FAQ's

How can I pay my rent?
I am in rent arrears. Can I come to an agreement to pay?
I am having problems with my neighbours, what can I do about it?
How do I make a suggestion/comment, compliment or complaint about a service?
Can I swap my house with anyone else?
Can I transfer to another area with Estuary?
What is shared ownership?
How do I arrange for a nursing home, residential home or supported living accommodation?
How do I report a repair during the working day?
How do I report a repair out of hours?
How quickly will you do my repair?

How can I pay my rent?

Whether you have a weekly or monthly tenancy your rent is payable in advance and is always due on a Monday or the first day of the month. If you prefer to pay at the end of the week/month, this is acceptable but your payment should be in advance for the following week/month, and not in arrears.

There are a number of payment methods, as follows:

• On-Line - you can now pay your rent on-line via the allpay website. You will need your rent payment card and your bank account or credit/debit card details.
• By phone - you can pay your rent over the phone via the automated telephone service. This service is available 24 hours a day on 0844 557 8321 (5p per minute from landlines, mobiles will vary). Just follow the simple instructions and make sure you have your rent payment card and debit/credit card to hand.
• Direct Debit - this is our preferred method. Direct debits are taken on the first or fifteenth of each month. We can alter the amount to be collected when, for example, the rent is increased each year.
• Standing Order - if you want to pay your rent direct from your bank account, but a direct debit isn’t appropriate you may wish to set up a standing order. This can be set up either weekly or monthly or on a date to suit you. Please ask the Housing Services Office for a mandate.
• You can use your rent payment swipe card to make payments at your local Post Office or PayPoint outlet. 
• Payments by post / cheque - we can accept your payment by cheque, although this can sometimes delay your payment reaching your account. Please make cheques payable to Estuary Housing Association Ltd and send them to our Centre Place office.
• In some cases the Revenue Team will be able to take payments from a debit or credit card over the telephone. Please speak with them for more details.

I am in rent arrears. Can I come to an agreement to pay?
In most cases yes, this is our preference. Please contact the Revenue Team as soon as you know you will have a problem paying any money owed to the Association.

I am having problems with my neighbours, what can I do about it?
Neighbour problems, anti-social behaviour and harassment take various forms. They can range from a barking dog, loud music or worse still violence.  

Normally we will ask you first if you have tried to sort things out, for example by asking your neighbour to turn their music down.We can provide you with a Anti-Social Behaviour Pack that explains how we can help you. We will tell you what you need to do, what evidence we may need and how we can take action. We promise to take your problem seriously and thoroughly investigate.

If you experience problems contact your Housing Officer during working hours on 0845 6340635 or out of office hours you can leave a message on our Anti Social Behaviour line 0800 7316976.

Where we cannot help you we will tell you why and how else you might solve the problem.

How do I make a suggestion/comment, compliment or complaint about a service?
We want to make sure that our services meet both our published standards and the needs of our customers and partners – your needs as residents – so your feedback is important to us.  All members of staff can record any form of feedback.

Compliment, Comment or Suggestion 
If we do something well, let us know. We all like to know when we are doing a good job. We record all compliments, these help us show that are customers are satisfied with the service we offer and help us to improve other areas of our service.

You may just simply wish to make a suggestion or comment on how we can improve our services. We welcome constructive comments or suggestions, we will consider these where possible we will use them to make improvements.

To make a compliment, comment or suggestion, you can use the feedback form on this website or contact a member of staff.

Unhappy? 
Every organisation occasionally gets things wrong. If we have not provided a service, or you feel you have been treated unfairly please let us know. All complaints are taken seriously and carefully considered. We use complaints to learn lessons as to how things might have been done differently and to help improve the service we provide in the future.

To make a complaint, you can use the feedback form on this website or contact a member of staff.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint you need to contact the office within 1 month. Your complaint will then proceed to the next stage.

There are 3 stages to our complaints procedure but if you are still unhappy after going through all stages you can take your complaint to The Housing Ombudsman Service.

All complaints will be recorded onto a database and Estuary will use these statistics when looking at improving its services.

Who to contact
You can get a copy of the Customer Feedback Policy from any of our offices. If you are experiencing difficulty in making your complaint please contact the Customer Services Co-ordinator on, 01702 445207.

Can I swap my house with anyone else?
If you have an assured or secure tenancy you can swap properties (called mutual exchange) with most council or housing association tenants. Mutual exchanges are agreed subject to you having a clear rent account, have security of tenure and the incoming residents meet do not substantially under occupy or statutorily overcrowd the property. If you are an Estuary resident you can register your home for free on http://www.homeswapper.co.k/ which is a national database for residents looking for a mutual exchange. For any more information please contact your Housing Officer.

Can I transfer to another area with Estuary?
Yes, as long as you have not breached your tenancy, have a clear rent account and kept your home to a suitable standard you can apply for a transfer to any area in which Estuary has homes.

The length of time you will have to wait will depend on your circumstances, the area you want to move to and the availability of accommodation in your chosen area. If you have a medical reason for requiring a move you will need to supply evidence from your Doctor which will be considered by our medical advisor.

What is shared ownership?
Shared Ownership is the opportunity to purchase a property on a part-rent / part-buy basis. You would normally buy 50% equity in a property, and pay rent to the Association for the 50% that we still own. For futher information click here

How do I arrange for a nursing home, residential home or supported living accommodation?
You are welcome to contact us for advice but we do not allocate places directly. All these placements are made by social services. For further information click here

How do I report a repair during the working day?
Telephone our freephone repair line on 0800 783 0496

How do I report a repair out of hours?
 

If you need to report an emergency repair outside office hours please call 0845 769 7820.

What counts as an emergency?

·         Gas Leak

·         Total loss of electricity

·         Dangerous electrical installation

·         Total loss of water

·         Serious water leak

·         Blocked drains and sewers

·         Loss of heating

·         Damaged property entrance door

·         Serious roof leak

·         Loos roof tile, gutter or drain pipe where dangerous

·         Loose bricks or masonry where damaged

 However, if your call is later found not to be an emergency you could be charged.

How quickly will you do my repair?
We have three categories of repair:- Emergency - should be carried out within 24 hours. Urgent:- should be carried out within 5 days. Routine:- should be carried out within 28 days.

To discuss any of the above in greater detail, or to request a Direct Debit Form, Standing Order Form, or a swipe card, please contact your local management office, use the Request Info form or e-mail info@estuary.co.uk.

For a new swipe card please contact your Housing Management Officer.