March 2025 Retirement Living Resident Newsletter

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March 2025 Retirement Living Resident Newsletter

March 2025: Retirement Living Newsletter

The Retirement Living Resident Newsletter keeps you informed with the latest news, updates, and opportunities from Housing 21. It’s designed to keep you connected, highlight ways to get involved, and share helpful tips to support you in your home and community.

Listen to the audio version:

Take care of your ears: World Hearing Day

Did you know that more than 18 million adults in the UK are deaf or have hearing loss? This World Hearing Day let’s all take a moment to think about our ear health and how we can make communication easier for everyone.

This year’s theme, ‘Changing Mindsets: Empower Yourself to Make Ear and Hearing Care a Reality for All!’, builds on last year’s focus and encourages people of all ages to take control of their hearing health.

How you can protect your hearing:

Limit exposure to loud sounds – keep the volume down and use ear protection when needed.

Check your hearing regularly – early detection makes a difference.

Use hearing aids or assisting devices if needed.

Support others – be mindful of those with hearing loss and help create a more inclusive community.

If you're worried about your hearing, you can take the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) hearing check online.

Communicating with friends and neighbours who have hearing loss:

It’s easy to feel frustrated when communication becomes difficult, but a few simple adjustments can make a world of difference. Here are three golden rules:

Get their attention – A wave or a gentle tap on the shoulder before speaking helps.

Face them – Many people rely on lipreading, so always face the person when talking.

Be patient – If they don’t understand you, rephrase or try a different approach.

Want to learn some basic British Sign Language (BSL)? You can find helpful resources including videos online at RNID: www.rnid.org.uk

Have your say: DWP research on Pension Credit and Housing Benefit

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is conducting important research to better understand residents’ experiences when claiming Pension Credit and Housing Benefit. They want to hear about any challenges you may have faced and how you interact with DWP and Local Authority services. Your feedback will help shape improvements to how these benefits are delivered.

If you would like to take part, please email Sarah.Webster3@dwp.gov.uk

If you need general support or advice on Pension Credit or Housing Benefit, your scheme manager is always available to help.

Catch Up Over Coffee: February 2025 session now available

The latest Catch up over coffee session with Housing 21’s senior leaders is now available to watch online if you missed the live discussion.

You can rewatch the session on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MjhK03pxlj0?si=LCqEU89v_Q2hz65Q

In this session:

Reflections on the Regulatory Inspection

Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs)

TSM action llanning

Preparing for Awaab’s Law

Rent and Service Charge

Resident Communications Survey

Q&A Session

If you have any feedback on the session or topics you’d like to see covered in future events, please email us at communications@housing21.org.uk.

An update on complaints

We always strive to provide the best possible service, and listening to your feedback - both positive and constructive - is key to improving what we do.

Here’s a look at our performance over the past quarter.

Complaints overview:

Between October and December 2024, we received 78 formal complaints, broken down as follows:

Retirement Living – 37

Extra Care – 40

Asset Management – 1

This is an increase from 32 complaints during the same period last year. However, this rise is largely due to changes in the Housing Ombudsman Complaints Handling Code, which removed the informal complaint category, meaning more concerns are now logged as formal complaints.

For more information on how we are performing in relation to complaint handling please visit our website.

We’re committed to improving our response times and ensuring your concerns are addressed promptly. Your feedback helps shape our services, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences with us.

Radio Teleswitch (RTS) Metering

The Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) uses a radio signal to tell some older electricity meters when to switch between peak and off-peak rates and allows energy suppliers to offer different tariff rates, so consumers can make use of cheaper off-peak rates.  

Due to upgraded technology now available, the RTS service is coming to an end on the 30 June 2025. 

All customers with an RTS meter should have received a letter from their supplier already telling them they have an RTS meter. 

Impacts of the RTS switch off:

Electric storage heaters may charge at the wrong time, possibly leading to higher bills

Loss of heating and/or hot water control, or left continually on

Inaccurate or sustained on-peak pricing

If you have an RTS meter you will need to get this upgraded by 30 June 2025.

You can do this by contacting your electricity supplier. If you need support to do this, please speak to your scheme manager. 

Better Housing, Better Health (BHBH) Service

BHBH is a free warmth and wellbeing service that is available to most parts of England and can provide:

Energy saving advice

Tariff comparisons and grant information

Small energy measures

Emergency fuel vouchers

Housing 21 has partnered with BHBH to provide a direct referral form that can be completed in just a couple of minutes.

If you’d like to know if you live in an eligible area, more information or how to access the service, please speak to your scheme manager who will know more.

Resident Disability Network

The Resident Disability Network held its first meeting of 2025 on Monday 17 February.

This network meets online every eight weeks to share experiences and offer perspectives to help improve service for those with disabilities or long-term health conditions. 

At this meeting the network: 

Reviewed the updated Respect and Inclusion Policy

Met with the Resident Communications Manager to discuss barriers to effective communications for those with disabilities

Discussed the initial analysis and findings of the Scheme Accessibility Survey

This network is looking for new members. Interested residents can get in touch with the team at: StrategicOperationsTeam@housing21.org.uk.

The next planned meeting is Monday 14 April 2025 at 3pm. 

Embrace the joy of gardening this spring!

As the days grow longer and the temperatures rise, spring is the perfect time to get back into the garden.

The National Trust offers some fantastic tips to help get your garden in shape this season.

For more expert advice, visit the National Trust website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/gardening-tips/gardening-tips-for-spring

Are you a keen gardener? We’d love to see what you’ve been growing! Send your gardening photos to us via email: communications@housing21.org.uk

Resident conferences are back – save the date!

We’re excited to announce the return of our Resident Conferences!

We’ll be hosting five events across the country, giving residents the chance to hear key updates, share their thoughts, and enjoy a bit of lunch too!

Event dates and locations:

Thursday 1 May – Southampton

Wednesday 7 May – Nottingham

Tuesday 13 May – Ashford

Friday 16 May – Leeds

Wednesday 28 May – Birmingham

Look out for more details in next month’s newsletter – we hope to see you there!

Last month we asked for your pet photos!

A Retirement Living resident in the garden

Housing 21 in the news

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