Coronavirus

Third lockdown - changes to our services

Following the government’s announcement of a third national lockdown, we have made some temporary changes to the services we carry out in your home.

We would like to reassure you that many of our services continue during this third lockdown, because we already have strict safety measures in place to keep our customers and staff safe. These include lettings, emergency repairs, external works and defect works in our new build homes, along with many other services.

We’ll continue to monitor this and if we need to make any further changes to our services, we’ll let you know.

What are the changes?

To keep our customers and our staff safe, we will currently only visit your home for the following reasons:

• Emergency repairs such as a major leak
• Essential safety services such as gas boiler servicing and electrical system testing
• External works such as fencing
• Planned works such as boiler replacements, fuel switches, electric heating replacements, kitchen and bathroom refurbishments – if you are happy for these works to go ahead.

We will temporarily stop doing routine repairs, to reduce the need for staff to visit your home while there is a lockdown and with coronavirus cases rising.

If you already have a routine repair booked in January or February, we will contact you to cancel the appointment or make arrangements if it cannot wait. Any cancelled repairs will then be rescheduled when our full repairs service can restart.

If you have a new, routine repair, please do not call us about this yet, but wait until we let you know that our full repairs service has re-started. If you are not sure if a repair is an emergency or routine, please call us to check on 01225 715 715.

If you wish to postpone or rearrange an appointment for planned works such as kitchen refurbishments or boiler replacements, or have any concerns, please call our customer support team on 01225 715 715 or email info@selwoodhousing.com.

If something in your home needs repairing, check our repairs tips and advice pages for guides on how to fix common problems, in case the issue is something you are able to repair yourself.

Our safety measures

We will continue to follow the strict safety measures we already have in place, in line with the government's Covid-secure guidelines.

When carrying out works in your home, our staff will arrive wearing a face covering and will keep a safe distance of at least two metres at all times. Our staff will clean all surfaces and touch points as they leave your home.

Why are we making these changes?

With a new coronavirus variant and cases rising, we are making temporary changes to some of our routine services that can involve staff entering several different homes. This will minimise contacts for our customers and staff.

These are temporary changes and we will let you know when our full services return.

Many of our services can continue to operate during this third lockdown, because we already have strict safety measures in place to keep our customers and staff safe, in line with the government’s Covid-secure guidelines.

What we must ask of you

To help keep everyone safe, we must ask you to:

• If you have work booked, or live in an apartment block or sheltered scheme, tell us if you or any of your household are self-isolating, have tested positive, or are awaiting a test result.
• When our staff are working in your home, all of your household must stay in a different room for the entire visit. In the rare situations where this is not possible, we ask that you wear a face covering while our staff are working.
• Follow the ‘hands, face, space’ guidance at all times.
• Let us know if you are shielding.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Reception and customer support

Our customer reception desk remains closed until further notice. However, most of our services are operating normally, with office staff working from home and community teams delivering services, following Covid-secure guidelines. Our customer support team are still available to take your enquiry.

Test and Trace

We have recently updated our privacy notice to reflect the requirements of the Government's 'Test and Trace' programme. If our staff or contractors have had close contact with you and they develop symptoms associated with coronavirus, they may pass on your details in accordance with this programme. You can find details of this on the government website.

Rent and benefits

We understand this is a challenging time for our customers affected by coronavirus.

We will work with you to ensure no one loses their home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

If you have any concerns about paying your rent due to coronavirus:

• first, check the Understanding Universal Credit website to ensure you are claiming for the benefits that you may now be entitled to. This page will be updated regularly.
• If you still have concerns about paying your rent please speak to our customer support team on 01225 715 715 who can then put you in touch with your account manager. They can then advise you based on your individual circumstances.

For more information about changes to benefits in light of coronavirus, visit our web-page.