Stirling Council Strike

Craft workers at Stirling Council will strike on 1st June at midnight for 24 hours and thereafter every fortnight to 10th August until their issues are resolved. There will be a limited availability of standby cover provided ie one each of joiner, electrician, gas technician and plumber.  This means that emergency repairs may take a bit longer to attend to than normal.

Gas Maintenance and Service Contract

Unfortunately the Association has had to end its contract with Danros Heating Services Limited.

As of Monday 12th May Stirling Council Housing Services (SCHS) will provide the gas maintenance and servicing of the Association’s properties.

If you are having problems with your heating or hot water which is provided by a gas fired combination boiler, please telephone :

During Office Hours          0800 027 5888
Outwith Office Hours        0771 500 4265

New Joinery Contractor

The Association has added A.T.S. Building Services Ltd to its Approved List of Contractors to provide additional joinery services.

New Face at Forth

The beginning of March saw a new face around Forth as John Cameron started as Director.

John comes to the Association with 23 years experience of working in housing and most of that in the housing Association sector in Edinburgh or Glasgow. He is keen to find out about the ways of Stirling and hopes over the coming weeks to be able to meet Forth tenants and find out their views on the organisation and area.

The coming few years should be exciting for Forth as there will be a good number of new homes available to meet local needs. John’s role will be to lead the staff team and alongside the Management Committee ensure that everyone can meet the challenges of growth, an ever changing political climate and the demands for a quality service from our tenants.

If you would like the opportunity to meet with John and share your views on the organisation or even find out what his plans may be please contact him via the Forth office. He will then try to arrange suitable time to meet and he is very happy to come to you rather than drag you to the office.

Rent Increase

The Management Committee agreed at the meeting held on 25 February 2008 to a rent increase of 4.5% effective from 28 March 2008.  All tenants and sharing owners will be notified in writing of the new rent amount.

The Association has advised Stirling Council of the Rent and Service Charge Increase for 2008/09.  However tenants should contact the Housing Benefit Office to advise of any change of circumstances or if confirmation of this increase is not received from Housing Benefit by the 21 April 2008.

Tenants paying by Standing Order must contact their bank or building society now to advise of the change of payment amount from the 28 March 2008.

Direct Debits are automatically increased by the Association.

New Development at Bryden Road, Whins of Milton, Stirling

The Association is delighted to announce the completion of its 28th development project at Bryden Road, Whins of Milton.

The development consists of 16 properties, 5 x 3 bedroom terraced homes, 2 x 2 bedroom semi detached homes, and 5 x 2 bedroom terraced homes, for rent.  This is also the first development where the Association is providing 4 x 2 bedroom terraced homes through “Homestake”, a Government initiative which provides grants to help people on lower incomes into home ownership.

The official opening of the development was carried out by Provost Margaret Brisley on Wednesday 26 March 2008.

Homestake

The Association is in the process of allocating the four Homestake properties at Lademill, Whins of Milton after a ballot took place at the Management Committee meeting on Monday 28th January 2008. The Association received 471 enquiries for the Homestake scheme although only 16 applications were returned.

10 applicants were interviewed and as the majority of the applicants met the criteria of first time buyers the Association agreed a ballot would be the fairest way to allocate the properties.

When the Association develops future Homestake or other low cost home ownership schemes, information will be posted on our website. The Scottish Government recently announced the low-cost initiative for First Time buyers, LIFT which will be managed by Link Housing, tel no. 0845155 0019.

Forth Housing Staff Donate to Start-Up to Help Homeless

Staff at Forth have raised £600 for the charity Start-Up. This is a local charity, whose aim is to help homeless families and individuals, when they move into a long-term tenancy from temporary accommodation. 

Kath Arton  (Secretary) of  Start-Up commented: “We are most grateful to the staff of Forth Housing Association for their generous donation of £600 to the project. It will help with the cost of items such as electrical goods and duvets .” This money was raised by staff donating their time and money to dress down days, lunches, staff member of the year, birthday and Christmas card money etc.

Tenant Handbook Launch

We are pleased to announce that the new Tenant Handbook has recently been completed. Copies were hand delivered to all existing tenants during the month of December.

It has been designed to allow any amendments to be made easily. We will regularly review the content and send you replacement pages or sections, when things change.  Therefore, please keep your new Handbook in a safe place and use the amendments we send you, to keep it up to date.

The Handbook provides an outline of our services, as well as useful telephone numbers.  We are able at the office to provide more information on many of these services.

Our Chairperson, Gordon Mason, was delighted to present a bouquet of flowers to 2 of of our tenants from ‘Have your voice heard’, who helped to develop the Handbook, from inception to completion. He said “ this is wonderful participation when tenants can see their ideas develop and come to fruition.”  Angela Laley from Forth said “ a special thank-you  is due on behalf of Forth to Mrs Reid and Mrs Petrie, who gave not only their time but moreover their ideas and feedback. It is this effort that has made the Handbook user friendly and hopefully, able to be used by all our tenants for many years to come.”

New Money Advisor

We have recently recruited a Money Advisor – Tracy Doran.  Tracy will be able to provide advice in the office or in your home, on the following areas:

• Maximising your income, by claiming all benefits.
• Basic debt counselling.
• Information in relation to sources of affordable credit and household contents insurance.
• Budgeting skills.

Please contact the office for more information.