Update for housing customers
To commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE day, which marked the end of the Second World War in Europe, the first Bank Holiday in May has been moved from Monday 4 May to Friday 8 May 2020.
As we approach the weekend, we wanted to remind you how our services are currently affected by the ongoing situation and how to get in touch with us if you need to. Many of our frontline staff remain out in communities working hard to keep services going during this time. Please help them by staying at home as much as possible and respecting social distancing when outside and in communal areas.
If you do need to contact us over the Bank Holiday weekend please see how you can do this in the sections below.
Repairs
We’re still carrying out urgent and emergency repairs when safe to do so, along with routine gas servicing.
We have cancelled all planned repairs, appointments and inspections for the time being and will contact anyone affected by this.
If you need to report an urgent or emergency repair over the Bank Holiday weekend, call 0114 273 5555.
Gas servicing
The Government and the Health and Safety Executive have advised that as a landlord we have to ensure people, including the vulnerable, are protected from possible fatal risks arising from carbon monoxide exposure or gas explosion. That is why we are continuing to undertake gas servicing of appliances.
We recognise that during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak that you will be worried about letting people into your home. We want to reassure you that we are following the Government’s guidance to make sure your home is safe and that our technicians adopt safe working methods when they visit your home.
Our technician will ensure that they comply with Public Health England`s guidelines, which includes maintaining a two-metre distance from any household occupants. You may be asked to retire to a separate room whilst this important check of your gas appliances is carried out.
We take our responsibilities as landlord very seriously to ensure everyone is protected from potentially fatal risks arising from carbon monoxide exposure or gas explosions. So unless you are self-isolating, please allow our engineers to carry out this vital work.
Rent
You should continue to pay your rent if you can. There is lots of Government support available to help you do this through these difficult times. If you need further help or advice, please contact us as soon as possible on 0114 293 0000.
Waste
The responsive chute service is working this Bank Holiday Friday to ensure the temporary waste measures put in place at Tower Blocks citywide are still delivered. The team will continue to collect waste from the identified tower blocks at the agreed times and also from customers who are unable to use the skips that have been provided.
Anyone who has a blocked chute should ring the weekend phone number 07734595916 and report it. When we carry out this work please remember to respect social distancing rules. Please note this will be a limited service this weekend.
Rehousing
If you have nowhere to live and cannot self-isolate, please contact Housing Solutions on 0114 273 6306 or 0800 7311 689 (after 5pm and over the Bank Holiday weekend).
If you don’t feel safe where you currently live, contact South Yorkshire Police, VAS or IDAS for help and support.
Dealing with anti-social behaviour during coronavirus
Tackling anti-social behaviour is an essential service and one that we’re working hard to maintain during the Covid-19 crisis.
Although there are some restrictions in place around us visiting and meeting with customers, we want to reassure you that unacceptable behaviour will not go unpunished.
We remain committed to protecting and supporting you despite the difficult circumstances we’re all living in at the moment.
You can help us too by being good, considerate neighbours to each other as we spend more time at home in lockdown.
Don’t play loud music, turn your TV up high or carry out very noisy DIY during unsociable hours. It’s never been more important to think about others and what effect our actions could have on them.
Although we know the majority of people are following Government guidance to stay at home and socially distance, a minority are flouting the rules and putting whole communities at risk.
This includes households regularly having high numbers of visitors, people deliberately spitting and younger people congregating in public. We won’t tolerate this dangerous behaviour, which is a clear risk to everyone’s health.
These cases are our priority, along with other ‘serious’ anti social behaviour such as violence, threats of violence and drug misuse.
How to contact us
If you are experiencing anti-social behaviour, whether for the first time or if long standing problems are continuing, please report this to us online or call 0114 2930000
How to contact South Yorkshire Police
Please continue to report crime through 101 for non emergencies and 999 for emergencies where there is a threat to life. You can also report incidents online, including breaches of Covid-19 restrictions.
Help and advice for private rented tenants and landlords
The Council’s Private Housing Standards team regulates private rented housing in the city. We provide help and advice to landlords and tenants, and we also have enforcement powers we can use if landlords aren’t meeting their responsibilities.
Private landlords are still responsible for making sure their properties meet the proper standards. We encourage all landlords and tenants to keep up to date with the latest government guidance and any changes to the law. You can find out more information here.
We are still carrying out investigations and inspections of private rented properties where there is an emergency related to disrepair or illegal eviction, where it is safe to do so. All other non-essential inspections are on hold for now.
For help and advice, please call us on 0114 273 4680 (Mon-Thurs 9am-5pm and Fri 9am-4.30pm) or email phs@sheffield.gov.uk.
Improvements to your home
In response to Covid-19, we have paused some of our home improvement programmes.
Others are going ahead at a reduced level, including adaptations, external wall insulation, improvements to vacant properties and emergency heating breakdowns.
We will only carry out work where health and safety is not compromised, liaising with our contractors to ensure employees have the right equipment and adopt safe working practices at a safe distance from others.
Officers are monitoring all activity on site.
We are sorry if for some of you this means delays in improvement work. We’ll do our best to keep you up-to-date and will look to restart other work when it is safe to do so.
We still aim to have new contractors on board for roofing replacements, minor demolition work and fire safety work during the second half of 2020/21.
If you have an enquiry about improvement work please contact us (details below).
Bill puts heart and sole into charity challenge
Bill Button of Kinsey Road sheltered housing scheme at High Green has decided to lace up his walking boots and walk 1.2 miles each day from the 23rd April up to his 80th Birthday on the 23rd August to raise money for Darnall Dementia Group.
This isn’t the first time Bill has walked to raise money for charity. In November 2018 he walked from Kinsey Road to the Town Hall for charity. Bill is pictured above on the right completing his previous charity walk in 2018.
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Contacting us
As we’re sure you’ll understand, we are prioritising urgent and serious situations so only call us if this applies to you. Please bear with us if it takes longer than usual to answer your call.
There’s lots of information about our services online. Don’t forget you can still pay your rent, check your rent balance and set up a Direct Debit (the easiest way to pay your rent) on our website.
You can email us at councilhousing@sheffield.gov.uk, write to us (Housing and Neighbourhood Service, PO Box 5967, Sheffield S2 9GH) or follow us on Facebook for the latest updates.
Our Housing Offices remain closed until further notice.
Keeping up to date
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