingmoves.orgMore and more of our tenants are having success with the mayor of London’s Housing Moves scheme.

Over 500 tenants have registered and more are joining each month. Several tenants have moved to other boroughs shortly after signing up, including one overcrowded family with two children who moved from a one-bedroom flat to a two- bedroom home within four months.

Properties are advertised all week in all parts of London, including boroughs we can't move you to like Camden, Barking & Dagenham and Hounslow. You can place up to four bids at a time.

LAST CHANCE BEFORE THE DEADLINE…Our transfer list for all band B and C applicants closes at the start of October. If you're affected come to a drop-in session at locations across London to find out how to best use your other options for moving. For dates and locations and more on moving, search for changing your home at www.familymosaic.co.uk or call us onq 0300 123 3456.

Paint experts Dulux are offering a great discount on decorating supplies for Family Mosaic customers plus free home delivery!

So whether you’re planning to give your walls a fresh coat of  paint in the same colour or you fancy a complete change, buying the materials to do it will now cost you much less.

To get your discount, all you need to do is show proof of your Family Mosaic tenancy.

The deal includes ●● savings across the range●● top branded paints and accessories●● discounts available both in-store and online●● 1,000s of paint colours and wall coverings●● friendly helpful staff.

Don’t forget, delivery is free!

To find your nearest Dulux Decorator Centre, call q0845 850 2200 or visit www.duluxdecoratorcentre.co.uk/ housing/familymosaic

To order your supplies by phone call q0845 602 3128

REFRESH YOUR HOME WITH A LICK OF PAINT

MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINESCUSTOMER SERVICE UPDATE

Since starting with us earlier this year, customer services director Ashling Fox has been working hard to improve our repairs service

'Just like the ant in the story of the ant and the grasshopper, we have been using the summer to prepare for the more difficult colder months, when our repairs service comes under greater pressure,' writes Ashling.

'We told you in an earlier issue of Connections that we had started working with new contractors a few months ago. But I have also been reviewing the way we deal with customer issues. My aim is to reorganise the way we do things so that you, our customer, are always the main focus.

We have used the last few months to look closely at how we work, putting ourselves in your shoes, so we understand what it is like to experience our customer services such as repairs.

Listening to your feedback and looking at some of our mistakes, we knew we needed to improve.

These are some of the things we're now doing differently. The way we: ●● train our staff●● use technology●● resource our customer care line●● communicate and manage our relationship with contractors..

We know that at times last winter it was very difficult to get through to our customer care line.

We have seen a big improvement in our call answer times over the last few months. For July the average time a customer needed to wait on the phone was 1 minute and 20 seconds. We generally respond to emails within one working day.

Smooth processOver the upcoming autumn and winter months, we want to make sure that it will be easy for you to contact the customer care line.

We also want to cut still further the amount of time you spend waiting for answers to both phone calls and email.

If a repair isn’t easily resolved, we are now making sure you have one single point of contact at the customer care line.

That person will manage the situation and keep you updated until the matter is resolved.

We have a new specialised incident team whose job is to manage urgent, complex and sensitive situations. They will always look at a situation from your point of view.

I am confident that these changes will make us better prepared to face the colder months together.'

CALLING THE CUSTOMER CARE LINE... JUST DIAL ✆ 0300 123 3456 » THEN PRESS 2 OPEN 8AM-8PM ● MONDAYS TO FRIDAYSOPEN SATURDAY MORNINGS ●●9AM-1PM

PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY COUNTRYWIDE PUBLICATIONS ON PAPER FROM SUSTAINABLE SOURCES q 01502 725 832 EDITED BY CHARLOTTE SEXTON SUBEDITED & DESIGNED BY THOMPSONS q 01732 750 433

Head office

Albion House, 20 Queen Elizabeth St, SE1 2RJ q020 7089 1000 www.familymosaic.co.uk

Essex office

Pembroke House, Northlands Pavement, Pitsea SS13 3DU q01268 498 500

Report repairs

q0300 123 3456, then press option 1. Report repairs to us online at www.familymosaic.co.uk

Leasehold enquiries

Call q0300 123 2209 h CCLHomeOwnership @familymosaic.co.uk

Tenant enquiries

Call q0300 123 3456 then press option 2. Lines open 8am 8pm on weekdays, 9am to 1pm on Saturdays h CustomerCareLine @familymosaic.co.uk

Employment team

q020 7089 1345

Care and support

London q020 7089 1000 Essex q01268 498 500South q01273 468010

Welfare rights officers

London north/west q020 7089 1323 London south/east q020 7089 1187Hackney/Essex: q01268 498 563

Staying in touch

A MESSAGE TO YOU FROM THE RESIDENT SCRUTINY PANEL: MEMBERSHIP DRIVE

The Independent Resident Scrutiny Panel is now open for new members. We need committed residents to help us to scrutinise Family Mosaic and improve the service we receive.

If you would like to find out more, please get in touch with us by emailing fmirsp@outlook.com or by writing to us at The Independent Resident Scrutiny Panel, c/o Family Mosaic, Albion House, 20 Queen Elizabeth Street, SE1 2RJ.

We hope to hear from you soon.  

WELFARE CUTS WHAT DOES THE SUMMER 2015 BUDGET MEAN FOR YOU?

In his summer budget, chancellor George Osborne set out his plans to lower government debt by cutting spending on welfare by £12 billion a year. Many of you will be affected by some of these changes though we do not yet know the specific details

WELFARE BENEFITS ● From April 2016 the new national

Living Wage for over-25s will be £7.20 an hour.

● From April 2017, 18-21 year-olds won't be able to automatically get housing benefit. There are likely to be exceptions for vulnerable young adults.

● Working age benefits will be frozen for four years. If you are under 65, the amount you get in benefits will not go up.

● Parents of three or four-year-olds can claim 30 hours of free childcare from September 2017.

● Tax credit and universal credit payments will be limited to two children for families with a third child born after April 2017.

● From April 2016 the most you will get when your benefits are added up will be £20,000 outside London and £23,000 in London. For single people the cap will be £13,400 outside

London and £15,410 in London. There will be exemptions, eg. if you claim working tax credit or someone in your household gets disability living allowance or the personal independence payment.

● Employment and support allowance payments will be cut for new claimants deemed able to do 'work-related activity'. From April 2017, if you are put in the work-related activity group, you will get the same benefit as those on jobseeker’s allowance.

RENT LEVELS ● If the combined earnings over

a year of everyone in your home are more than £30,000 outside London, or £40,000 in London, we are likely to have to put your rent up to the local market rate.

● From April 2016 those of you paying a social housing rent will have it cut by 1% for each of the next four years.

If you have any concerns about owing money or getting welfare benefits, please email Financialinclusion@familymosaic.co.uk or call our customer care line on q0300 123 3456.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

To mark Democracy Day on 15 September we are holding several events later in the month such as political film nights and training in how to be an active citizen.

Celebrate having the right to take part and have your say this Democracy Day.

Email Charlotte.sexton@familymosaic.co.uk or call q020 7089 1140 for details.